Football Notebook: Changes coming to Pioneer Athletic Conference
With Norristown and Upper Merion coming over from the Suburban One League, the Pioneer Athletic Conference will expand from 10 to 12 teams for the 2016-17 school year. For football, that means a split to two divisions.
The large-school Liberty Division will be made up of Spring-Ford (current enrollment number of 935), Boyertown (919), Norristown (818), Perkiomen Valley (740), Owen J. Roberts (659), and Methacton (624).
The small-school Frontier Division will be comprised of Upper Merion (487), Phoenixville (446), Pottsgrove (398), Upper Perkiomen (368), Pottstown (352), and Pope John Paul II (330).
The new conference alignment was established before the PIAA board of directors voted by a 26-4 margin to expand football from four to six classifications in its Oct. 7 meeting.
The PIAA's plan for football is to have six evenly distributed classifications, based on enrollment numbers for the next two-year cycle (2016-18). The classification breakdown for all sports will be released in mid-November.
Using the current enrollment numbers, all six Liberty Division schools would be Class AAAAAA programs for football. In the Frontier Division, Upper Merion and Phoenixville would be AAAAA; and Pottsgrove, Upper Perkiomen, Pottstown, and Pope John Paul II would be AAAA.
Instead of playing one nonleague game at the start of the season, each team will play four. Teams have the option of playing a nonleague game against a cross-divisional conference foe. Methacton is tentatively scheduled to play Pottsgrove and Pottstown in 2016.
In the final week of the regular season, the first-place team from the Liberty Division will take on the top squad from the Frontier Division for the league championship.
On the same weekend, the second-place finisher from the Liberty will be matched against the second-place finisher from the Frontier, the third-place squads will square off, and so on through sixth place.
Next season, before it begins its conference slate, Spring-Ford (8-0 overall, 7-0 PAC-10) will play nonleague contests against Unionville, Wilson-West Lawn, Exeter, and an opponent yet to be determined. Co-leader Perkiomen Valley (8-0, 7-0) has Council Rock North and Pennridge penciled in as two of its four nonleague foes.
Ceremony. Bonner-Prendergast will retire the No. 6 jersey worn by David Garrison from 2004 to 2008 before Friday night's Catholic League Class AAA game vs. Cardinal O'Hara at Upper Darby.
Garrison died from the injuries he suffered after being struck by a car in January 2009. The 19-year-old from Drexel Hill was returning to West Virginia University after the holiday break.
Garrison played linebacker or end on defense. "He was a really nice, well-mannered kid," said Bonner-Prendie coach Greg Bernhardt. "He was well-respected by his teammates."
In 2010, Bonner-Prendie dedicated its turf athletic field scoreboard in Garrison's name. "The community has been very supportive of our family since the tragedy," said his father, also named David. "We were so proud of David and his accomplishments in his short life."
Brendon Garrison, 22, was a defensive end for the Friars (Class of 2011) and wore No. 6 in honor of his brother.
For those wishing to donate to the David F. Garrison Scholarship Fund, checks can be mailed to MBAP, 403 North Lansdowne Avenue, Drexel Hill, Pa. 19026.
Notes. Malvern Prep sophomore quarterback Kevin Doyle recently picked up a scholarship offer from Pittsburgh. ... Plymouth Whitemarsh's Nafeese Nasir has carried 165 times for 1,475 yards and 16 touchdowns. ... For 8-0 Academy Park, Jermaine Wesley has rushed 156 times for 1,083 yards and 13 scores. ... Downingtown East's Saunders Healy has completed 91 of 145 passes for 1,203 yards and 14 TDs. He has carried 90 times for 447 yards and six scores. ... Don Grinstead, in his third year as Pottstown's head coach, is stepping down at the end of this season to take a job as sports director of a YMCA in Florida. ... Upper Moreland's Rodney Morgan has carried 186 times for 1,380 yards and 11 TDs.