Here is Part 3 of 4, the Mid State final PRs of 2018’s better teams; those making the playoffs and others having a year that made the ratings, crunching numbers for 147 teams. NE and SE PA teams are already posted with Western teams in the pipe line. Used year ending points for/against, home/away, classification values, wins, etc. Pretty basic stuff to arrive at an estimate. Flawed for sure but if nothing else it’ll give some stats and grad/return info for ’18 and ’19. Added some thoughts and comments. As always, feel free to jump in or on.
1 Harrisburg 221.83. 6A-D3, 13-2
Back in the day Harrisburg Central and Harrisburg Technical fielded great teams until Central became an all-girls school in 1919, the same year Tech at 12-0 fielded a team christened the National Champ after defeating Portland, Maine 56-0 in a post season title game. They outscored their opponents 701 to 0. A few of those defeated were Chester 93-0, Baltimore Poly 89-0, Bethlehem Prep 63-0, Naval Prep 79-0 and Steelton 70-0. Tech eventually closed with population growth necessitating two new schools christened William Penn and John Harris in 1926 where they remained until merged in 1971 to form Harrisburg High. The games between William Penn and Harris High were legendary, played at Island Park Field, now City Island. One of Pennsylvania’s greatest coaches, George Chaump, was instrumental in sustaining Harrisburg’s success following a one year stint at Shamokin in 1961, going 5-6, his only losing season before coming to John Harris where he developed nationally recognized teams, going undefeated for three years while compiling a 58-4 log from 1962-1967. From there he went to OSU (68) as an assistant to Woody Hayes, Tampa Bay, IUP then Marshall, where he created their great program, and finally the Naval Academy. That’s the long way of saying Harrisburg High is knee deep in football tradition. Two state finals appearances the last three years speaks to that. Chaump is also given credit for introducing the Slot-I to the Mid-State which previously ran the T or Wing T. Coach returned to the area in 1997 leading Central Dauphin to a 57-14 record (97-02) before returning to Harrisburg High from 2003 to 2010 going 62-29. He retired following an 8-13 run at CD East with a 190-66 career won-loss. Bringing it back to the present, Cal Everett, a Harrisburg grad in 1998 became head coach in 2011, going 63-26 since then and 35-7 the last three years with those two PIAA final appearances. The beat goes on! But it started on a sour note this year getting shellacked by Coatesville 37-6 at Severance! Not much worse than losing the home opener to another state power on your turf. So they went on a tear, winning the next 12 games before re-matching with Coatesville, winning by an average score of 41-8. 41-8! You didn’t have to be an astute observer of the game to see something special was brewing winning games by 33-pt margins playing teams like Cedar Cliff (10-3) 46-13, Central Dauphin (9-4) 20-5 and 16-6, State College (12-2) 32-17, Chambersburg (7-4) 28-13 and Wilson (8-4) 36-12. When they beat Central Dauphin for the second time, us natives felt they had more than enough for Coatesville, at least to hang, ultimately winning 27-24. And we felt they’d do much better than 40-20 against St. Joe’s although the game was competitive. The Hawks simply had more. Winning another Mid Penn Commonwealth may not be in the cards this year graduating their stellar quarterback Kane Everson who made the O go! Linebackers Andre White and Jain Burney were highly instrumental to the success on that side as were their quick DEs Brian Yates and Dionte Nichols; all four graduated. Looks like a significant rebuild.
2 Manheim Central 193.73, 5A-D3, 14-1
Manheim Central opened the year in Harrisburg ripping a mid-level Mid Penn-Keystone Susquehanna Township team 44-0 and never looked back, rolling out 13 straight until losing to Penn Hills 36-31 in the 5A state title game. Following Hanna, wins against Warwick (9-3) 27-20, Wilson (8-4) 20-10 and Cocalico (10-3) 41-23 told you they meant business and were primed for a run at States. Excepting Warwick and Wilson from the well regarded Lancaster-Lebanon Section One, they breezed through the schedule, winning by an average score of 42-13 until losing to Penn Hills. The Barons won about every way you can win a game in that one, outrushing PH 193 to 136 and out distancing them in passing yards 252 to 195 for a 445-331 total yard advantage. But total yards don’t count as much as turnovers where MC uncharacteristically had three red zone interceptions and four total to seal their fate. So for the second straight year they made a run, having lost to Gateway 31-28 the year before in the semifinal. Next year looks to be another in a long line of strong seasons with the return of quarterback Evan Simon who passed for 2753 yards and rushed for 661. Top receiver Colby Wagner returns after snagging 26 for 832 yards with Ben Wagner who caught 22 for 449 yards. Tyler Flick is gone along with his 1831 rush yards plus wide-out Will Rivers’ 708 yards on 33 receptions. The line needs rebuilt graduating Cayden Warner (5-10, 250,), Tyler Dougherty (5-10, 295), Brett Wolgemuth (6-1, 260) and Josh Painter (6-0, 280). OL/DL Troy Kolk (5-11, 225, 78 tackles) returns plus two to the secondary and 3 LBs. With 25 LL-Section titles and 18 district titles in 22 appearances, you know they’ll make their presence felt once again in the district, perhaps beyond.
