2023 District 3: Top 20 (Week 6).
Week #6 Standings
There are still 12 undefeated teams in the district, 15 with one loss and 10 with two losses, making for a heck of a stretch run. At this point, only two undefeated teams look to face off, Steel High and West Perry in the MP-Capital finale. New Oxford gets out-of-state Fort Hill (5-0) of Cumberland, Md in a few weeks if they get past Mountain Ridge (5-0) from beautiful Frostburg, Md. These are schools just across the state line. The one loss and two loss teams, and even the three loss teams are fighting for division titles and/or seeds for the postseason. And with all the ties this week, I just may have to give up and make it a Top 25! Here’s what happened last week.
1 Bishop McDevitt 4A 6-0
Bishop McDevitt had another easy division win in the Mid Penn-Keystone beating Milton Hershey 55-14. To date, they’ve defeated three division opponents by an average score of 57-10. Last year saw them beat division foes by an average of 59-7. The year before it was 58-4, with the covid-shortened season at a 39-8 average score against five opponents. Time to move back to the Mid Penn-Commonwealth? About the game; quarterback Stone Saunders continued his torrid pace completing 14 of 19 passes for 186 yards and four touchdowns. He has thrown for 1402 yards this year with a 20 to 1 Td/Pick ratio. Rico Scott was the recipient of six throws for 64 yards and a score, and returned a kick-off 82 yards for another score. Junior safety Jaden Garnes had a 27-yard Pick-6 in the third quarter while freshman Jontai Quick impressed with 60 yards on four carries and a touchdown. Nazir Jones-Davis led all rushers with 94 yards and a touchdown. The game got out of hand by the half (34-7) where most of the starters sat at some point in the third quarter and by the fourth. The win is their 19th straight going back to last season where they lost the opener to 5A Silver Medal winner Imhotep Charter (10-2) 19-14. Hershey (4-1) is next with a decent team but not one that can keep up with McDevitt who beat them 70-0 last year.
2 Manheim Township 6A 6-0
Township jumped on overmatched McCaskey (1-5) early, getting a 44-0 lead at the half where like McDevitt, most of the starters sat early. The final was 44-6. Quarterback Hayden Johnson is having an extraordinary season, completing 9 of 10 passes for 119 yards and touchdowns of 21 and 29 yards. He has yet to throw an interception on 119 passes with a 76% completion rate for 1479 yards. His Td to interception ratio is 24-0. Declan Clancy provided punch on the ground with 96 yards on 11 carries, scoring on 5, 9, and 10 yard bursts. Asher Wolfe had a 30-yard Pick-6 in the first quarter with the defense having a big day holding the Red Tornado to 90-yards rushing and 95 up top. Township showed a balanced offense with 148 yards passing and 152 on the ground, most of it coming in the first half. They get a challenge this week with 5-1 Cedar Crest coming in. The Falcons don’t have the horses Township has. But if the team that beat Philly Northeast 24-0 and CD East 33-7 shows up, it’ll be one of the top games of the weekend.
3 Harrisburg 6A 5-1
When Harrisburg is on, no one in the state is going to beat them except St. Joseph’s Prep and maybe Pittsburgh Central Catholic and North Allegheny. They demonstrated as much last week against Altoona holding the Mountain Lions to 97 total yards of offense while piling up 447 yards themselves. Quarterback Shawn Lee had another great outing, completing 8 of 10 passes for 164 yards with touchdown throws of 14, 54 and 28 yards while rushing for 106 yards on seven carries. Just a junior! Defenses don’t know what to do with him. His top receiver Elias Coke (6-2, 190, FSU, BC, Io St), a sophomore, is also special with 96 yards in receptions and scores of 54 and 14 yards. Mekhi Newman is a great addition this year to the backfield at 5-9, 195, rushing for 74 yards on 9 carries with two touchdowns. Junior Kymir Williams helped get it all started in the first quarter with a 38-yard Pick-6 as the Cougars rolled all over Altoona 54-7. CD East (3-3) is next in a city game that can get dicey. They have a great back in Jared Porter (832ry, 226py) and a quarterback in Demoj Jalloh who threw for 242 yards last week against State College! Some of these 3-3 teams in the Mid Penn-Commonwealth are tough outs, like the WPIAL and SOL-National years ago where a 6-4 team was often as good as a 9-1 team.
4 Central York 6A 6-0
Central York dropped down a rung in the rankings with a less than typical performance at home last week against Dallastown (2-4), edging the Wildcats 23-13. In truth, Central shouldn’t be confused with last year’s 10-2 team that averaged 40ppg for the fourth straight year. But they’re still a force with another great back in Juelz Goff who was their offense here, rushing for 226 yards on 46 carries. His touchdown with 8:28 left in the game gave them a precarious 20-10 lead. Dallastown’s defense held everything down but Goff, holding the Panthers to field goals of 30, 34 and 30. Nothing from D-Town but the York Adams-1 is clearly in rebuild mode, top to bottom. YA-1 action continues Friday where they’ll likely get it right in a BIG way against Northeastern (0-6) who’s allowing 48ppg!
5 State College 6A 4-1
CD East threw everything at State College last week including the proverbial kitchen sink with junior Demaj Jollah throwing for 241 yards (19 of 33) and another junior Jared Porter rushing for 195 yards. But none of that mattered as the Lions where ferocious in the red zone where it counted, beating the Panthers 43-17. DT Justin Castro-Dixon (6-1, 345) is an immoveable (and unavoidable) force especially in the red zone. His opposite, OT Jake Hohenshelt (6-4, 270), opens things for D’Andre Sheffeyto to get 165 rush yards and protects for Ty Salazer to get loose for 125 yards in receptions. Another long range weapon, John Zipf, had field goals of 42, 36 and 33 yards. Junior quarterback Eddie Corkery threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns with the ground game netting 241 yards. The win keeps them perfect in division play where they move closer to a head-to-head with Harrisburg Oct 13th. Before that comes a road game at Carlisle who lost five straight since opening with a win. Three of those losses were to Governor Mifflin 28-21, York 42-40 and Chambersburg 3-0.
