Southeastern Pennsylvania Football Rankings: No. 4 Coatesville sets state record

Coatesville won a playoff game on Friday night.

That’s nothing new for the Red Raiders, who are the two-time defending PIAA District One Class 6A champions.

Coatesville beat Souderton, 49-18, in the tournament opener, as Dapree Bryant scored four touchdowns and Ricky Ortega threw a pair of scoring passes.

That’s nothing new, either, as Bryant and Ortega are seniors who have been making big plays for most of their careers.

But there was something special about the Red Raiders’ performance.

Coatesville scored all 49 of its points in the second quarter, setting a state record, according to research by sports historian Chuck Langerman.

The previous mark for points in a quarter was 48, set by McKeesport High in a 2008 game vs. Connellsville.

Coatesville’s victory sent the seventh-seeded Red Raiders into a second-round clash with second-seeded Central Bucks West in an intriguing clash of two of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s most decorated programs.

Here’s the new Top 10, with last week’s ranking in parentheses:

1. St. Joseph’s Prep (1) 7-2: The Hawks rolled to a 49-0 victory over Father Judge, setting up a rematch with rival La Salle on Saturday night at the Germantown supersite in the Philadelphia Catholic League Class 6A final. St. Joseph’s Prep has won six in a row, all over PCL foes, while averaging 48.5 points. The Hawks are riding a 34-game winning streak over Philadelphia-area opponents. Their last loss was to La Salle by 29-28 in the PCL final in 2015.

2. Downingtown West (2) 10-1: The Whippets pushed the pedal to the floor in the second half, pulling away from stubborn Pennsbury for a 63-35 win in Friday’s District One Class 6A opener. Tyriq Lewis ran for 203 yards and five touchdowns for the top seed. Downingtown West is home Friday vs. No. 9 seed North Penn. It’s a rematch of last year’s district semifinals, won by the Knights by a 35-21 score.

3. Downingtown East (3) 10-1: The Cougars’ offensive line cleared the way for Stanley Bryant and N.J. Cogliati to rush for a combined 434 yards in a 55-27 win over Perkiomen Valley in the playoff opener. Bryant ran for 256 and Cogliati, a sophomore making his first start, added 178 for the fourth-seeded Cougars. Downingtown East will host No. 12 seed Haverford High, which handled Spring-Ford in the opener, in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

4. Coatesville (4) 8-2: Remarkably, the Red Raiders scored all 49 points in an eight-minute, 45-second span of the second quarter vs. Souderton. Ortega passed for 340 yards and two touchdowns, jacking his career total to 121, third on the state’s all-time list, per Langerman’s research. Bryant caught seven passes for 180 yards and neither of the Villanova-bound stars played in the second half. Coatesville’s quarterfinal at Central Bucks West will be a clash of the Red Raiders’ pass-heavy, spread offense and the Bucks’ old-school, ground-hugging, Wing-T attack.

5. Neumann Goretti (6) 11-0: Roman Brown’s pick-six sealed the Saints’ 34-19 win over Lansdale Catholic in the District 1/12 Class 3A semifinals. Tysheem Johnson added two touchdowns and Damian Gabriel caught a scoring pass for Neumann Goretti, which plays Pope John Paul II on Friday night in the final.

6. Episcopal Academy (5) 8-1: The Churchmen had been living on the edge in Inter-Ac games, winning three in a row in dramatic fashion. On Saturday, they lost, 56-55, to Germantown Academy, which won the game in overtime on a controversial two-point conversion pass that appeared to violate the rules against two forward passes on the same play. Quarterback Maurcus McDaniel was as dynamic as ever for the Churchmen, rushing for 133 yards and five touchdowns and passing or 179 and two more scores. Malcolm Folk scored a pair of touchdowns for Episcopal Academy, which closes the season Saturday vs. Haverford School.

7. Northeast (7) 10-1: The Vikings have won seven in a row, outscoring opponents by a combined 232-18 with four shutouts. The latest win was by 42-0 over Lincoln in the Public League Class 6A semifinals. Northeast hosts Olney on Saturday in pursuit of the Vikings’ fourth straight Public League title and the right to advance to face the St. Joseph’s Prep-La Salle winner for the city crown.

8. La Salle (8) 8-2: Dillon Trainer scored the first touchdown of his career on a fumble return as the Explorers rolled to a 45-7 win over Roman Catholic in the PCL Class 6 A semifinals. Brad Vespe caught nine passes for 149 yards and Jack Machita threw for a career-high 257 yards as La Salle earned another shot at St. Joseph’s Prep in the title game.

9. Garnet Valley (9) 10-1: The Jaguars played November football, relying on dominant defense and a punishing ground game for a 43-0 win over Owen J. Roberts in the District 1 Class 6A opener. Jake Morin ran for 129 yards and four scores and Greg Reynolds added 95 yards behind a powerful offensive line. Garnet Valley is home Friday vs. Plymouth-Whitemarsh in the quarterfinals.

10. Archbishop Wood (10) 6-3: Junior quarterback Max Keller is 17-for-21 for 234 yards and four touchdowns in the last two games for the Vikings, who were off last weekend. Archbishop Wood, which has won two in a row and three of four, meets Archbishop Ryan in the PCL Class 5A title game Saturday afternoon at the Germantown supersite.

Under consideration (listed alphabetically): Academy Park (9-2), Bonner-Prendergast (8-1), Central Bucks West (10-1), Cheltenham (10-1), Germantown Academy (6-2), Haverford (9-2), Imhotep Charter (6-4), Kennett (10-1), North Penn (8-3), Plymouth-Whitemarsh (9-1), Strath Haven (8-2), West Chester East (9-2).