Final HSSN state football rankings: How do they compare to first top 5 of 2019?

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, December 10, 2019 | 4:13 PM

The 2019 high school football season in Pennsylvania has come to an end. Six champions were crowned this past weekend in Hershey, with three of the winners repeating as state champs.

Congratulations to St. Joseph’s Prep, Archbishop Wood, Thomas Jefferson, Wyoming Area, Southern Columbia and Farrell after they added to their district gold with PIAA titles.

So in the final edition of the Trib HSSN PIAA football rankings (boys and girls basketball state rankings start next week), let’s see how we did compared to our first rankings of the season.

Here are the Trib HSSN teams in each class, 1 through 5 from our initial state rankings Aug. 20.

6A: St. Joseph’s Prep, Pine-Richland, Central Catholic, Harrisburg, Coatesville

5A: Gateway, Manheim Central, Archbishop Wood, Upper Dublin, Penn Hills

4A: Cathedral Prep, Thomas Jefferson, Bethlehem Catholic, Valley View, Imhotep Charter

3A: Aliquippa, Middletown, Scranton Prep, North Catholic, Sharon

2A: Southern Columbia, West Catholic, Washington, Ligonier Valley, Wilmington

A: Farrell, Clairton, Old Forge, Bishop Guilfoyle, Jeannette

Here is the final PIAA top five in each of the six classifications. Teams are listed with record, last week’s ranking and district.

Class 6A

1. St. Joseph’s Prep (12-2) (1) (D-12): The defending PIAA champion Hawks beat No. 2 Central Dauphin in the PIAA 6A championship game, 35-13.

2. Central Dauphin (12-3) (2) (D-3): The Rams lost to No. 1 St. Joseph’s Prep in the PIAA 6A championship game, 35-13.

3. Central Catholic (12-2) (3) (D-7)

4. Downingtown West (13-2) (4) (D-1)

5. Nazareth (12-2) (5) (D-11)

Class 5A

1. Archbishop Wood (11-3) (1) (D-12): The Vikings beat No. 2 Cheltenham in the PIAA 5A championship game, 19-15.

2. Cheltenham (14-2) (2) (D-1): The Panthers lost to No. 1 Archbishop Wood in the PIAA 5A championship game, 19-15.

3. Gateway (12-3) (3) (D-7)

4. Cocalico (11-3) (4) (D-3)

5. Peters Township (12-2) (5) (D-7)

Class 4A

1. Thomas Jefferson (16-0) (1) (D-7): The Jaguars beat No. 2 Dallas in the PIAA 4A championship game, 46-7.

2. Dallas (15-1) (2) (D-2): The Mountaineers lost to No. 1 Thomas Jefferson in the PIAA 4A championship game, 46-7.

3. Jersey Shore (11-4) (3) (D-4)

4. Lampeter-Strasburg (11-4) (4) (D-3)

5. Cathedral Prep (11-3) (5) (D-10)

Class 3A

1. Wyoming Area (14-1) (2) (D-2): The Warriors beat No. 1 Central Valley in the PIAA 3A championship game, 21-14.

2. Central Valley (13-2) (1) (D-7): The Warriors lost to No. 2 Wyoming Area in the PIAA 3A championship game, 21-14.

3. Tamaqua (12-3) (3) (D-11)

4. Bald Eagle (11-4) (4) (D-6)

5. Wyomissing (12-1) (5) (D-3)

Class 2A

1. Southern Columbia (16-0) (1) (D-4): The defending PIAA champion Tigers beat No. 2 Avonworth in the PIAA 2A championship game, 74-7.

2. Avonworth (15-1) (2) (D-7): The Antelopes lost to No. 1 Southern Columbia in the PIAA 2A championship game, 7407.

3. Wilmington (12-1) (3) (D-10)

4. Richland (13-1) (4) (D-6)

5. Washington (13-1) (5) (D-7)

Class A

1. Farrell (14-2) (1) (D-10): The defending PIAA champion Steelers beat No. 2 Bishop Guilfoyle in the PIAA Class A championship game, 10-7 in overtime.

2. Bishop Guilfoyle (12-3) (2) (D-6): The Marauders lost to No. 1 Farrell in the PIAA Class A championship game, 10-7 in overtime.

3. Clairton (11-3) (3) (D-7)

4. Lackawanna Trial (10-4) (4) (D-2)

5. Coudersport (11-1) (5) (D-9)

Tags: Avonworth, Central Catholic, Central Valley, Clairton, Gateway, Peters Township, Thomas Jefferson, Washington