6 Steelton Highspire 1A 6-0
Steel High rolled out another huge offensive performance with 488 total yards against their next door neighbor Middletown, in an un-neighborly like 48-7 win. Quarterback Alex Erby was uncanny, completing 21 of 24 passes for 468 yards….!....with touchdowns of 42, 48, 43, 19, 79 and 85 yards. Evidently the game plan was to work on the passing game with a mere 13 rush attempts. Wide outs Rell Ceasar and Jaeion Perry who have been unstoppable to date carried the load pulling in eight passes for 257 yards for Ceasar and five for 158 for Perry. Like many opponents this year, Middletown had trouble with Steelton’s defensive front of DL’s Sean Bennett (5-11, 220), Andrew Erby (6-4, 285, PSU), Amari Williams (6-2, 225) and Eugene Green (6-1, 250). MLB Taevon Legrande (5-11, 225) added a 54-yard ‘Scoop and Score’ in the third quarter. Camp Hill (4-2) is next in a division game on the West Shore where the Rollers should extend their 18 game winning streak. But the Lions can be a problem with a good passing game and competitive losses to Big Spring 29-28 in overtime and Middletown 14-7 without quarterback Drew Branstetter who went down against Big Spring late.
7 Wyomissing 3A 6-0
Wyomissing displayed one of their best defensive performances of the year last week dismantling Donegal (2-4) 49-0 for their first shutout of the season. They allowed 45 yards of offense while piling up 450 of their own. 12 backs had carries, led by sophomore Chase Eisenhower’s 81 yards and senior Marvin Armistead’s 77. They don’t throw often but when they do they do it well with quarterback Logan Hyde completing three of five passes for 76 yards. He threw a 63-yard Td strike to Ryker Jones while #2-Qb freshman Teddy White threw a score to Jake Neff of 33 yards. Drew Forrey had a 28-yard Pick-6 in the first quarter that got it all started with a 21 point first quarter. This week sees them in Denver against the red hot Cocalico Eagles who are on a five game winning streak looking every bit as good as Wyomissing while outscoring their opponents 45 to 15. Look out Wyo!
8 Cocalico 5A 5-1
Cocalico build an insurmountable 28-0 first quarter lead that ballooned to 42-0 at the half on the way to a 56-7 rout of a solid ELCO (4-2) team. Like Wyo above, they unveiled one of their best defensive performances of the year holding the Raiders to 107 total yards. This comes on the heels of their shutting down Lampeter Strasburg (5-1) the week before 24-10, holding them to 70 rush yards. Aaryn Longenecker paced the attack with 158 yards on five carries and a 52-yard Pick-6. Nine others added 192 more yards rushing. ELCO keyed on Cocalico’s lead rusher Sam Steffey who leads the team with 611 yards and 11 touchdowns, holding him to 31 yards. But he still broke away for three touchdowns. Wyomissing is next, coming to Denver in a game that for all intents and purposes will decide the LL-4
9 Wilson 6A 4-2
Wilson battled tooth and nail, holding on to defeat arch rival Governor Mifflin in a back yard brawl 21-14. The difference was Wilson’s quarterback Tommy Hunsicker completing 6 of 11 passes for 134 yards with two touchdown tosses and rushing for 90 yards and a score on 13 carries. He’s developed into the quietest dual threat quarterback in the LL accounting for all their scores. Cornell Akings added 46 yards on six carries with Jackson Wagner and Madyx Gruber catching touchdown throws of 46 and 35 respectively. Apart from the Qb, it was an even match with Wilson at 296 yards and Mifflin at 247. Slumping Hempfield (2-4) is next in something of a revenge game with Hempfield knocking them out of the LL-1 race last year with a 17-14 win in West Lawn; their only conference loss.
10 Manheim Central 4A 5-1
Manheim Central seems to be getting it together, albeit against a weak schedule, shutting out Warwick (1-5) 49-0 two weeks ago and Muhlenberg (1-5) 42-0 last week for their third shutout of the year. The 48-28 loss to Cocalico three weeks ago seems like an anomaly coming as it did on the heels of a win against Smyrna-DE the week before. Bottom line, the offense is cooking now at 40ppg with quarterback Zac Hahn at 66% for 1408 yards with a ratio of 19/1. Receiver Aaron Enterline is one of the best, with 744 yards and 12 touchdowns with a 20.1 yards per catch average. Bode Sipel has 368 yards in receptions with three touchdowns. Brycen Arnold is near 7ypc with 857 yards and 11 touchdowns. They’ll get a chance to prove themselves after Lebanon (0-6) this week finishing the season with tough road trips to Conestoga Valley (5-1, 5A) and Exeter (6-0, 5A), games that’ll decide the LL-2 crown and much about seeding in the 4A and 5A classifications.
TIE
York (William Penn) 6A 4-1
York was idle last week, coming off a big road win at Red Lion the week before, 30-6. Dallastown (2-4) is next, a team they beat last year in a shootout at York 66-49!
11 Twin Valley 4A 6-0
Twin Valley escaped with a road win at Solanco (1-5) where the Golden Mules came out swinging. Should say, they came out flinging, throwing the ball more than they have the entire season (option attack) with Austin Jarabak completing 8 of 12 passes for 111 yards and three touchdowns. All totaled, they completed 9 of 15 passes that represents 38% of all passes thrown this year. Twin Valley was thrown way off balance, playing most of the game on their heels, actually down 20-14 in the third quarter. But they blocked the extra point and that was the difference in edging the stubborn Mules 29-28. You can believe opposing coaches are ringing up the coaching staff at Solanco after rushing for 329 yards and piling up 457 total yards to Twin Val’s 370. Heck of an effort by Solanco. Maybe it turns things around for them. We’ll see how T-Val recovers this week where they need a fast turnaround hosting undefeated Garden Spot Friday night.
