District-3 Playoffs, all classifications: Nov 19, 20
6A Final….at Harrisburg Nov 20, 1:00 PM
#1 Harrisburg 11-1 vs #5 Wilson 9-3
Harrisburg High was in full playoff mode last week beating a good Hempfield team 32-10 at Harrisburg. The Cougars jumped the Knights early getting a 14-0 first quarter lead with big plays dominating. Kyle Williams got it started returning a 1st quarter punt 78 yards for the score. Moments later fullback Mahkai Hopkins (6-1, 235) broke it open going 88 yards for another score following Hempfield’s second possession. Williams finished with 94 yards rushing, scoring twice plus 46 yards on 5 receptions for another touchdown. That’s quite a backfield with freshman quarterback Shawn Lee’s progress completing 11 of 17 for 142 yards. Hempfield ends the season at 7-5 while Harrisburg moves on to the district final Saturday at home against Wilson.
Wilson got a monster effort from their backfield rushing for 348 yards to take down top seeded Central York 14-11. 348 yards! It was 3-3 at the half when the state’s top quarterback Beau Pribula connected with Imeire Manigault on a 26-yard touchdown and 2-point conversion giving them a 11-3 lead by the end of the 3rd quarter. Wilson followed with a score when quarterback Brad Hoffman snuck in from the 2 then converting their 2-point conversion tying it at 11 all in the 4th. Then their sophomores took over with Ben Ruda nailing a 21-yard field goal with 1:23 to go with sophomore Adam Woods on the hold. Well done! Beau Pribula had one last drive in him taking them to the 15-yard line where a 25-yard field goal was wide left to end it. The score while tight hides Wilson’s dominance as they owned the clock 34 minutes to 14, holding Central to 11 yards rushing. Pribula, completed 20 of 36 passes for 308 yards. Wilson’s quarterback Brad Hoffman rushed for 168 yards with fullback Jadyn Jones getting 162. The win is their 7th straight after a 2-3 start. Harrisburg also comes in hot winning their last 8 games after the Governor Mifflin loss. The history between Wilson and Harrisburg is mixed. Harrisburg missed the postseason last year per covid with a 4-0 team many of us felt was as good as any. The 2019 (9-4) team beat Wilson (10-2) 33-29 in the district semifinal and in the 2018 (13-2) semifinal 36-12, Wilson finishing 8-4. The 2012 11-3 team beat Wilson (13-2) in the regular season 21-13 but lost in the final 39-14. But for this year, Wilson is definitely a challenge. Both played brutal schedules, Harrisburg playing Pine Richland, Governor Mifflin, Manheim Township, CD East and Hempfield, while Wilson played Central Dauphin, York, Central York, Manheim Central and 3 teams Harrisburg played; Mifflin, Township and Hempfield with similar outcomes. At issue is the lack of a passing game to compliment their ground game allowing Harrisburg to load up. Their team speed is commendable, but lacks Harrisburg’s overall team speed or the number of weapons they bring to the game. Still, it’s Wilson so look for a competitive game and tight score.
5A Semifinals (highest seed home), Nov 19, 7:00 PM
#1 Governor Mifflin 9-0 vs #4 Spring Grove 10-1
Governor Mifflin actually got a game from someone last week when 8th seeded Warwick of the Lebanon Lancaster League kept it close, down 21-14 through the 1st quarter. Sounds like a reach until knowing Mifflin outscored previous opponents 159-14 in the 1st quarter. Unfortunately, Warwick’s early success served as a wakeup call igniting a 42 to 21 response where GM rushed for 450 rush yards in a 63-35 win. Records flew with that score and one of the best running backs in the country, Nicholas Singleton, rushing for 326 yards and 7 touchdowns on only 16 carries. They scored on their first 9 possessions. The under stated defense (Warwick-95ry, 182py), held running back Christian Royer to 48 yards and wide out Cooper Eckert to 79. Royer had 1179 coming in, Eckert 1093. Nice year for Warwick with a brutal schedule finishing 7-5 while Mifflin advances to the district final against Spring Grove. The Rockets are a quick bunch that keep it on the ground with the leading rusher in the York-Adams League in Zyree Brooks at 2257 yards. With no passing attack, he is their offense as shown last week gaining 150 of 225 total yards in last week’s 21-6 win against 5th seeded Waynesboro (9-3). The Indians battled hard in their first ever playoff game, down 7-0 at the half. But SG’s defense was everywhere, holding their one dimensional rush offense to 134 total yards. They’ve only allowed 163 points (15ppg) but were bombed at home in their lone loss by Central York 48-17. That doesn’t bode well here against an ever larger and more physical team in Governor Mifflin. The game is in Shillington where it will be a large and loud crowd like last week where the Mustangs will roll to a big win.
