YAIAA football power rankings, 11/9
The District 3 playoffs are upon us, which makes these our final regular season power rankings of 2010. We will, however, continue to put out our weekly power rankings until all of the YAIAA playoff teams are out of the playoffs. In the meantime, all 11 of the YAIAA's playoff qualifiers are represented in this week's Top 10. Check them out... 1. Dallastown (1) -- I continue to give the Wildcats (10-0) a slight edge, after they secured the program's first perfect regular season since 1980 in dramatic fashion against Red Lion. Dallastown is, as far as we can tell, the first YAIAA team to earn a No. 1 seed in the District 3 Class AAAA tournament, and could earn the program's first district playoff victory this week against Conestoga Valley. 2. Littlestown (2) -- The Bolts (10-0) crushed Fairfield, and will be the No. 2 seed in the District 3-AA tournament this week. In ten games, Littlestown outscored its opponents by a combined 479-103. That means Mike Lippy's team led the YAIAA in both points scored and fewest points allowed. I know Division III is extremely top-heavy, but that's still pretty darn good. 3. West York (3) -- I think this Bulldogs team has every bit the chance to make a district run this year as they did last year. West York (8-2) is extremely balanced on offense (1,688 rushing yards vs. 1,490 passing yards) and underrated on defense (12 points per game). Oh, and this team seems to always win the turnover battle. West York has 26 takeaways this year, good for a plus-13 ratio. 4. Red Lion (4) -- Last Friday's loss hurt, but I thought Red Lion (7-3) showed a lot of positives during its back-and-forth loss to Dallastown. The Lions offense did just about whatever they wanted in the first half against a great defense, and Pat Conrad's team was one or two plays away from a win and a share of the Division I title. 5. Delone Catholic (5) -- So much for a rebuilding year. The Squires finished the regular season 9-1, and will get a home playoff game against Wyomissing on Friday. Delone would love a repeat of last season, when they beat Wyomissing 49-28 in a first-round district matchup. 6. Spring Grove (6) -- Normally a 6-4 record doesn't inspire awe. But for some perspective on just how challenging Spring Grove's schedule was this season, check out their OWP rating in the district power rankings. The Rockets OWP (essentially a strength of schedule measure) was .714, which was highest among the 16 Class AAAA playoff qualifiers. 7. York Catholic (7) -- The Irish (7-3) throttled rival York Suburban in their regular season finale on Friday. Now, York Catholic gets to rest up with a bye week before hosting a District 3-A semifinal against Millersburg. 8. Bermudian Springs (9) -- The Eagles blew by Biglerville on Friday, and now get to visit unbeaten Littlestown for the second time in three weeks. Bermudian screeched out to a 10-0 in the team's first meeting before faltering. Can they build on that this time around? 9. Dover (8) -- The Eagles (6-4) completed a nice turnaround season with a shootout win against Susquehannock to clinch a District 3-AAA playoff spot. Dover's reward? A first-round trip to perennial district powerhouse Manheim Central. Good luck. T-10. William Penn -- Just about everybody left the Bearcats (5-5) for dead two weeks ago. But wins over South Western and Central York earned William Penn an unlikely district playoff berth in Shawn Heinold's first season at the helm. Now the Bearcats will have to contend with a very powerful Governor Mifflin squad. T-10. Kennard-Dale (NR) -- Speaking of coming back from the dead, the Rams rebounded from a 1-4 start to finish .500 and earn a District 3-AAA playoff berth for the third consecutive season. Kennard-Dale wrapped that up with a 14-0 win against Northeastern on Saturday.