TIE
Central Dauphin 6A 4-2
Central Dauphin snapped back from the State College loss two weeks ago despite a short week to beat Carlisle 50-16 on a brisk Thursday evening at Speed Ebersole Staduim. Talk about speed. Carlisle couldn’t keep up with Mateo Crummel (5-11, 140) who zipped past everyone for 49, 57, 46 and 48 yard scores thrown by quarterback Key’Ron Plummer. Mateo ended the night with six receptions for 210 yards while Plummer was a perfect seven of seven for 217 yards. All the while, Miles Copper (6-2, 190, sr) kept em honest with eight totes for 74 yards and a touchdown. They played a lot of youth early where sophomore linebacker Mason Wydra got an 87-yard ‘Scoop and Score’ in the second quarter. The 21-point outburst in the second quarter on the heels of a 22-point first quarter broke Carlisle’s will, giving the Rams a 43-3 lead at the half. No.2 quarterback Gavin Kirkpatrick got in to complete four of six passes for 32 yards while 13 running backs had carries. That was a big win, keeping them within striking distance of State College and Harrisburg. Cumberland Valley is next at CD.
12 West Perry 3A 6-0
West Perry unloaded on Boiling Springs for a school record by bursting the Bubbler’s bubble 72-28. 72 points. They came into the game averaging 38ppg, scoring 42 points in the first quarter! With the school mascot being the Mustang, they are aptly named. Quarterback Marcus Quaker lit things up passing for 166 yards and rushing for 120 with four touchdowns. Sophomore Evan Jutba rushed for 99 yards with a score with Ian Goodling having four receptions for 94 yards. All starters sat for the second half. It looks like they’re heading for a showdown with Steel High in the regular season finale to decide the Mid Penn Capital, having defeated Trinity (4-2) 19-16 three weeks ago. But before that they travel to tough as nails Big Spring (3-3) who may not be recovered from consecutive games against Camp Hill (4-2), a 29-28 win, Steel High (6-0) who swamped them 46-7 and Trinity (4-2) who edged them last week 28-22.
TIE
Cedar Crest 6A 5-1
Cedar Crest got their second shutout of the year last week beating Reading (1-5) 36-0. The first shutout was the opener against Philly Northeast 24-0. The Falcons rely on a modest offense that throws at 58% for 591 yards with a poor ratio of 6 to 6. They run well enough, spreading it out with Fernando Marquez (389), Alex Abreu (233) and Qb Jackson Custer (575py, 196ry). Most of all they rely on a stout defense that allows 10.6ppg to bring it all together. They played well enough two weeks ago to win against Wilson with a yardage advantage of 316 to 310 and first downs of 18-12. But they threw two interceptions and couldn’t match Bulldog Qb Tommy Hunsicker. They held Reading to 96 total yards last week and will need a similar effort on the road against Manheim Township. The Streaks are more this year than last year’s group that pummeled the Crest 42-14.
13 Exeter Township 5A 6-0
Exeter survived a trip to Warwick where they hung on for a 28-21 win. The victory keeps them undefeated in the LL-2 with Manheim Central (5-1) and Conestoga Valley. With competitive losses to Cedar Crest (6-0) 29-23 in overtime, Ephrata (5-1) 14-0, Conestoga Valley (5-1) 19-7 and last week to undefeated Exeter, Warwick may be the most underrated 1-5 team in the state, knowing they’re the only team to beat Cocalico (5-1) 17-14 in the opener. How’s that for an opening slate of six winning teams with a combined record of 27-3! Stats were close to even with Exeter at 350 yards and Warwick at 305. Ricky Martinez is maturing in his first year under center completing 8 of 14 passes for 134 yards with a Td toss of 21 yards to Genuine Stutzman. Martinez also rushed for 108 yards and an 82-yard touchdown run for their first score. Jayden Zandier was strong with 93 yards and a score on 18 carries. Muhlenberg (1-5) is next.
TIE
Garden Spot 5A 6-0
Nice win for Garden Spot defending the home turf against previously undefeated Ephrata who falls to 5-1. A wild second quarter had to have the fans-in an uproar seeing their team outscore Ephrata 28-7, largely behind quarterback Kye Harting’s touchdowns of 3, 12 and 6 yards and Reed Gruber’s 25-yard Pick-6. Harting completed 10 of 18 passes for 192 yards with 110 more rushing on 19 carries and a 3-yard touchdown. Jace Conrad and Trenten Hoober led all receivers with 93 and 76 yards with a touchdown each. Ephrata kept it interesting behind quarterback Sam McCracken’s 326 yards passing (20 of 52), with no run support, finishing with 93 yards. G-Spot was balanced with 198 passing and 227 rushing where Gabe Martin and Nathan Eberly added 50 and 42 yards to Harting’s totals. League action continues Friday taking on another undefeated team at Twin Valley in a key LL-Section 2 game.
14 Trinity 2A 4-2
Trinity had their hands full last week in another tough Mid Penn-Capital game getting past stubborn Big Spring (3-3) 28-22. Quarterback Caleb Wray had a big night completing 15 of 20 throws for 182 yards and throwing touchdowns of 6 and 27 yards. He also ran for a 4-yard touchdown. Both defenses shut down the other’s running game with Trinity at 48 yards on 24 carries, and the Bulldogs at 128 yards after 52 carries. Messiah Mickens led the Shamrocks with 23 yards on seven carries and 57-yards on three receptions. Seven receivers had catches. Division play continues Friday at Middletown (1-5) who is coming off a 48-7 loss to rival Steel High.