3 State College 191.95, 6A-D6, 12-2
SC put together their third straight double digit winning season only to have it end awkwardly with another thorough defeat at the hands of Pine Richland. The Lions were a nice blend of veterans and underclassmen who were flat out impressive for most of the season before losing to Pine. But it began well, defeating district rival Mifflin County (6A, 6-5) 35-12, then on the road to defeat a decent St. Augustine Prep-NJ team (7-4) 19-7. For linkage purposes, SAP’s other losses were to St. Joseph-Hammonton (10-2) 30-8, who won the Non-Public Group 2 title, Williamstown (12-0) 14-7, who won the South Group 5 title, and St. Joseph Regional-Montvale (10-2), who defeated Bergen Catholic (10-2) 13-0, fresh off their 35-17 win over Don Bosco Prep. Connecting the dots can be misleading but it is interesting. State went on to win their next four before losing at Harrisburg 32-17. Here they were missing DE Cole Urbas (6-3, 190, sr), C/DE Jason Cameron (5-10, 220, jr) and DT Titus Thompson (6-1, 220, sr) to injury. Also missing were OL James Pone (6-5, 210, sr) and Isaiah Edwards (6-0, 210, jr. 806 ry) who did not play? From there they won out, beating Central Dauphin along the way before losing in the quarterfinals to the 6A defending state champ Pine Richland, 56-33. Needless to say, State’s battered D-Line (Urbas, Thompson still out) was no match for Pine’s exceptional O-Line, headed by Andrew Kristofic who signed with Notre Dame and Michael Dorundo who signed with Duquesne. But they did expose cracks in Pine’s defense with quarterback Tommy Friberg throwing for 301 yards. Actually, he kept them in the game and will “walk on” at PSU. Sophomore talent Dresyn Green had 99 yards rushing while Keaton Ellis pulled in 6 receptions for 200 yards. This is the second year PR defeated SC, beating them 49-21 in 2017. Looking ahead to 2019, if they can find a quarterback, and they always do, they’ll again be a load with many returning to key positions. The line returns OG Ramsey Kifolo (6-2, 310), C/DT Jason Cameron (5-11, 220), OT Logan Lieb (6-1, 265) and Addison Darcy (6-3, 260), the latter two getting time per injuries. Running back Isaiah Edwards (6-1, 210) returns with Dresyn Green (5-8, 160) with 1012 rush yards, QB/RB/WR Brady Dorner (6-0, 180), DEs Nathan Lusk (6-3, 215, 69 tackles), Kevin Kurtzinger (6-2, 215, 45 stops), DT Sam Stoll (6-3, 245, 38 tackles), super soph SS Sam Snipe (6-1, 210) with 102 tackles, LBs Jim Manyak (5-11, 215, 83 tackles), Kyle Domico (5-8, 175, 56 tackles) and Joe Nastasi (5-11, 190, 29 tackles). The secondary returns 4 including Dresyn Green with 30 tackles. The schedule is favorable playing Central Dauphin, Cumberland Valley and Harrisburg at State College.
4 Central Dauphin 190.22, 6A-D3, 9-4
In District-3 and for a surprising chunk of the Mid-State, Central Dauphin is one of the few schools recognized by its initials. Maybe it just rolls off the tongue easily, or maybe it’s because of the success they’ve had on the football field. Whatever the reason, when you say CD, people know who and what you’re talking about. In many instances you’re talking about the perennial favorite to win both the Mid Penn-Commonwealth Conference, no small feat in itself, and the district title.
