A big week for teams on the playoff bubble

Week 10 is marked by the cutoff date for the PIAA District 1 playoffs.

Teams on the bubble for the 16-team Class AAAA tournament include No. 12 Pennridge (6-3, 85.6 power-point average), No. 13 Souderton (5-4, 84.4), No. 14 Council Rock South (6-3, 83.3), No. 15 Coatesville (6-3, 81.1), No. 16 Downingtown East (5-4, 77.8), No. 17 Conestoga (6-3, 76.7), and No. 18 Chester (6-3, 73.3).

For the eight-team Class AAA tourney, No. 6 Interboro (6-3, 860 total points), No. 7 Upper Merion (6-3, 850), No. 8 Strath Haven (6-3, 840), No. 9 West Chester Henderson (5-4, 820), and No. 10 Phoenixville (6-3, 740) are vying to gain invites.

In Class AAAA of the Public League, there is a semifinal doubleheader tomorrow afternoon at Northeast. At 3, it's Overbrook vs. George Washington. That's followed by Northeast vs. Frankford, at approximately 6.

Last week: 11-1 (.917).

Overall: 75-34 (.689).

Pennridge (6-3, 3-2) at No. 1 North Penn (9-0, 6-0), tonight, 7. The Rams can clinch a berth in the PIAA District 1 Class AAAA playoffs with an upset win in Lansdale. The Knights, champions of the Suburban One League Continental Conference, can nail down the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Pick: North Penn, 34-13.

Conestoga (6-3, 6-3) at No. 10 Penncrest (8-1, 6-3), tonight, 7. The Pioneers have improved greatly in recent weeks. To have a shot at a playoff berth, they will need to slow down quarterback Matt Atkinson, running back Jerry Boyer, and wideout Ricky Bailey. We smell an upset here.

Pick: Conestoga, 26-19.

Lansdale Catholic (4-5, 1-3) vs. Archbishop Wood (7-2, 4-0), at Wissahickon, tonight, 7. The Crusaders' bid to upend the first-place Vikings in this Catholic League Division AAA semifinal matchup will hinge heavily on the play of dual-threat quarterback John Howell (569 rushing yards, 496 passing).

Pick: Wood, 28-12.

Overbrook (3-5, 1-3) vs. George Washington (7-1, 4-0), at Northeast, tomorrow, 3. The Panthers are big-time underdogs. They bowed to the Eagles, 58-12, in the regular season. Overbrook's leaders are QB Rasheed Oberton and RB Keenan Clark. Things will go pretty much as expected.

Pick: Washington, 42-13.

Northeast (4-4, 2-2) vs. Frankford, (5-2, 3-1), at Northeast, tomorrow, 6. The rugged Pioneers will throw a number of running backs at the Vikings, including quarterback-turned-rusher Kalif Walker (102 yards on 15 carries last week vs. Germantown). Call us crazy, but we like Je'Ron Stokes and company to avenge a 20-6 regular-season loss.

Pick: Northeast, 19-14.

Other games to watch:

West Chester Henderson (5-4, 3-2) at Downingtown East (5-4, 4-1), tonight, 7. Pick: Henderson, 27-14.

No. 2 Malvern Prep (7-0, 3-0) at Penn Charter (3-5, 1-2), tomorrow, 2. Pick: Malvern, 34-0.

Delaware Valley (6-2, 3-1) vs. Communications Tech (6-0, 3-0), at Southern, tomorrow, 3. Pick:   Comm. Tech, 19-6.

Ben Franklin (6-2, 4-1) vs. Bok (9-0, 5-0), at Southern, tomorrow, 6. Pick: Bok, 23-14.

Archbishop Carroll (4-5, 2-2) vs. No. 5 West Catholic (8-1, 4-0), at Plymouth Whitemarsh, tomorrow, 7. Pick: West, 45-7.