Week 18 (Florida)
Normally, my high school football odyssey has ended with the final Texas UIL championship game. However, this year there was a new event taking place the last Saturday of the year.
2014 Week 17 (Texas)
Week 17 (Texas)
I originally hoped to get something down earlier but the week between Texas and Florida was a bit full for certain obvious reasons.
Basically, Week 17 was part of a three week trip for games in Texas and Florida, as well as a Christmas spent in Fort Lauderdale with my girlfriend’s family. It also gave me the chance to clinch a few more states in my quest to visit every county in the country. However, this write-up is to summarize the Texas portion of the trip.
2014 Week 16 (Pennsylvania)
Week 16 (Pennsylvania)
During Week 16, Pennsylvania hosted four championship games at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey on Friday and Saturday. The games have been played at Hersheypark Stadium for quite some time now and is a rather great location for the games. The stadium, though decently sized for the crowd, is old and decrepit. Located just east of Harrisburg, Hershey is the home of the chocolate behemoth Hershey’s and all its related hoopla. Including Hersheypark, which is where the sports complex is located.
2014 Week 15 (Maryland & New Jersey)
Week 15 (Maryland & New Jersey)
This was a difficult decision for me. For the first time in years I opted not to attend the Ohio state championships. Though the games were moved from Stark County to Columbus, it’s obvious that the travel wasn’t an issue for me. And neither was the cost. However, I wasn’t expecting the games to be worth the time and effort.
2014 Week 11 (New York)
Week 11 (New York)
This was one of the best weekends of football I’ve gotten to experience in a while. In four days, in three cities, I and my girlfriend took in 13 NYPHSAA Sectional Championships. The week’s planning started with two triple-headers at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY. Because of a Bills home game on Sunday, the high school games were set for Thursday and Friday. This meant that Saturday would be open.
The original plan was then to drive into Pennsylvania, and see a District 10 Quarterfinal between Greenville and Northwestern, and then a short trip over to suburban Youngstown for Liberty-Gilmour Academy. It was during this planning, that I noted Syracuse was hosting four Section 3 championships at the Carrier Dome on Sunday. As the Browns were already playing on the road Thursday, I wasn’t in a big hurry to get back home. A further glance of the schedule shows Rochester was playing their regular Section 5 championships at Sahlen’s Stadium on Friday and Saturday. So, my mind was made up for me.
2012 Pennsylvania (Week 17)
Pennsylvania (Week 17)
In what would be Ohio Week 17, I drove to Hershey, Pennsylvania for the PIAA Championship Games. I was here two years ago, and had a low opinion of the games. I wasn’t expecting much. My low expectations were surpassed, and I had an enjoyable weekend in Chocolate Town.
2012 New Jersey (Week 16)
New Jersey (Week 16)
Due to the unfortunate tragedy wrought by Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey had pushed back their titles games to the week after the OHSAA finals. Because of this, and the lack of really any sort of doubleheaders in Pennsylvania to see, I decided to drive out to the Garden State to take in their championships being held at MetLife Stadium. It was going to be a rather tight weekend, as I planned to drive to Cleveland for the Browns-Chiefs game on Sunday with my dad. This wasn’t going to be easy.
2012 Pennsylvania (Week 14)
Pennsylvania (Week 14)
The past two weeks have been games in the Keystone State again. My reasoning is simply there’s more games available than in Ohio with the lone single game on Friday night and single game on Saturday night.
2012 Pennsylvania (Week 12)
Pennsylvania (Week 12)
Once again, I’m not sure why I can’t seem to find the time to make an update. But, I’ve mostly seen Pennsylvania games the last five weeks, including three this past weekend when I decided a 340-mile round trip to New Philadelphia from where I am this weekend would be just a tad too much for the Big Red game.
2012 Pennsylvania (Week 7)
Pennsylvania (Week 7)
Unfortunately, despite having the time to see the number of games, I haven’t had the time to write recaps of my weekends. But, I also haven’t traveled much for games. I’ve only seen games in four states so far this year and all of them bordering Ohio (Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia).
Before recounting some games from elsewhere around Pennsylvania from earlier this year, I’ll give a run-down of this week.