Good luck choosing best football team in a decade from some of our powerhouses

Perhaps the toughest part of deciding on the top 12 Courier Times/Intell football teams of each decade was narrowing down some schools' best squad of the decade.

Since we're only allowing one team from each school per decade from the 1970s through the 2010s, there were some extremely difficult decisions.

For subscribers: Do you agree with our selections of the top football teams of the 1970s?

For subscribers: See which Courier Times/Intell football teams we chose as the best of the 1980s

For subscribers: Plenty of worthy candidates for top football teams of the 1990s

Should we go with Pennsbury's unbeaten 1972 team or the excellent '74 squad? Which of Central Bucks West's four PIAA state championship squads of the 1990s (1991, 1997-99) is most deserving? How about choosing from Archbishop Wood's six state title teams in the 2010s (2011, 2013-14, 2016-17, 2019)?

Pennsbury went 11-0 with four shutouts to win the Lower Bucks County League and Big 7 championships in 1972, marking the first undefeated team for a program dating back to 1930. The Falcons closed out the season with a 23-21 victory over once-beaten Neshaminy.

In PA Football News' 2005 computerized 16-team tournament to determine the best team in Pennsylvania history, the 1972 squad reached the championship round before falling to the 1971 Neshaminy team 19-10 in a simulated title game.

The 1974 Falcons, also coached by Chuck Kane, won the Lower Bucks County and Big 8 championships by going 11-0 with three shutouts, in addition to being named mythical state champs (Gateway from the WPIAL was bestowed that title in '72). The season ended with a 49-13 win over Neshaminy.

You could flip a coin between those two loaded Pennsbury teams.

Meanwhile, all four 1990s CB West PIAA championship squads recorded perfect records.

In 1991, the Bucks finished 13-0, earned the school's first on-field state title by downing Erie Cathedral Prep 26-14 and ended up third in the nation, according to USA Today.

The 1997 Bucks went 15-0 and topped Upper St. Clair 47-22 in the championship game after a 27-24 semifinal win over Central Dauphin that was their only result closer than 15 points.

In '98, Mike Pettine and CB West became the first Class 4A team to repeat as state champs by again going 15-0, culminating in a 56-7 romp over New Castle in the title game. The Bucks ended up No. 8 according to USA Today's Super 25 and had five players receive Associated Press all-state honors.

The 1999 Bucks completed the school's third straight state title with another 15-0 campaign, extending their win streak to 45. The capper was a 14-13 championship-game win over Erie Cathedral Prep when senior Andrew Elsing blocked a punt and recovered it with 2:53 remaining. The Bucks were ranked No. 6 in the final USA Today poll.

Which CB West team would you take?

The first of Steve Devlin's five Archbishop Wood state championship teams blanked Bishop McDevitt 52-0 in the 2011 title game, finishing the year with 699 points while going 14-1 and accumulating six AP first-team all-state selections.

The 2013 Vikings also dispatched Bishop McDevitt (22-10) for the second time in three years in the title game by dominating on the ground after halftime to end up 13-2.

In 2014, Wood handled Central Valley 33-14 for its third 3A state championship in four years as running back Jarrett McClenton averaged almost 11 yards per carry and nearly reached 2,200 rushing yards for the 14-1 Vikings.

The 2016 Vikings completed a postseason in which they averaged 46.4 points with a 37-10 victory over Harrisburg in the 5A title game, completing an 11-2-1 year.

In 2017, Wood again rolled through the postseason, ending with a 49-14 win over Gateway for back-to-back 5A crowns. The Vikings won their final 10 games after a 2-2 start.

The 2019 Vikings, under second-year coach Kyle Adkins, rallied to edge Cheltenham 19-15 in the title game on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Max Keller to Cardel Pigford with four seconds left. Wood finished 11-3.

You can make a case for any of those Wood teams, just as with the Pennsbury and CB West squads.

We talked to longtime observers, former coaches, some ex-players and studied old newspaper clippings, as well as the numbers, in an effort to make the best possible picks. You may not agree with all of our decisions, which is understandable.

Check out our five-part subscriber-only series, starting with the 1970s and ending with the 2010s. All 28 of our football-playing schools made at least one of the all-decade teams.

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes; @TomMoorePhilly

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: High school football in Bucks, Montgomery counties: picking the top 12