Downingtown East’s Taj Alexander, a 6-6, 275-pound defensive tackle, is expected to commit to the Rutgers football program Tuesday Check back for complete story.

Here at Rally, we're always in favor of fairness. In Monday's Inquirer, I wrote a column that expressed disappointment over the ending in Saturday's PIAA Class AAA boys' soccer state championship game. Father Judge, of course, tied Central Dauphin and both were awarded co-championships instead of the game being decided by penalties.

As I said in the column, this is a practice that the PIAA has followed forever, for a few reasons. I reached out to Hal Heffelfinger, the District 1 chairperson for soccer, to get a better sense of the reasoning behind the rules.

Heffelfinger is also the former boys' soccer coach at Neshaminy and in 1994, his team was crowned co-champs with Bethel Park. Hal sent me a detailed e-mail I wanted to share with everyone:

Here are links to the playoff brackets for the local football tournaments:

--To the District 1 football brackets:

http://district-one.net/football.asp

--To the PIAA football bracket page:

http://www.piaa.org/news/details.aspx?ID=1797

--To the NJSIAA football bracket page:

http://www.njsiaa.org/SPORTS/Football.aspx

HERSHEY -- Well, this is it. Area teams are 3-0 today and Father Judge has the chance to make history. The Crusaders can become the first-ever city team to win a soccer state title.

We'll be taking you through the night as we can. Updates might be sparse early because I'm writing a story for the paper on Downingtown West girls' soccer victory earlier.

Refresh early and often.

FINAL (Father Judge 0, Central Dauphin 0) -- It's a tie. And we have co-champions. Both teams had few chances and it was a defensive battle. Read Sunday's Inquirer for a full recap of the day in soccer.

102' -- A corner for Central Dauphin bounces around in the box but does not go in! It went off of Schwartz's hands and a Father Judge defender just cleared it in the nick of time. Wow.

97' -- Great attempt by Darius Glunblee but Lutz makes the save.

95' -- One last free kick for Central Dauphin is deflected wide. We go to a second overtime.

93' -- McGinnis shoots it off the side of the net. A few good rushes for CD, but again, nothing.

90' -- Judge has the extra step in overtime. It has resulted in better possession, but few chances.

83' -- Kevin Bushbeck had an open net and hit it wide. Lutz had to come out to intercept a pass and deflected it right to Bushbeck. But he couldn't put it home.

80' -- A corner for CD and nothing comes of it. Just the third of the entire game.

80' -- After 80 minutes, we are fit to be tied. Judge had a few good runs at it in the final five minutes but nothing hit the back of the net. We have a short intermission, then overtime.

Remember, in the state championships there are no penalty kicks. So if this game remains tied after two 15-minute overtime periods, both teams will be declared co-champions.

76' -- Morris is taken down near the corner and he'll have a free kick. After a good first touch by Ryan Brocker, nothing comes of it.

73' -- Kollie gets some space -- finally -- but rips one wide right of the net.

70' -- McGinnis takes a free kick right outside the box after a bad tackle by Alimnde for Judge. But the Crusaders clear. Brian Wright was also shown a yellow for Judge for arguing the call.

68' -- Nick Battaglia earned a free kick from just outside the box but it resulted in nothing for Judge.

65' -- Still an advantage to CD on the possession, but Judge has held it a little bit more. The Crusaders haven't managed any kind of offense though in the second half.

56' -- Brian Bird puts one on net and Schwartz handles it cleanly. Judge needs some possession here. Defense is tiring.

54' -- CD still controlling the ball. Judge is a little on its heels right now. Eric McGinnis just missed two quality chances in front of the cage.

47' -- A direct kick by Colin Watford from 19 yards out goes through the hands of Schwartz but is cleared by a Judge defender. CD has the better of play early in the second half.

46' -- A bad first move by defender Derek Ross leads to a Central Dauphin run, but Ross recovers well.

42' -- A CD free kick goes into the box and the Rams had a good chance blocked by a Judge defender. Close play.

HALF (Father Judge 0, Central Dauphin 0) -- It's a typical Father Judge first half. Decent ball control and solid defense. The Rams barely had any chances thanks to some solid play by the midfield and backs for the Crusaders.

Morris missed a beauty of a chance to end the half, but the game remains scoreless.

39'--Wow. A point-blank chance for Nick Morris with four seconds left in the half is stopped by Lutz. He was just in the right place at the right time. It was a pass by Kollie after a throw-in and Morris should have buried it. The ball bounced high off Lutz and into the sky as time expired.

31' --A 44-yard direct kick is handled easily by Schwartz.

29' -- Another good ball into the box, but Lutz is out to get it. He's a four-year starter and there's a reason why. Looks very good in net.

23' -- Kollie hits one just wide of the far post. He's making good runs.

19' -- CD keeper Jonathan Lutz needed every inch of his 6-foot-5 frame to come out and knock Emmanuel Kollie off a run. If Lutz doesn't get a little piece, it's a goal.

18' -- First save for either keeper. Easy one for Judge's Chris Schwartz. 

13' -- Ran into Judge coach John Dunlop before the game. He said four bus loads of fans from Philly made the trip. The two sections of Judge fans are all standing the entire game.

12' -- No real quality scoring chances yet. Judge had a corner in the first minute but did not convert. Huge crowd here.

HERSHEY -- Welcome to the nighttime edition of the live blog. District 1 teams are 2-0 so far today and now Downingtown West will look to make it 3-for-3.

The game is being shown live on PCN, I'm told. We'll update as the game goes, so refresh often.

FINAL (Downingtown West 4, McDowell 0) --It's the third state title for Downingtown West since 2004. The Whippets' powerful offense made this one a laugher quick. It's a 23-1-1 season for Downingtown West...not bad.

69' -- This one is over and has been for a while. Both teams have subbed in. 

56' -- GOAL! Wow. What a shot by Myers from 30 yards out. Top right corner. No chance for McDowell. 4-0 West.

55' -- Obendorfer tips a McDowell shot and it strikes the crossbar. Best chance for the Trojans so far.

43' -- GOAL! Darci Cadell takes a nice pass from Wilson and the Whippets are fully in control. It was an easy shot for Cadell, who didn't have any pressure on the shot.

HALF (Downingtown West 2, McDowell 0) -- Well, the first 40 minutes went about as expected. The Whippets have a powerful offense. They controlled the ball for the majority of the half. Morgan Obendorfer needed to make just one save for West at the very end of the half.

36' -- A long free kick from Downingtown West is bobbled but held onto by McDowell goalie Boyd.

31' -- A free kick from about 30 yards out by Gabi Catrabone goes over the net. Best chance for McDowell yet.

27' -- Downingtown West controlling the pace of the game. No real scoring chances for McDowell.

21' -- Good defense by Myers now. Heads away a corner by McDowell.

18' -- GOAL! This time it's Lauren Wilson who gives the Whippets a 2-0 lead. She made a great move to get around the McDowell defender and put it away.

11' -- Huge save by McDowell on a Lauren Wilson try. Just missed another score.

6' -- GOAL! Steph Myers strikes for the Whippets. She scored when a long Downingtown volley went off a McDowell defender and right to Myers. Easy goal. Early lead.

PREGAME -- The Whippets' offense has been nearly unstoppable all season. Erie McDowell is looking to become the first District 10 team to win a soccer title outright ever. So there is a lot of history against McDowell.