For those of you who say that the Lower Merion Football team has no chance to beat Garnet Valley in their fist home game (Saturday 1:00 at Hap Arnold Field), I’ve got two words for you. App State. Then again, if the Aces upset Garnet Valley on Saturday, Sports Illustrated might have to put our boys on the cover of the next issue, because they will have pulled off an upset that surpasses the famous 2007 Appalachian State-Michigan Game.
The Aces are ranked “slightly lower” than Garnet Valley
Look at the numbers below. Maxpreps is a national website that uses computer models to rank almost every high school team in the country. According their rankings, there are 376 teams in Pennsylvania that are better than Lower Merion, but not as good as Garnett Valley. And nationally there are 10,082 teams better than Lower Merion, but not as good as Garnett Valley. Aces fans, if it makes you feel any better, Harriton is ranked even lower than Lower Merion, at 522 in Pennsylvania, and 12,824 nationally.
If you think that’s bad
Opponents outscored Lower Merion Football 82-14 in the frst two games of this season. But the two teams that beat the Aces rank way lower than the Garnet Valley team they have to face on Saturday. On August 23, Lower Merion lost to Upper Merion by a score of 41-7. Upper Merion Is ranked 167 in Pennsylvania and 4,457 nationally. On August 30, Lower Merion succumbed to Marple Newtown. Again the score was 41-7. Marple Newtown is ranked 236 in Pennsylvania and 6,540 nationally.
What Garnet Valley Coach Doug Osborne should do
Osborne should have the first unit of his JV Team suit up and start against Lower Merion on Saturday (The two schools’ JV teams play each on Monday. Garnet Valley’s second team should be able to run roughshod over Lower Merion’s starters). In the unlikely event that things get testy, he can pull his JV kids out of the game and replace them with the Varsity second unit. There is no reason for Garnet varsity starters to see any action on Saturday.