15 Ephrata 5A 5-1
Although it looks good on the stat sheet, quarterback Sam McCracken’s 326 passing yards weren’t enough, knowing he threw two interceptions and completed only 20 of 48 passes for a 43% completion rate. At least it’s not good enough playing an opponent like undefeated Garden Spot on the road. Throwing the ball 48 times tells the story clear enough, that they couldn’t move the ball on the ground where 29 attempts led to 93 yards. Ephrata battled, they just came up short at 42-22. They will likely turn that around Friday at Fleetwood (3-3) but need to watch out as the Tigers can score points.
16 Lampeter Strasburg 4A 5-1
The Pioneers took out their frustration on Octorara (2-4) 46-7 after losing a tough one the week before at Cocalico 24-10. A 40-0 halftime score says it all where a balanced offense ground out 249 yards rushing with Trent Wagner completing 8 of 10 passes for 130 yards and four touchdowns, keeping the young Braves off kilter all night. Running back Jonathan Mellinger has been a weapon for LS all year, rushing for 123 yards and 766 for the season. Caileb House added 73 yards rushing and a score on five carries with Cooper Hillen rushing for 45 yards. Damoj Gray and Dean Herr had two receptions and two touchdowns each. Struggling Berks Catholic (3-3) is next with a team finding difficulty finding the endzone. They average 16ppg and allow 25 against a tough schedule. In fact its been brutal, losing to powerful Loyalsock Township (4-2, 3A-D4 power) 25-21, Pope John Paul II (6-0, 4A-D1 power) 35-0 and Wyomissing (6-0) 35-7, who needs no words. And now LS.
17 Cedar Cliff 5A 5-1
Cedar Cliff used their big line to bull rush Mifflin County 48-6. The Colts showed early signs of a hangover, coming off a 48-9 home loss to Bishop McDevitt with a lackluster 7-0 first quarter lead. Thereon, it was lights out for the Huskies with the Colts scoring 35 points in the middle two quarters. Erik Shriver carried the load with 21 totes for 152 yards behind a line that averages 285 pounds! Colt’s quarterback Bennett Seacrest who keeps getting better and better, completed 7 of 9 passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns. By games end, they racked up 235 yards rushing, holding the Huskies to 64 rushing and 134 above. This week has them in a critical Keystone Division game and 5A seeding war at the West Shore Stadium against Lower Dauphin (5-1), a team they edged last year 24-21.
18 New Oxford 5A 6-0
New Oxford didn’t play their best game with two turnovers and 231 total yards of offense against a feisty Susquehannock (2-4) team that held a 16-8 advantage in first downs. But the Colonials outscored them 14-0 for the win, clamping down defensively, holding the Warriors to 240 total yards and getting their first shutout of the year. Quarterback Idriz Ahmetovic had 126 of their total yards, completing 5 of 7 passes for 100-yards and rushing for 26. Clayton Nieves rushed for 78 yards on 13 carries. Like the Eagles last week against Washington, you’ve got to like it when you don’t play your best and still come out with the win. Got to credit Susquehannock for laying it out there. Looking ahead, it’s hard finding a loss on a schedule that is manageable with Kennard Dale (2-4), West York (0-6), Fort Hill (5-0, Md.) and Eastern York (4-1).
19 East Pennsboro 4A 6-0
East Pennsboro had a game similar to New Oxford and Susquehannock above where a lesser team stepped up to give them a day’s work. Fortunately, (in both cases), the winning team was at home where Pennsboro beat Mechanicsburg (2-4) 29-16. Special teams and defense made the difference with Ali Alami kicking field goals of 25 and 28 yards and Colin Benoist getting a 78-yard Pick-6 in the second quarter. Apart from that, it was a defensive struggle at 16 a piece with stats a dead heat; Mechanicsburg 256 (233p), East Pennsboro 264 (178p). Keith Oates completed 14 of 23 passes for 178 yards (1071 on year) with J.J. Gossard rushing for 69 yards on 19 carries. Mid Penn-Colonial action continues on the road against Northern (2-4) in Dillsburg. The Colonial is the ‘Black and Blue’ Division of the Mid Penn with all the teams being blue collar towns that get after each other. That means East Pennsboro needs full focus or Northern will knock their block off. Cole Bartram at 5-10, 180 pounds may be the hardest runner and hitter in the division with 721 yards and 62 tackles. 10, 6 and 1 point losses separate them from a 4-2 record.
20 Conestoga Valley 5A 5-1
Conestoga Valley makes their first appearance in the Top 20 after routing Lebanon 56-6 and a reappraisal of their schedule and outcomes that include a 27-26 loss to undefeated Garden Spot on a missed extra point. They have two shutouts with a defense allowing 10ppg. Nice. The offense is vanilla, with quarterback Liam Cheek throwing 72 times with 38 completions for 783 yards. His ratio is 8/3. The running game is often by committee, or last week by two committees where 16 backs had carries. Whatever, it’s working in the super competitive LL-2 with Manheim Central, Exeter and Governor Mifflin. Their schedule is largely back-loaded with Mifflin up next in Shillington followed by Manheim Central and Exeter at CV before ending with Muhlenberg in Reading.
