By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
The District 2 football season is down to one team.
All right, so you may have recognized that as the same first sentence as last week.
The longer the football season continues for District 2, the more chances there are for Crestwood to make me wrong and for Rick Notari from The Rick’s Picks at NEPAFootball.com to catch me in a season-long predictions competition.
Hopefully, I made it very clear last week that although I was not ready to predict a Crestwood victory, I was acknowledging the Comets had a very real chance to come out on a top in a near toss-up game.
Well, they did just that with a splendid first half offensively and a big-time defensive effort while under constant pressure in the second half of a 21-14 victory over Monsignor Bonner-Archbishop Prendergast.
That brings us to this week.
GAME PREDICTION
Two dominant teams on winning streaks square off Friday at Exeter Township High School near Reading in a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 4A state semifinal. Crestwood (13-1) averages more than 40 points per game. Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt (11-1) averages more than 50. The Comets have been tested a few times, including the last two weeks against Valley View and Bonner-Prendie, during a 12-game winning streak. The Crusaders have not only been perfect since their opening loss to Imhotep Charter, but their 11 wins have all been Mercy Rule games. Scoring first is always helpful in football and any other sport, but it may be more important than ever for Crestwood now. To keep going against the monumental tasks that would likely be back-to-back games against Bishop McDevitt and unbeaten Aliquippa, Crestwood almost has to play with the lead to emphasize its strengths in the ball-control running game and the pass rush. Reduce those factors and the Crusaders could break away as they did all the way through the usually tough District 3 playoffs. The Comets have come too far and played too well to rule them out, but this one is not a toss-up. This time, they are clearly the underdog.
Bishop McDevitt 38, Crestwood 28
KEEPING SCORE
Being wrong on last week’s only prediction drops my playoff record to 37-13 (74.0 percent) and my overall season mark to 166-44 (79.0 percent), meaning that no matter what, I’ll fall a bit short of the goal of 80 percent that I was able to maintain in the regular season. That is still one better than The Rick’s Picks, which are 165-45 (78.6 percent) with a chance to catch up if we’re around for another week of predictions. Rick cut the deficit from two to one by backing Crestwood last week. See what Rick is predicting this time at www.NEPAFootball.com.
