Southeastern Pennsylvania Top 10, Nov. 2, 2009
1. North Penn (9-0. Weeks rated: 10. Last week: 1)
2. St. Joseph’s Prep (7-1. Weeks rated: 10. Last week: 3)
3. La Salle (7-1. Weeks rated: 10. Last week: 4)
4. Cardinal O’Hara (8-1. Weeks rated: 3. Last week: 9)
5. Pottsgrove (9-0. Weeks rated: 7. Last week: 6)
6. Abington (6-2. Weeks rated: 1. Last week: Unrated)
7. Pennsbury (8-1. Weeks rated: 10. Last week: 2)
8. Neshaminy (8-1. Weeks rated: 10. Last week: 7)
9. West Chester Rustin (9-0. Weeks rated: 3. Last week: 9)
10. Avon Grove (9-1. Weeks rated: 2. Last week: 10)
Everyone loves an underdog, and it’s a major reason why high school sports draws such attention today, because at no other level of sports can a program turn from night to day so rapidly. At no other level can an also-ran leaking confidence convert into a team burgeoning with the idea it can beat anyone. It’s why what has gone on this year at Avon Grove, a growing school in bucolic Chester County, Pa., is so compelling.
Photo courtesy of Kathy Wilson, Avon Grove
Avon Grove coach Marv Dooley
The Red Devils never won more than four games in a season. They never had a winning record. They never won the Ches-Mont League, nor ever played in the PIAA District 1 postseason.
Enter Marv Dooley. Enter change. Enter a 2009 team that has made school history.
The Red Devils are 8-1 overall, winning as many games this season as they have the previous two years combined. More importantly, Avon Grove is tied with perennial Ches-Mont League powers Downingtown West and Downingtown East for first place, all with 5-1 league records. There is a likelihood Avon Grove will take a share of the league title after this weekend.
The Red Devils have turned things around with the senior leadership provided by three-year starting quarterback Kyle Kush, offensive tackle Cory Snyder and center Mike Jeffcoats. They’ve done it with an offense that has been both powerful and poised, running by and through opposing teams spearheaded by senior tailback Jordan Harris and senior fullback Brendan McLaughlin, a junior who’s the team’s leading rusher. They’ve done it behind an offensive wall led by Snyder and Jeffcoats, along with junior tackle Ian Woods, senior guards Andrew Lowe and J.J. McNeil and senior tight end Ryan Samuels.
But the catalyst has been Dooley, who wanted to institute a tradition when he became head coach in 2007 for a football program that began in 2001 without much success.
"I knew when I came here, there wasn’t much of a football tradition; it’s something we had to start," said Dooley, who came in from William Penn High School, in New Castle, Del. "That came with building an attitude. We knew we had a lot of good kids here, but we had to find a way to win. Our first two years, we found ways to lose.
"We played a lot of sophomores when I first took over, and I remember saying to one of my assistants, 'Let’s see what we can do three years from now.' I thought this year would tell us how well we’re doing. I knew we’d do well this year, but I didn’t know how well."
Apparently quite well. The Red Devils beat traditional powerhouse Downingtown West, but it was after their only loss of the season, 32-21 to Downingtown East back on Oct. 2, when they found out how good they were.
"Yes, strange as that sounds, we learned how good we are in our one loss," Dooley said. "We were winning that game into the fourth quarter, when we ran out of gas. We learned that we are a good team, and it’s something I let my kids know. To me, that was the turning point."
The starting point came during the offseason, Dooley said, and it was a sophomore group two years ago that was willing to buy into what Dooley was selling. He instituted an offseason weight-training program, speed work and seven-on-seven camps that attracted 70 percent of the team.
It has translated into an eight-win season, a program first, being on the brink of winning the Ches-Mont League title, another first, and entering the district playoffs, completing a trifecta of firsts.
"It was a slow process that got us here," Dooley said. "But these seniors will be our first graduating class and it will be sad when they leave. They bought in to everything and have made history this year. We haven’t talked about making the district playoffs; it’s still one step at a time. But our No. 1 goal is to win the Ches-Mont League, and it’s something I don’t mind sharing with two quality programs like Downingtown East and Downingtown West.
"A lot of teams suffered at Avon Grove to get us to where we are, and that’s something I remind the kids. We’re playing for more than just the school and the football team. We’re playing for the guys who came before us, and playing for a whole community."
It’s what makes high school sports so unique, so tangible. It’s the beauty of elevating something that was once down to heights no one might have imagined.
Ratings mishmash
With Abington upsetting No. 2 Pennsbury, and Garnet Valley pulling off a mild upset of No. 5 Ridley, the ratings were spun around, turned over and re-evaluated this week. For one, Abington, though 6-2 with two bad losses to Council Rock North and Council Rock South, also has two very important victories over Neshaminy and last Friday night Pennsbury, 27-13, and is one of two top-10 teams in the area to have beaten two top-10 teams (Neshaminy and Pennsbury).
Cardinal O’Hara surges from No. 9 to No. 4 based on its very close loss to No. 2 St. Joseph’s Prep, the other ranked team to beat two top-10s (LaSalle and O’Hara), with Abington re-entering the ratings at No. 6. Pottsgrove moves to No. 5, based on its undefeated record, while Pennsbury drops to No. 7, pushing down Neshaminy also one slot, since both teams lost to Abington.
The District 1 playoffs begin next weekend (Nov. 13-14), with teams still jostling for seeding. But the Pennsbury loss firmly places North Penn as the No. 1 seed, with Garnet Valley moving into a top-five slot after beating Ridley 20-14.
Joseph Santoliquito covers high schools for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a contributor to MaxPreps.com. He can be contacted at JSantoliquito@yahoo.com.