OTHERS:
Hershey 5A 5-1 home vs McDevitt
Greencastle-Antrim 5A 5-1 at Susquehanna Township
Lower Dauphin 5A 5-1 at Cedar Cliff
Governor Mifflin 5A 3-3 home vs Conestoga Valley
Susquehanna Township 4A 4-2 home vs Greencastle
Lancaster Catholic 3A 6-0 home vs Annville-Cleona
Camp Hill 2A 4-2 home vs Steel High
Littlestown 3A 4-2 at York Tech
Week #6 Standings
There are still 12 undefeated teams in the district, 15 with one loss and 10 with two losses, making for a heck of a stretch run. At this point, only two undefeated teams look to face off, Steel High and West Perry in the MP-Capital finale. New Oxford gets out-of-state Fort Hill (5-0) of Cumberland, Md in a few weeks if they get past Mountain Ridge (5-0) from beautiful Frostburg, Md. These are schools just across the state line. The one loss and two loss teams, and even the three loss teams are fighting for division titles and/or seeds for the postseason. And with all the ties this week, I just may have to give up and make it a Top 25! Here’s what happened last week.
1 Bishop McDevitt 4A 6-0
Bishop McDevitt had another easy division win in the Mid Penn-Keystone beating Milton Hershey 55-14. To date, they’ve defeated three division opponents by an average score of 57-10. Last year saw them beat division foes by an average of 59-7. The year before it was 58-4, with the covid-shortened season at a 39-8 average score against five opponents. Time to move back to the Mid Penn-Commonwealth? About the game; quarterback Stone Saunders continued his torrid pace completing 14 of 19 passes for 186 yards and four touchdowns. He has thrown for 1402 yards this year with a 20 to 1 Td/Pick ratio. Rico Scott was the recipient of six throws for 64 yards and a score, and returned a kick-off 82 yards for another score. Junior safety Jaden Garnes had a 27-yard Pick-6 in the third quarter while freshman Jontai Quick impressed with 60 yards on four carries and a touchdown. Nazir Jones-Davis led all rushers with 94 yards and a touchdown. The game got out of hand by the half (34-7) where most of the starters sat at some point in the third quarter and by the fourth. The win is their 19th straight going back to last season where they lost the opener to 5A Silver Medal winner Imhotep Charter (10-2) 19-14. Hershey (4-1) is next with a decent team but not one that can keep up with McDevitt who beat them 70-0 last year.
2 Manheim Township 6A 6-0
Township jumped on overmatched McCaskey (1-5) early, getting a 44-0 lead at the half where like McDevitt, most of the starters sat early. The final was 44-6. Quarterback Hayden Johnson is having an extraordinary season, completing 9 of 10 passes for 119 yards and touchdowns of 21 and 29 yards. He has yet to throw an interception on 119 passes with a 76% completion rate for 1479 yards. His Td to interception ratio is 24-0. Declan Clancy provided punch on the ground with 96 yards on 11 carries, scoring on 5, 9, and 10 yard bursts. Asher Wolfe had a 30-yard Pick-6 in the first quarter with the defense having a big day holding the Red Tornado to 90-yards rushing and 95 up top. Township showed a balanced offense with 148 yards passing and 152 on the ground, most of it coming in the first half. They get a challenge this week with 5-1 Cedar Crest coming in. The Falcons don’t have the horses Township has. But if the team that beat Philly Northeast 24-0 and CD East 33-7 shows up, it’ll be one of the top games of the weekend.
3 Harrisburg 6A 5-1
When Harrisburg is on, no one in the state is going to beat them except St. Joseph’s Prep and maybe Pittsburgh Central Catholic and North Allegheny. They demonstrated as much last week against Altoona holding the Mountain Lions to 97 total yards of offense while piling up 447 yards themselves. Quarterback Shawn Lee had another great outing, completing 8 of 10 passes for 164 yards with touchdown throws of 14, 54 and 28 yards while rushing for 106 yards on seven carries. Just a junior! Defenses don’t know what to do with him. His top receiver Elias Coke (6-2, 190, FSU, BC, Io St), a sophomore, is also special with 96 yards in receptions and scores of 54 and 14 yards. Mekhi Newman is a great addition this year to the backfield at 5-9, 195, rushing for 74 yards on 9 carries with two touchdowns. Junior Kymir Williams helped get it all started in the first quarter with a 38-yard Pick-6 as the Cougars rolled all over Altoona 54-7. CD East (3-3) is next in a city game that can get dicey. They have a great back in Jared Porter (832ry, 226py) and a quarterback in Demoj Jalloh who threw for 242 yards last week against State College! Some of these 3-3 teams in the Mid Penn-Commonwealth are tough outs, like the WPIAL and SOL-National years ago where a 6-4 team was often as good as a 9-1 team.
4 Central York 6A 6-0
Central York dropped down a rung in the rankings with a less than typical performance at home last week against Dallastown (2-4), edging the Wildcats 23-13. In truth, Central shouldn’t be confused with last year’s 10-2 team that averaged 40ppg for the fourth straight year. But they’re still a force with another great back in Juelz Goff who was their offense here, rushing for 226 yards on 46 carries. His touchdown with 8:28 left in the game gave them a precarious 20-10 lead. Dallastown’s defense held everything down but Goff, holding the Panthers to field goals of 30, 34 and 30. Nothing from D-Town but the York Adams-1 is clearly in rebuild mode, top to bottom. YA-1 action continues Friday where they’ll likely get it right in a BIG way against Northeastern (0-6) who’s allowing 48ppg!
5 State College 6A 4-1
CD East threw everything at State College last week including the proverbial kitchen sink with junior Demaj Jollah throwing for 241 yards (19 of 33) and another junior Jared Porter rushing for 195 yards. But none of that mattered as the Lions where ferocious in the red zone where it counted, beating the Panthers 43-17. DT Justin Castro-Dixon (6-1, 345) is an immoveable (and unavoidable) force especially in the red zone. His opposite, OT Jake Hohenshelt (6-4, 270), opens things for D’Andre Sheffeyto to get 165 rush yards and protects for Ty Salazer to get loose for 125 yards in receptions. Another long range weapon, John Zipf, had field goals of 42, 36 and 33 yards. Junior quarterback Eddie Corkery threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns with the ground game netting 241 yards. The win keeps them perfect in division play where they move closer to a head-to-head with Harrisburg Oct 13th. Before that comes a road game at Carlisle who lost five straight since opening with a win. Three of those losses were to Governor Mifflin 28-21, York 42-40 and Chambersburg 3-0.
