Patriots

Tonight at 8:15 Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass. TV: NBC10 Radio: WYSP-FM (94.1) Line: Patriots by 24 How They Match Up Eagles defense vs. Patriots offense It is scary to even think about, but the Eagles should not feel too bad, because Tom Brady and his new toys at wide receiver have made every opponent - except Indianapolis - look like overmatched amateurs. The only hope for any team facing the Patriots is to apply pressure on Brady and force him into throwing some picks.

Playing undermanned finally caught up to Central Bucks East. The Peters Township Indians defeated the injury-plagued Patriots, 2-0, in yesterday's PIAA Class AAA boys' state quarterfinal at Trojan Stadium. The victory advanced the Indians (22-2-2) into Tuesday's semifinal round at a site to be determined. They will play Pine Richland, a 2-1 winner over Bethel Park. C.B. East finished the season at 20-5-1. "Tonight, we just didn't have it," Patriots midfielder Sean Peckham said.

Strath Haven fired off 22 points at the start of its Wednesday night matchup against Penn Wood, but it wasn't enough to stave off the host Patriots. The Patriots rallied for a 62-59 victory over the Panthers in their third win of the year. Both clubs played Friday - Penn Wood won against Monsignor Bonner and Strath Haven triumphed against Upper Darby. The Pats are now 4-0 while the Panthers are 2-3. "We came out slow and they came out hot," said Chip Cifuni, Patriot coach.

For Germantown Academy this season, the mistakes of youth have been a problem. Fortunately for the Patriots, most of those mistake have been in games that Germantown Academy has won. In The Hill School Tournament in Pottstown over the weekend, one of those youths came through for coach Dave Hoch. Brian Costello, a junior guard, scored only 2 points in the Patriots' 48-45 win over Choate School yesterday afternoon in the fifth-place game, but Hoch credited him with turning the tide.

Germantown Academy had the game plan for stopping Penn Charter's twin towers, but just didn't have the horses to pull it off. The Quakers' duo of 6-foot, 9-inch, 215-pound senior Steve Goodrich and 6-7, 230 junior Shawn Peterson teamed up for 38 points as the Quakers dropped the host Patriots, 72-67, in each team's Inter-Ac opener on Friday. With the victory, the Quakers improved to 13-1 overall, and 1-0 in the league, while the Patriots dropped to 8-5 and 0-1. "I knew we couldn't handle both of those big guys," GA coach Jim Fenerty said.

Bruce Stankavage continues to play in pain, but the senior guard at Central Bucks East also continues to be a significant force in the Patriots' offense. Despite playing with a possible stress fracture in his right foot, Stankavage scored 29 points Saturday. Nonetheless, the Patriots lost to Chester, 77-60, in the championship game of the Chester Kiwanis Tournament. Stankavage also starred for the Pats in their 69-61 opening-round victory over Strath Haven on Friday. In that game, Stankavage, who is 6-foot, 2-inch and a Division I college prospect, scored a game-high 34 points, 15 in the second quarter, as the Pats (2-5)

Penn Wood has made a habit of winning Del-Val League championships, but even head coach Mike Guille had doubts about contending in 1989 after the Patriots lost their first five games. "I didn't think we had a chance," Guille said after the Patriots beat Chichester, 13-8, Saturday afternoon. "Our fourth and fifth losses were close. Our kids could have gone south, but they didn't. It's a credit to them that we've come back. " The Patriots have reeled off four straight wins after losing, 17-16, to Episcopal Academy in their fourth game of the year and 13-6 to The Haverford School in their fifth.

Fresh off its fine showing in Trenton's rugged Eastern States Invitational Tournament over the holidays, Germantown Academy got the new year off to a rollicking start Friday afternoon with a heart-stopping 62-61 victory over the previously undefeated Hun School of Princeton. With the Patriots trailing, 61-60, and the clock showing 3 seconds to play in Germantown's storied and raucous gym, Pats center Mark Nori gathered in a rebound off the offensive glass and was fouled in the act of shooting.

