Fab Five: Pennsylvania High School Football Games to Watch in Week 5

Week 5 of the high school football season in Pennsylvania kicked off Thursday night, but many of the marquee matchups involving teams in this week’s High School On SI Pennsylvania Football Top 25 State Rankings take place Friday night.

The best of the bunch might be the showdown in the Lehigh Valley, where unbeatens Lehighton and Southern Lehigh clash in a Colonial League Division 2 showdown in Center Valley.

The Indians are 4-0 after a 41-0 win over Saucon Valley last week, while the Spartans (4-0) climbed to No. 9 in this week’s Top 25 after a 48-0 drubbing of Wilson Area, proving their move to 5A this fall after capturing their first PIAA football title in program history last year with a 43-21 win over Twin Valley in the 4A final was no fluke.

However, one of Southern Lehigh’s closest calls last year came against Lehighton. The Indians scored a touchdown with 4:31 left but saw the ensuing two-point try stopped, and Southern Lehigh held the ball the rest of the way to hang on for a 21-20 win.

Senior quarterback Colton Sams committed to Bloomsburg before the season and has looked the part through four games this fall, completing 75% of his passes (66 of 88) for 1,002 yards and 11 touchdowns with no interceptions through four games. He has over 7,300 career passing yards.

Lehighton counters with a run game led by senior Lukas Crozier, who ran for 148 yards and four touchdowns against Saucon Valley to up his season totals to a Colonial-leading 531 yards and 10 TDs. If the Indians, who stayed in 4A, can stun their larger rivals, they would merit consideration to join the Top 25 this week.

What are some other matchups we’re watching this week? Here are four others to highlight.

No. 18 South Fayette (4-0) at No. 7 Upper St. Clair (4-0)

The past couple of seasons, South Fayette entered this game with high hopes of knocking off the Panthers, only to come away disappointed. Last year, Upper St. Clair ripped off 40 unanswered points en route to a 50-14 rout — its eighth consecutive win in the series. Can the Lions stop Upper St. Clair’s three-headed running attack led by senior John Banbury (340 yards, six TDs)?

No. 15 North Penn (3-1) at No. 21 Central Bucks West (3-1)

One half of a killer duo of games in the Suburban One League’s National Conference sees the Knights coming off a big 35-7 win at Pennsbury, while the Bucks suffered their first loss against Pennridge. Now, they return home looking to avenge last year’s 31-13 loss to North Penn and avoid their first 0-2 start to conference play in a non-COVID year since 2014.

No. 19 Pennridge (4-0) at Central Bucks East (3-1)

The Rams got a 36-yard touchdown pass from Aiden Tetkowski to Sean Leuthe with 28 seconds left against Central Bucks West to pull out the win. Now, they take on the Patriots, who have won three straight since a season-opening defeat at Ridley. Senior RB Michael Price, who was held to 53 yards in that loss, has scored three touchdowns in each of the past three games, going for 169 yards on 20 carries in last week’s SOL National opener against Neshaminy.

Montour (3-1) at Thomas Jefferson (3-0)

Both teams are ranked in their classifications by PA Football News — the visitors are No. 10 in 4A, while the host Jaguars are ninth in 5A. The Spartans have been in close games week in and week out and are led by dual-threat junior QB Brandon Bennett (847 total yards, 10 TDs). Jefferson counters with junior QB Harrison Kolling, who averages over 22 yards per completion (24 of 43 for 548 yards) with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.

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