6 Steelton Highspire 1A 6-0
Steel High rolled out another huge offensive performance with 488 total yards against their next door neighbor Middletown, in an un-neighborly like 48-7 win. Quarterback Alex Erby was uncanny, completing 21 of 24 passes for 468 yards….!....with touchdowns of 42, 48, 43, 19, 79 and 85 yards. Evidently the game plan was to work on the passing game with a mere 13 rush attempts. Wide outs Rell Ceasar and Jaeion Perry who have been unstoppable to date carried the load pulling in eight passes for 257 yards for Ceasar and five for 158 for Perry. Like many opponents this year, Middletown had trouble with Steelton’s defensive front of DL’s Sean Bennett (5-11, 220), Andrew Erby (6-4, 285, PSU), Amari Williams (6-2, 225) and Eugene Green (6-1, 250). MLB Taevon Legrande (5-11, 225) added a 54-yard ‘Scoop and Score’ in the third quarter. Camp Hill (4-2) is next in a division game on the West Shore where the Rollers should extend their 18 game winning streak. But the Lions can be a problem with a good passing game and competitive losses to Big Spring 29-28 in overtime and Middletown 14-7 without quarterback Drew Branstetter who went down against Big Spring late.
7 Wyomissing 3A 6-0
Wyomissing displayed one of their best defensive performances of the year last week dismantling Donegal (2-4) 49-0 for their first shutout of the season. They allowed 45 yards of offense while piling up 450 of their own. 12 backs had carries, led by sophomore Chase Eisenhower’s 81 yards and senior Marvin Armistead’s 77. They don’t throw often but when they do they do it well with quarterback Logan Hyde completing three of five passes for 76 yards. He threw a 63-yard Td strike to Ryker Jones while #2-Qb freshman Teddy White threw a score to Jake Neff of 33 yards. Drew Forrey had a 28-yard Pick-6 in the first quarter that got it all started with a 21 point first quarter. This week sees them in Denver against the red hot Cocalico Eagles who are on a five game winning streak looking every bit as good as Wyomissing while outscoring their opponents 45 to 15. Look out Wyo!
8 Cocalico 5A 5-1
Cocalico build an insurmountable 28-0 first quarter lead that ballooned to 42-0 at the half on the way to a 56-7 rout of a solid ELCO (4-2) team. Like Wyo above, they unveiled one of their best defensive performances of the year holding the Raiders to 107 total yards. This comes on the heels of their shutting down Lampeter Strasburg (5-1) the week before 24-10, holding them to 70 rush yards. Aaryn Longenecker paced the attack with 158 yards on five carries and a 52-yard Pick-6. Nine others added 192 more yards rushing. ELCO keyed on Cocalico’s lead rusher Sam Steffey who leads the team with 611 yards and 11 touchdowns, holding him to 31 yards. But he still broke away for three touchdowns. Wyomissing is next, coming to Denver in a game that for all intents and purposes will decide the LL-4
9 Wilson 6A 4-2
Wilson battled tooth and nail, holding on to defeat arch rival Governor Mifflin in a back yard brawl 21-14. The difference was Wilson’s quarterback Tommy Hunsicker completing 6 of 11 passes for 134 yards with two touchdown tosses and rushing for 90 yards and a score on 13 carries. He’s developed into the quietest dual threat quarterback in the LL accounting for all their scores. Cornell Akings added 46 yards on six carries with Jackson Wagner and Madyx Gruber catching touchdown throws of 46 and 35 respectively. Apart from the Qb, it was an even match with Wilson at 296 yards and Mifflin at 247. Slumping Hempfield (2-4) is next in something of a revenge game with Hempfield knocking them out of the LL-1 race last year with a 17-14 win in West Lawn; their only conference loss.
10 Manheim Central 4A 5-1
Manheim Central seems to be getting it together, albeit against a weak schedule, shutting out Warwick (1-5) 49-0 two weeks ago and Muhlenberg (1-5) 42-0 last week for their third shutout of the year. The 48-28 loss to Cocalico three weeks ago seems like an anomaly coming as it did on the heels of a win against Smyrna-DE the week before. Bottom line, the offense is cooking now at 40ppg with quarterback Zac Hahn at 66% for 1408 yards with a ratio of 19/1. Receiver Aaron Enterline is one of the best, with 744 yards and 12 touchdowns with a 20.1 yards per catch average. Bode Sipel has 368 yards in receptions with three touchdowns. Brycen Arnold is near 7ypc with 857 yards and 11 touchdowns. They’ll get a chance to prove themselves after Lebanon (0-6) this week finishing the season with tough road trips to Conestoga Valley (5-1, 5A) and Exeter (6-0, 5A), games that’ll decide the LL-2 crown and much about seeding in the 4A and 5A classifications.
TIE
York (William Penn) 6A 4-1
York was idle last week, coming off a big road win at Red Lion the week before, 30-6. Dallastown (2-4) is next, a team they beat last year in a shootout at York 66-49!
11 Twin Valley 4A 6-0
Twin Valley escaped with a road win at Solanco (1-5) where the Golden Mules came out swinging. Should say, they came out flinging, throwing the ball more than they have the entire season (option attack) with Austin Jarabak completing 8 of 12 passes for 111 yards and three touchdowns. All totaled, they completed 9 of 15 passes that represents 38% of all passes thrown this year. Twin Valley was thrown way off balance, playing most of the game on their heels, actually down 20-14 in the third quarter. But they blocked the extra point and that was the difference in edging the stubborn Mules 29-28. You can believe opposing coaches are ringing up the coaching staff at Solanco after rushing for 329 yards and piling up 457 total yards to Twin Val’s 370. Heck of an effort by Solanco. Maybe it turns things around for them. We’ll see how T-Val recovers this week where they need a fast turnaround hosting undefeated Garden Spot Friday night.