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh made a critical remark about the New England Patriots in a radio interview on Tuesday, but later backtracked. Harbaugh told a Baltimore station that New England's championships "got asterisks now; it's been stained" while referring to the Spygate scandal of 2007. The Ravens later released a a statement from Harbaugh in which he said his "reference was to the perception out there that came as the result of the league's actions. " He said that he could have been clearer and that "I totally believe that the Patriot and Saint coaches and players earned those championships.

THE EAGLES will be the first to acknowledge that they've made their share of draft mistakes over the years. But they hardly are alone in that respect. Many consider Bill Belichick to be one of the smartest men ever to set foot in the National Football League. He's taken the Patriots to five Super Bowls and won three of them. His team has recorded nine straight double-digit win seasons and has made it to the postseason 8 of those 9 years. Yet, if you inspect the Patriots' drafts from 2007 through 2009, you might wonder whether Belichick brought in a fourth-grader to make the team's picks during that period.

Germantown Academy's Nick Lindner, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, has committed to play basketball at Lafayette. In 30 games last season, Lindner averaged 17.8 points and helped lead the Patriots to a 20-10 overall record and a 6-4 mark in the Inter-Academic League. He was a first-team all-Inter-Ac selection. - Rick O'Brien

NEW YORK - The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting Monday for documenting the New York Police Department's widespread spying on Muslims, while the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. - and in particular, 24-year-old reporter Sara Ganim - were honored for local reporting that broke the Penn State sexual abuse scandal. David Wood of the Huffington Post won for national reporting for a look at the suffering endured by American veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

West Chester Rustin needed just six innings to drop visiting Ches-Mont League rival Great Valley on Wednesday, pounding its way to a 16-6 victory in a baseball game called an inning early because of the mercy rule. The victory not only kept the Golden Knights (7-0) unbeaten, but also marked their third straight game of scoring 12 runs or more. Rustin scored in every frame but the third en route to its season-high run total. It was highlighted by a seven-run, six-hit second inning in which five Knights drove in runs.

If his team's early-season showing is any indication, new Germantown Academy skipper Tyler Stampone, 24, has been able to bridge the relatively small age gap between himself and his players. "We have the greatest respect for him," senior shortstop Dan Hoy said. "Everybody feels comfortable around him. And because he's a little younger, he easily relates to us. " On Saturday, with Hoy producing a three-run home run and stealing four bases, the Patriots ripped visiting Council Rock North, 13-2, in a five-inning contest.

STATE COLLEGE - For the first time in four years, there's a new queen of PIAA Class AAAA girls' basketball. Rebounding from a one-point loss in 2011 to a Mount Lebanon team that had won each state title since 2008, Archbishop Carroll downed Oakland Catholic, 56-37, to win the AAAA championship Friday night at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. "I told them before the game, I felt we beat ourselves last year, and this year, we didn't beat ourselves," Patriots coach Chuck Creighton said.

The two teams that stepped on the Norristown High School hardwood Tuesday night had reached a level of play that no other girls' team in the region could reach. Spring-Ford and Archbishop Carroll, The Inquirer's No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Southeastern Pennsylvania, respectively, had combined to win 57 of their 61 games this season before facing off in the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals. Neither had experienced a loss in months. But only one team had experienced the highs and lows of the state tournament.

Archbishop Carroll, seeking its third PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal berth in four seasons, set the tone early Tuesday night against Octorara. The Patriots pounded the offensive glass, carried over a hot shooting touch from last Friday, and built a 17-point advantage in the first seven minutes against the bewildered Braves. From there, Carroll, also playing stellar defense, put the finishing touches on a 71-50, second-round romp at Coatesville High and moved a step closer to its second state title.

A combined 28 teams from District 1 and 12 earned berths in the PIAA basketball tournament. After the opening round, 20 are still alive in the hunt for state gold. That's not too shabby, considering the highest possible number of remaining area squads was 26. Two contests pitted locals against each other: Central Bucks West vs. St. Joseph's Prep in Class AAAA, and Pope John Paul II vs. Boys' Latin in AAA. Two locals were eliminated in double overtime. In Class AAAA, Wissahickon bowed to District 11's Easton Area, 49-43.