Although the Rams haven’t won a state title since 2011’s 15-1 team, they are always in the hunt, going 66-22 since then and 100-29 the last 10 years. Last year’s team had aspects of greatness with a strong defense and decent special teams. But it was unsupported by a balanced, diverse offense. FB/LB Adam Burkhart’s (5-11, 215) contribution was significant gaining 1279 yards on 205 carries as was Qb Noah Hoffman (6-0, 200) with a 65% completion rate for 1268 yards. But neither were supported in the backfield or on the flanks. The loaded 2011 team had a full house in the backfield, Zayd Issah (6-4, 220) rushing for 1345 yards, speedy Drew Scales (5-8, 175) with 953 yards and a battering ram of a fullback in Adam Hollinger (5-10, 210….like Burkhart) gaining 699 yards on 96 carries, with Issah and Scales integral to the passing attack. Qb Brandon LaVia had a 16/9 Td/Pick rate for 1490 yards. Last year’s team had nothing to match that with no breakaway speed in the receiver corps leaving Qb Hoffman with an 8 to 6 Td/Pick ratio. But they had their moments beating Wilson (8-4) 23-7, Berks Catholic (10-3) 7-0, Central York (8-3) 49-21, Chambersburg (7-4) 35-14 and Manheim Township (10-2) 27-0. The last three year have witnessed the ascendency of Harrisburg (11-4, 11-1, 13-2) and that’s who got them last year, 20-5 and 16-6 in the post season. Other losses came to State College and Township. 9-4 isn’t bad but it’s not CD football despite being a decent rebound from 2017’s 6-5 anomaly. Like last season, the coming season is full of questions, primarily at the quarterback position. Tyrese Fuller and Max Mosley will battle it out for the spot with Daniel Ficca (36/114) and Timmy Smith (36/150) in the backfield. DE Amir Walton (6-1, 220) may test out at FB. He along with OL/DT Bryce Thoman (6-5, 265), Marques Holten (6-0, 235), standout OL/DE Cameron Sansone (6-1, 225), RB/SS Timmy Smith (5-9, 190), last year’s soph LB Malachi Bowman (5-11, 175) with LB Elijah Vargas (5-9, 175) and LB Tyrese Fuller (6-3, 180) plus WR/FS Nick Chimienti (6-0, 180, calls the D, lead receiver 39/599) will give them another strong defense. And wow, does the O have new young talent to fill in on the line, egs, Jamaal Bellamy (6-2, 270, jr), Kyle Hower (6-2, 295, jr), Chad Layton (6-2, 275, jr), Kyle Yeager (6-3, 275, so) with Bryce Thoman (6-5, 265, sr) a return starter. As always, give CD a quarterback and look out!
5 Southern Columbia 183.83, 2A-D4, 16-0
Quick shout out here to West Catholic (12-3) for advancing to the 2A state semifinal after slugging their way through a difficult regular season slate of Pottsgrove, Paramus Catholic, Cardinal O’Hara and Bishop McDevitt, before a lengthy post season run that saw them defeat Mahanoy, McDevitt again, always tough Dunmore and an undefeated Richland Township team by an average score of 35-13 before losing to Southern Columbia 42-6. Quite a year. About Southern, the win over West Catholic moved them into the final where they won their 9th state title and 2nd straight. Make that back-to-back 16-0 seasons. Here’s a fast recap of their title history. They won gold in 1994, 2002 through 2006 and again in 2015 and 2017. Their run from 1998 through 2006 is unparalleled, appearing in 9 straight title games, winning silver from 1998 to 2001 and gold thereon. Other silver medals came in 1995, 1996, 2011 and 2016, for a total of 17 finals appearances and 9 state titles. Their won-loss the last ten years is 130-15. The scary thing about Southern is their relative youth, and their ability to make good teams look bad. Aside from West Catholic, they beat a strong Mount Carmel (10-3) team 41-7 with MCA’s other losses coming to historic power North Schuylkill (11-2) and Southern in a rematch. They also defeated previously unbeaten York Catholic (12-1) 56-23 who allowed but 113 points last season before beating West Catholic (12-3, see above). And finally, they routed District-10 powerhouse Wilmington (13-2) 49-14 in the final.
About 2019; like St. Joseph’s Prep and Downingtown West, and to a lesser degree State High and Manheim Central, they return a pile of starters for 2019. Qb Stone Hollenback is gone after completing 64% for 1737 yards with a 28/4 Td/Pick ratio. But their #2 is back in Preston Zachman (6-2, 205, 29/44/597, 66%, 8/1 ratio), who stepped in for Hollenback who missed almost half the year. All the backfield returns; Gaige Garcia (5-10, 210, 205/2042, 13/284 pass yards), his younger brother Gavin Garcia (5-8, 165, 101/ 1179, 6/139 pass yards), Ty Roadarmel (5-11, 190, 74/417) and super receiver Julian Fleming (6-3, 210, 78/1524) who also had a 41 punting average. Two starting lineman return in OL/DL Lear Quinton (6-2, 220), OL/DL Cole Schankweiler (6-0, 280), two to the secondary and quality senior linebackersCal Halladay (6-1, 190, 131 tackles) and Max Tiller (6-0, 190, 123 tackles) plus Wade Kerstetter (5-11, 180, 74 tackles), their outstanding sophomore backer of last year. Unless another Double-A rises to the occasion, it looks like Southern will be the strong favorite to snag yet another state title.