#6 Cedar Cliff 10-2 vs #7 Exeter Township 8-3
Here’s the short and sweet of it: Cedar Cliff’s quarterback Ethan Dorrell had a 1-yard keeper in the 1st quarter for a touchdown, answered by Shippensburg’s Keegan Kissinger catching a 16-yard toss from Tucker Chamberlin for a score in the 2nd quarter. Derek Witmer then booted a 27-yard field goal for another Cedar Cliff score and that’s all she wrote, for both teams, for the rest of the game with Cedar Cliff escaping with a 10-7 win. The win ended Shippensburg’s 15 game winning streak while moving the Colts to the semifinals against Exeter. But hats off to the Shippensburg defense with Cedar Cliff averaging 33ppg coming in. Quarterback Dorrell who was under constant pressure most of the game didn’t have his best outing completing 5 of 14 passes for 68 yards. But it didn’t matter with workhorse back like Jontae Morris rushing for 204 yards on 40 carries. Hopefully they came out in good health from a game that was a grinding, defensive slugfest. About Exeter; with a narrow loss to Central York and Hempfield and a 42-14 destruction of Wilson, you wondered where the next blow might fall. It came last week on the road at Manheim Central where the big Eagle offense hammered mighty Manheim 43-26. They had no answer for anything Exeter did. Eric Nangle rushed for 234 yards, Colin Payne completed 60% of his passes for 162 yards and the defense held them to minus 1-yard rushing. Minus 1 yard! It was total domination, leading 36-0 at the half and rolling up 455 total yards of offense by game’s end to Central’s 265. So that’s it for the 2 seed with the Barons (9-2) going home while Exeter travels to West Shore Stadium to play 6th seeded Cedar Cliff. The Colts have owned Exeter at West Shore, winning 24-0 in 2019 semifinal, 50-6 in 2018’s 1st round and 42-38 in 2012’s 1st round. To review, Cedar Cliff’s quality wins were against Cocalico (6-5) 33-27 and Shippensburg (11-1) 10-7, with losses to Bishop McDevitt (9-1) 56-0 and CD East (7-4) 20-7. Exeter’s wins came against Wilson (9-3) 42-14, Manheim Central (9-2) 43-26 and Berks Catholic (7-4) 33-21, with losses to Governor Mifflin (9-0) 54-21, Central York (11-1) 35-28 and Hempfield (7-5) 17-14. They have never not shown up in a big game. And they have weapons everywhere; Qb Colin Payne (58%, 1758 18/5), TE JR Strauss (18-360py), WR Carson Schmidt (15-337py), FB Ty Yocum (60-444ry, 11-206py), Joey Schlaffer (35-637py) and running backs Eric Nangle (170-1211ry) and Cabraun Woody (47-372ry). Cedar Cliff is not without weapons with Quarterback Ethan Dorrell (57%, 1467, 15/6), running back Jontae Morris (280-2002ry) and WR Trenten Smith (50-813). Exeter is more but the Colts will be a tough out on their home turf.
4A Semifinals (highest seed home), Nov 19, 7:00 PM
#1 Bishop McDevitt 9-1 vs #4 Berks Catholic 7-4
Bishop McDevitt breezed to their 8th straight victory with another sizeable win, beating Northern York 62-0. A 56-0 half time lead speaks to the enormity of their offense that rolled up 550 yards to Northern’s 44. With weapons at every level of the game, McDevitt was impressive, passing for 288 yards and rushing for 262. Freshman sensation Stone Saunders completed 14 of 16 passes for 288 yards and threw 3 touchdowns. Two went to Kamil Foster who caught 3 total for 112 yards with Mario Easterly catching 4 for 48 and a score. McDevitt’s receivers are sure handed and fast. And with Saunders accuracy and surprising arm strength for a freshman, it’s no wonder Michigan already offered. Their two lead backs are D1 talents with Marquese Williams rushing for 124 yards with 3 rushing touchdowns plus a 26-yard reception for a score, and Cyncir Bowers rushing for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns. Their defense caused 8 fumbles, holding Northern to 4 first downs. They’ll play 4th seeded Berks Catholic Friday who turned away stubborn Cocalico (6-5, 5th seed) 21-7. This was a back and forth struggle with the score tied 7-7 entering the 4th quarter. Both are heavy rushing teams where BC’s larger more physical line seemed to wear the Eagles down. Josiah Jordan broke free for a 53-yard touchdown run with just under 4 minutes left, then iced it with a 32-yard sprint for the win. Their overall team speed may have surprised Cocalico, holding the Lancaster Lebanon League’s leading rusher, Anthony Bourassa to 106 yards on 30 carries. Turnover as always were key, leading to two BC Scores. Running backs Josiah Jordan led Berks with 88 carries with Anthony Cacchione at 75 yards. The challenge Friday at McDevitt will be to avoid being overwhelmed early and compete against a balanced attack, one similar to Exeter’s and Malvern Prep’s, teams they lost to 33-21 and 37-7 respectively. BC isn’t averse to playing the big boys, with history against Central Dauphin, Cedar Cliff, Steel High, McDonogh, Malvern Prep Imhotep, Cathedral Prep and others. But this McDevitt team is like no other they’ve played recently with the possible exception of last year’s Harrisburg team and CD in 2019 with weapons all over the field. Berks allowed 39ppg vs the quality opponents mentioned above while McDevitt, since losing to LaSalle in the opener is averaging 61ppg and allowing 4, and only 5 offensive touchdowns.
