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YAIAA football end-of-season power rankings


With the football season finally over, it seems to fitting to wrap things up with one final edition of the power rankings. In this final top 10, I tried to weigh each team based on the entirety of its season (regular season and playoffs, combined). Although in same cases -- with the top team, for instance -- a squad's playoff run superseded any shortcomings of their regular season. Admittedly it's a subjective undertaking, so feel free to chime in with your own take in the comments section. In the meantime, enjoy the football season's final power rankings. 1. Red Lion (10-4) -- Have to give the Lions the top spot based on their postseason run. Red Lion survived close games against McCaskey, Dallastown and Daniel Boone to become just the second YAIAA team to qualify for a District 3-AAAA title game. Once in Hershey, the Lions were simply outclassed by Cumberland Valley, 35-7. 2. Dallastown (11-1) -- The Wildcats season was nothing short of historic. Dallastown recorded its first unbeaten regular season and first YAIAA Division I title in 30 years, along with its first district playoff victory. Its season ended in the second round of districts, with a 14-6 home loss to rival Red Lion. 3. Littlestown (10-1) -- The Thunderbolts' incredibly dominant regular season (their closest game was a 15-point win against Delone) gave way to a surprising first-round playoff upset. In one of the biggest shocks of the season, Littlestown was overwhelmed by Bermudian Springs, 37-0. 4. West York (8-3) --An initially surprising first-round loss to Cocalico doesn't look so surprising anymore, considering the 13th-seeded Eagles rode their wave of momentum all the way to the District 3-AAA title game. 5. Bermudian Springs (8-4) -- The Eagles earned their season's signature victory with a 37-0 pounding of LIttlestown in the district playoffs. Bermudian lost to Trinity the next week, but that big win over the Thunderbolts gave them a big boost in these rankings. 6. Delone Catholic (9-2) -- After a fine regular season, the Squires stumbled in a first-round playoff loss to Wyomissing. Still, considering all the players they lost in 2009, nine wins is pretty good. 7. York Catholic (7-4) -- The Irish turned in a solid season, but you can't help but wonder what might have been. Injuries hurt (ie: Nick Full), but York Catholic also had ample chances in its district semifinal loss to Millersburg. 8. Spring Grove (6-5) -- The hard-luck team of the season. Spring Grove faced a murderous schedule, and came away with close losses to Susquehanna Township, West York, Dallastown and, finally, Cumberland Valley. 9. Dover (6-5) -- A fine turnaround season earned the Eagles an unenviable matchup with Manheim Central. Still, 0-10 to 6-5 is a heck of an achievement for Bill Miller and company. 10. William Penn (5-6) -- The Bearcats were no match for a stronger, physically superior Governor Mifflin team. But considering the preseason coaching change and an uneven first two-thirds of the season, a playoff berth is a decent end result for first-year coach Shawn Heinold.