TIE
Central Dauphin 6A 4-2
Central Dauphin snapped back from the State College loss two weeks ago despite a short week to beat Carlisle 50-16 on a brisk Thursday evening at Speed Ebersole Staduim. Talk about speed. Carlisle couldn’t keep up with Mateo Crummel (5-11, 140) who zipped past everyone for 49, 57, 46 and 48 yard scores thrown by quarterback Key’Ron Plummer. Mateo ended the night with six receptions for 210 yards while Plummer was a perfect seven of seven for 217 yards. All the while, Miles Copper (6-2, 190, sr) kept em honest with eight totes for 74 yards and a touchdown. They played a lot of youth early where sophomore linebacker Mason Wydra got an 87-yard ‘Scoop and Score’ in the second quarter. The 21-point outburst in the second quarter on the heels of a 22-point first quarter broke Carlisle’s will, giving the Rams a 43-3 lead at the half. No.2 quarterback Gavin Kirkpatrick got in to complete four of six passes for 32 yards while 13 running backs had carries. That was a big win, keeping them within striking distance of State College and Harrisburg. Cumberland Valley is next at CD.
12 West Perry 3A 6-0
West Perry unloaded on Boiling Springs for a school record by bursting the Bubbler’s bubble 72-28. 72 points. They came into the game averaging 38ppg, scoring 42 points in the first quarter! With the school mascot being the Mustang, they are aptly named. Quarterback Marcus Quaker lit things up passing for 166 yards and rushing for 120 with four touchdowns. Sophomore Evan Jutba rushed for 99 yards with a score with Ian Goodling having four receptions for 94 yards. All starters sat for the second half. It looks like they’re heading for a showdown with Steel High in the regular season finale to decide the Mid Penn Capital, having defeated Trinity (4-2) 19-16 three weeks ago. But before that they travel to tough as nails Big Spring (3-3) who may not be recovered from consecutive games against Camp Hill (4-2), a 29-28 win, Steel High (6-0) who swamped them 46-7 and Trinity (4-2) who edged them last week 28-22.
TIE
Cedar Crest 6A 5-1
Cedar Crest got their second shutout of the year last week beating Reading (1-5) 36-0. The first shutout was the opener against Philly Northeast 24-0. The Falcons rely on a modest offense that throws at 58% for 591 yards with a poor ratio of 6 to 6. They run well enough, spreading it out with Fernando Marquez (389), Alex Abreu (233) and Qb Jackson Custer (575py, 196ry). Most of all they rely on a stout defense that allows 10.6ppg to bring it all together. They played well enough two weeks ago to win against Wilson with a yardage advantage of 316 to 310 and first downs of 18-12. But they threw two interceptions and couldn’t match Bulldog Qb Tommy Hunsicker. They held Reading to 96 total yards last week and will need a similar effort on the road against Manheim Township. The Streaks are more this year than last year’s group that pummeled the Crest 42-14.
13 Exeter Township 5A 6-0
Exeter survived a trip to Warwick where they hung on for a 28-21 win. The victory keeps them undefeated in the LL-2 with Manheim Central (5-1) and Conestoga Valley. With competitive losses to Cedar Crest (6-0) 29-23 in overtime, Ephrata (5-1) 14-0, Conestoga Valley (5-1) 19-7 and last week to undefeated Exeter, Warwick may be the most underrated 1-5 team in the state, knowing they’re the only team to beat Cocalico (5-1) 17-14 in the opener. How’s that for an opening slate of six winning teams with a combined record of 27-3! Stats were close to even with Exeter at 350 yards and Warwick at 305. Ricky Martinez is maturing in his first year under center completing 8 of 14 passes for 134 yards with a Td toss of 21 yards to Genuine Stutzman. Martinez also rushed for 108 yards and an 82-yard touchdown run for their first score. Jayden Zandier was strong with 93 yards and a score on 18 carries. Muhlenberg (1-5) is next.
TIE
Garden Spot 5A 6-0
Nice win for Garden Spot defending the home turf against previously undefeated Ephrata who falls to 5-1. A wild second quarter had to have the fans-in an uproar seeing their team outscore Ephrata 28-7, largely behind quarterback Kye Harting’s touchdowns of 3, 12 and 6 yards and Reed Gruber’s 25-yard Pick-6. Harting completed 10 of 18 passes for 192 yards with 110 more rushing on 19 carries and a 3-yard touchdown. Jace Conrad and Trenten Hoober led all receivers with 93 and 76 yards with a touchdown each. Ephrata kept it interesting behind quarterback Sam McCracken’s 326 yards passing (20 of 52), with no run support, finishing with 93 yards. G-Spot was balanced with 198 passing and 227 rushing where Gabe Martin and Nathan Eberly added 50 and 42 yards to Harting’s totals. League action continues Friday taking on another undefeated team at Twin Valley in a key LL-Section 2 game.
14 Trinity 2A 4-2
Trinity had their hands full last week in another tough Mid Penn-Capital game getting past stubborn Big Spring (3-3) 28-22. Quarterback Caleb Wray had a big night completing 15 of 20 throws for 182 yards and throwing touchdowns of 6 and 27 yards. He also ran for a 4-yard touchdown. Both defenses shut down the other’s running game with Trinity at 48 yards on 24 carries, and the Bulldogs at 128 yards after 52 carries. Messiah Mickens led the Shamrocks with 23 yards on seven carries and 57-yards on three receptions. Seven receivers had catches. Division play continues Friday at Middletown (1-5) who is coming off a 48-7 loss to rival Steel High.
