Garnet Valley, Strath Haven set to help Central League take on the world

NETHER PROVIDENCE – The rules are firm, the situation intense, the opponents respected and the challenge at hand.

For two nights this weekend in Folsom, with an entire state of high school football fans at attention, in a system not built to their benefit, two Delaware County football programs from one traditional league of essentially neighborhood schools will confront a couple of magnet programs from Philadelphia.

Friday at 7, on Phil Marion Field at Ridley High, Strath Haven will play Imhotep for a spot in the PIAA Class 5A championship game. Saturday night – same time, same venue – Garnet Valley will play St. Joseph’s Prep in the Class 6A Final Four.

Two big-school tournaments … and two chances to demonstrate what Kevin Clancy long has understood.

“To me, the Central League has always been a good league,” the Strath Haven coach said. “I’ll tell you, getting ready to play in this league is tough. There have always been good teams. Every week, when we do our scouting reports, I tell the kids, ‘This team is really well coached.’ And every team is, week in and week out.”

Some years are better than others, and 2021 was a classic for a league trapped in a region with so many other powerful programs to the north, the west and in Philadelphia. Eight of the 12 Central League teams qualified for the enrollment-based tournaments, including Ridley, which marched to ever-powerful North Penn and won in overtime before falling at Coatesville.

By last weekend, Strath Haven was winning at West Chester Rustin, 34-33 in double overtime, while Garnet Valley was overpowering Coatesville, 54-15. But once the District One portions of the tournaments were settled, the rules of engagement changed. Imhotep is a charter school able to draw students from everywhere in Philadelphia. And like any Philadelphia Catholic League school, the Prep is not subject to enrollment boundaries and often includes star players from as far away as New Jersey. The effect – while perfectly legal – is two District 12 super teams, one from the Public League, the other from the Catholic League.

“The one thing I can tell you, even from back when we were really good, is that when you are really good, people will find a way to get to you,” said Clancy, who coached the Panthers to state championships in 1999 and 2000. “And I think that’s probably what happened in some cases with them.”

So the more Imhotep and The Prep thrive in football, the more good football players will gravitate to North and Northwest Philadelphia. From there, the momentum builds, and so does the pressure on the more traditional public schools to find ways to remain competitive.

One way is to employ quality coaches, and the Central League is particularly deep, including Clancy, the winingest coach in Southeastern Pennsylvania history, and Garnet Valley’s Mike Ricci, No. 2 on the all-time Delco list.

So the Jags and Panthers will be prepared for the Philly teams this weekend, no matter the differing ways their rosters may be constructed.

“In terms of fairness, anybody can see that it’s not fair for a school that has no boundaries to play schools that do have boundaries,” Ricci said. “But we’re not going to get into that victim mentality.”

This year, there is no reason, not for 14-0 Garnet Valley and its 36 seniors, not for 13-1 Strath Haven, which Clancy says is one of his better teams.

“Listen, St. Joe Prep is a great football team,” Ricci said. “They’re well coached. They have really good players across the board. They have a great history and we’re very respectful and aware of that. But we have a really solid history and a really strong tradition, too. And as far as I know, we’re the only other team playing Saturday night. So we’ll see what happens.”

The Jags are one of two teams playing at a storied Delco facility Saturday, the Panthers one of two Friday. And if ever there were a chance for some cross-over league pride, that would be the time. For dangerous Garnet Valley defensive back C.J. Wood, the son of Ridley coach Dave Wood, playing a “home” game at The Phil might almost feel natural.

“I don’t follow any other team in the league, but I do follow Ridley, of course,” he said. “I do think the Central League was deeper this year than in years past. Ridley was strong. Haverford had a great team. Strath Haven is obviously doing exceptional. Just to have two Delco teams and two Central League teams this far in the playoffs is a great thing.”

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Strath Haven's Kevin Clancy, left, and Garnet Valley's Mike Ricci, right, shake hands after the Jaguars victory over the Panthers earlier this year. Both teams are carrying the Central League banner into this weekends PIAA Class 5A and 6A semifinals, respectively. (PETE BANNAN/MEDIANEWS GROUP)