By Daniel Paulling
My apologies for not getting to this sooner. Here’s how I voted last week. We won’t have another poll this season, but I will have my end-of-the-season rankings in print once every team has been eliminated from the playoffs.
1. Spring Grove; 2. South Western — I imagine a lot of people are wondering why I kept Spring Grove, a team that lost 19-17 to South Western, in the final game of the regular season. My thought process was simple: Spring Grove beat the other teams in Division I more easily and shared the division title; South Western did not. Rather than looking at one weeks’ worth of data, I’m looking at the body of work.
3. Bermudian Springs; 4. Biglerville — I’m trying to figure out what Bermudian Springs can do for me to move them to No. 1. What really hurts the Eagles — at least in my eyes — is being locked in to a nine-game Division III schedule that only allows one open date, which they filled with New Oxford. I’ve got the Eagles beating Biglerville once again Friday.
5. Delone; 6. Littlestown — Both teams were down this season, and both have settled in this spot throughout much of the season. Let’s see how far Delone can go in the Class A playoffs, which start Friday. I’m projecting at least two wins, starting Friday with Columbia. Unfortunately for Littlestown, it ran into Wyomissing in the first round of the district playoffs once again.
7. New Oxford; 8. Gettysburg — This two teams finished the season about the same, but I give a slight edge to the Colonials because they won one more game. As I’ve said before, I really like what Jason Thurston is doing there. Let’s see where this team is in a couple of years.
9. Fairfield; 10. Hanover — The Green Knights lose their best non-quarterback player in Thomas Bollinger, but I’ve been impressed with sophomore quarterback Mason Flickinger. Also, Hanover has an excellent quarterback in Brady Goodfellow, who actually led the area in passing, and many in the Nighthawks’ program are optimistic with the freshman class.
Daniel, I realize that this poll is just for fun. However, having followed your weekly illogical explanations on how you voted, I am convinced that there is nothing Bermudian Springs can do for you to vote them #1. Each week you have totally astonished me by slighting them! First, you state your “thought process is simple”. I would say it is more “simple-minded”. Next you say that your judgment is based on the entire “body of work” for each team during the season. I do not want to take any credit away from Spring Grove, as they have had a great turn- around season under coach Stoner and deserve all the praise and accolades given. South Western is a different story, however, one filled with inconsistency throughout the season, and they do not deserve to be ranked #2 as reflected by their 6-5 record. Fantasizing hypothetical “what ifs” by comparing scores is not a fair and sound way to rate teams, and you have done this all season, making your logic very skewed and irrational. Berm’s “body of work” over an eleven week season speaks for itself, record wise (11-0) and statistically on BOTH sides of the ball. They are arguably the most dominating defensive team in the York-Adams area. They have accomplished everything possible, taking care of business one week at a time. Berm’s overall “body of work” as the only UNDEFEATED area team this season thus far should have EARNED them the rank of #1. IMO the logical ranking should be as follows…#1 Berm 11-0 #2 Spring Grove 8-3 (yes, they lost 3 games, but played exciting football) #3 Biglerville 9-2 (yes, they are a smaller school than SW which, wow, lost 5 games!!!). As a TEAM Biglerville consistently played much better all season than SW. TEAM SUCCESS is not based on who has the most talented players, or the number of players on the team, or their classification based on school population, but on individuals playing together with great chemistry winning as a TEAM. Daniel, I believe you made the voting process way too complicated and hypothetical. Yes, your newspaper ranking is just for fun, but please give credit where credit is due. In fairness to the Berm players, they had the most successful season of ALL area teams as demonstrated by their play, their effort and accomplishment on the football field each week, in spite of the fact that they had a target on their backs each game because they were UNDEFEATED. Everyone wanted to beat them badly. In summarizing, Berm has EARNED the #1 ranking on the playing field with their determined “body of work” and not in a newspaper poll. Thus far they have attained all their team goals and should be recognized for the accomplishment! Berm at #3…that’s silly! Base your ranking on reality, not fantasy!