The Birdie learns his lesson, makes A-K Valley playoff picks

By: The Birdie
Wednesday, November 6, 2024 | 6:17 PM

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Last week: 2-2

Season: 83-24 (77.6%)

Back when The Birdie took the SATs, his score resembled his area code.

And that was before they introduced 724.

In other words, learning isn’t exactly his strong suit. Still, as the high school football season winds down, he thinks it’s important to take stock of some of the lessons that have been learned, especially from the last two teams left standing in the A-K Valley: Freeport and Highlands.

• The lesson we learned from Freeport: It’s OK to get knocked down, as long as you get right back up.

The Yellowjackets lost 21-7 to Derry in Week 1. Derry’s not a bad program. The Trojans made the playoffs last season. But it’s not the kind of a loss a team with postseason aspirations wants to suffer.

How did the Yellowjackets respond? By winning seven of their next eight, playing their best football in the playoffs and taking care of Mt. Pleasant last Friday.

Want to win playoff games? Make sure you keep getting better every day.

• The lesson we learned from Highlands: It’s not always about the results.

Six games into the season, the Golden Rams were 2-4, but that record was misleading. It included a one-point overtime loss to Class 5A Armstrong, a two-point loss to conference champ Imani Christian and a one-point loss to playoff team Deer Lakes.

With apologies to Bill Parcells, sometimes you’re not what your record says you are. The Golden Rams were a good team all year. They just needed a couple of plays here and there to go their way.

Want to have postseason success? Worry about the process more than the final score.

Here are some other lessons The Birdie learned this season:

• Birdie learned something about heat acclimation. It’s more important than ever. “I swear I was sweating my feathers off nine of the 10 weeks of the regular season,” Birdie groused.

• Birdie learned he missed those prescription drug commercials while they were gone. “After three months of relentless political ads, I was dying for a long discussion about side effects,” Birdie squawked.

• Birdie learned that there should be a Congressional investigation into Sheetz taking tots off the menu. “Replaced them with Shnuggets, more or less. Pfft. No matter what those Chic-fil-A cows say, you should not eat more chicken. Numbskulls.”

With those lessons learned, here are The Birdie’s picks for the second week of the postseason:

Highlands vs. Imani Christian: The Birdie thinks it’s very significant that Highlands gave undefeated Imani Christian its closest game of the year in the regular season. The Golden Rams lost 12-10 where every other opponent fell to Imani by at least two touchdowns. Styles make fights, and there’s something about Highlands’ style that doesn’t agree with Imani Christian.

That said, the Saints have multiple Division I players who can come at opponents in waves. It’s asking a whole lot to keep them at bay for 48 minutes. Imani Christian, 20-14

Freeport (8-3) at Central Valley (5-5): The Yellowjackets’ run defense will face its toughest test of the year. The Warriors boast star running backs Mason “The Line” Dixon and Jance Henry and traditionally lean on an offensive line that can blow most opponents off the ball.

But here’s the thing: The Warriors can be stopped. Avonworth did it in Week 5. North Hills did it in the regular-season finale. It’s not an impossible task for Freeport. It’s just a really hard one. Central Valley, 27-20

Tags: Central Valley, Freeport, Highlands, Imani Christian