15 Ephrata 5A 5-1
Although it looks good on the stat sheet, quarterback Sam McCracken’s 326 passing yards weren’t enough, knowing he threw two interceptions and completed only 20 of 48 passes for a 43% completion rate. At least it’s not good enough playing an opponent like undefeated Garden Spot on the road. Throwing the ball 48 times tells the story clear enough, that they couldn’t move the ball on the ground where 29 attempts led to 93 yards. Ephrata battled, they just came up short at 42-22. They will likely turn that around Friday at Fleetwood (3-3) but need to watch out as the Tigers can score points.
16 Lampeter Strasburg 4A 5-1
The Pioneers took out their frustration on Octorara (2-4) 46-7 after losing a tough one the week before at Cocalico 24-10. A 40-0 halftime score says it all where a balanced offense ground out 249 yards rushing with Trent Wagner completing 8 of 10 passes for 130 yards and four touchdowns, keeping the young Braves off kilter all night. Running back Jonathan Mellinger has been a weapon for LS all year, rushing for 123 yards and 766 for the season. Caileb House added 73 yards rushing and a score on five carries with Cooper Hillen rushing for 45 yards. Damoj Gray and Dean Herr had two receptions and two touchdowns each. Struggling Berks Catholic (3-3) is next with a team finding difficulty finding the endzone. They average 16ppg and allow 25 against a tough schedule. In fact its been brutal, losing to powerful Loyalsock Township (4-2, 3A-D4 power) 25-21, Pope John Paul II (6-0, 4A-D1 power) 35-0 and Wyomissing (6-0) 35-7, who needs no words. And now LS.
17 Cedar Cliff 5A 5-1
Cedar Cliff used their big line to bull rush Mifflin County 48-6. The Colts showed early signs of a hangover, coming off a 48-9 home loss to Bishop McDevitt with a lackluster 7-0 first quarter lead. Thereon, it was lights out for the Huskies with the Colts scoring 35 points in the middle two quarters. Erik Shriver carried the load with 21 totes for 152 yards behind a line that averages 285 pounds! Colt’s quarterback Bennett Seacrest who keeps getting better and better, completed 7 of 9 passes for 121 yards and three touchdowns. By games end, they racked up 235 yards rushing, holding the Huskies to 64 rushing and 134 above. This week has them in a critical Keystone Division game and 5A seeding war at the West Shore Stadium against Lower Dauphin (5-1), a team they edged last year 24-21.
18 New Oxford 5A 6-0
New Oxford didn’t play their best game with two turnovers and 231 total yards of offense against a feisty Susquehannock (2-4) team that held a 16-8 advantage in first downs. But the Colonials outscored them 14-0 for the win, clamping down defensively, holding the Warriors to 240 total yards and getting their first shutout of the year. Quarterback Idriz Ahmetovic had 126 of their total yards, completing 5 of 7 passes for 100-yards and rushing for 26. Clayton Nieves rushed for 78 yards on 13 carries. Like the Eagles last week against Washington, you’ve got to like it when you don’t play your best and still come out with the win. Got to credit Susquehannock for laying it out there. Looking ahead, it’s hard finding a loss on a schedule that is manageable with Kennard Dale (2-4), West York (0-6), Fort Hill (5-0, Md.) and Eastern York (4-1).
19 East Pennsboro 4A 6-0
East Pennsboro had a game similar to New Oxford and Susquehannock above where a lesser team stepped up to give them a day’s work. Fortunately, (in both cases), the winning team was at home where Pennsboro beat Mechanicsburg (2-4) 29-16. Special teams and defense made the difference with Ali Alami kicking field goals of 25 and 28 yards and Colin Benoist getting a 78-yard Pick-6 in the second quarter. Apart from that, it was a defensive struggle at 16 a piece with stats a dead heat; Mechanicsburg 256 (233p), East Pennsboro 264 (178p). Keith Oates completed 14 of 23 passes for 178 yards (1071 on year) with J.J. Gossard rushing for 69 yards on 19 carries. Mid Penn-Colonial action continues on the road against Northern (2-4) in Dillsburg. The Colonial is the ‘Black and Blue’ Division of the Mid Penn with all the teams being blue collar towns that get after each other. That means East Pennsboro needs full focus or Northern will knock their block off. Cole Bartram at 5-10, 180 pounds may be the hardest runner and hitter in the division with 721 yards and 62 tackles. 10, 6 and 1 point losses separate them from a 4-2 record.
20 Conestoga Valley 5A 5-1
Conestoga Valley makes their first appearance in the Top 20 after routing Lebanon 56-6 and a reappraisal of their schedule and outcomes that include a 27-26 loss to undefeated Garden Spot on a missed extra point. They have two shutouts with a defense allowing 10ppg. Nice. The offense is vanilla, with quarterback Liam Cheek throwing 72 times with 38 completions for 783 yards. His ratio is 8/3. The running game is often by committee, or last week by two committees where 16 backs had carries. Whatever, it’s working in the super competitive LL-2 with Manheim Central, Exeter and Governor Mifflin. Their schedule is largely back-loaded with Mifflin up next in Shillington followed by Manheim Central and Exeter at CV before ending with Muhlenberg in Reading.
OTHERS:
Hershey 5A 5-1 home vs McDevitt
Greencastle-Antrim 5A 5-1 at Susquehanna Township
Lower Dauphin 5A 5-1 at Cedar Cliff
Governor Mifflin 5A 3-3 home vs Conestoga Valley
Susquehanna Township 4A 4-2 home vs Greencastle
Lancaster Catholic 3A 6-0 home vs Annville-Cleona
Camp Hill 2A 4-2 home vs Steel High
Littlestown 3A 4-2 at York Tech