#2 Lampeter Strasburg 10-1 vs #3 Kennard Dale 10-1
Hard charging Lampeter Strasburg, winner of their last 10 games routed 10th seeded Big Spring 62-13 in the 4A quarterfinals. Big Spring came into the game off wins against Steel High 49-14 and Conrad Weiser 49-35, with a 7-0 loss wedged in between to vastly improved Middletown who took Wyomissing to the wire last week. All that meant nothing here as the Pioneers ran roughshod for 316 yards while passing for another 205 yards! Big Spring hung for a while, down 20-13 in the 2nd quarter. That’s when LS went on a tear, outscoring them 42-0! Their senior quarterback Berkeley Wagner passed for 205 yards and 3 touchdowns, rushing for 96 more giving him 301 total yards. Beau Heyser had 114 yards in receptions and a score with Payton Cunningham running for 115 yards and 2 scores. Big Spring’s Dillon Wakefield got 102 hard yards but was largely corralled by the quicker LS defense that held them to 250 total yards. The loss drops Big Spring to 8-5 while sending LS to the final. Here they’ll play upstart Kennard Dale who defeated the 6 seed Donegal (7-4) 28-14 for their first ever playoff win. Upstart or not the KD-Rams won 10 straight averaging 38ppg and allowing 11. Although Donegal battled hard, leading 14-13 entering the 4th quarter, KD held them to 139 total yards, while their own ground game was a constant, grinding out 268 yards on 44 carries. The game against Lampeter Strasburg will be difficult as they bring many weapons to the field in dual threat Berkeley Wagner throwing at 56% for 1355 yards and rushing for 756. They have a pile of running backs featuring Giovanni Malatesta at 555 yards, Jonayhan Mellinger at 391 yards, Payton Cunningham at 360 and Carson Coleman at 232 yards. TE/DE Beau Heyser (6-2, 230, sr) has 22 receptions for 494 yards. At 47ppg on offense and allowing 6ppg on defense with 5 shutouts, LS is a little more than the Rams are used to in the York Adams-2.
3A Final (highest seed home), Nov 20 1:00 PM
#1 Wyomissing 12-0 vs #2 Boiling Springs 11-1
Two time defending district champ Wyomissing got more than they expected from Middletown last week who fought them tooth and nail before falling 14-0 in the semifinal. It makes sense that Middletown (6-5) might give them a game knowing the two are old adversaries. In fact, they are the only team to give them a game this year. Strange as it is to say, Wyomissing was in control throughout with a defense that dominated, holding the Blue Raiders to 2 first downs and 48 total yards of offense. Wyo’s lead back Tommy Grabowski had more yards than Middletown, rushing for 150 on 26 carries. Their opponent this week is Boiling Springs of the Mid Penn-Capital where they displaced Steelton Highspire and won the 2 seed after an outstanding campaign. Their game with 3rd seeded Hamburg (7-4) saw them down 7-0 into the 2nd quarter before they erupted for 35 unanswered points. That’s how it ended, 35-7. Hamburg’s good looking back Diohanny Ruiz got his, rushing for 128 yards, taking his season total to 1313 yards. But Joey Menke was more rushing for 135 yards. The game this week pits them against the same Wyomissing team that destroyed them in last year’s semifinal game 47-7. From there, Wyo went on to defeat Middletown 38-16, Lakeland 47-0 and Danville 44-14 before losing to Central Valley (12-0) 35-21 in the final. Knowing they waxed upper level programs like Pottsville (8-3) 42-14 and Southern Columbia (11-1) 41-20 and every other team by an average score of 44-6 says Boiling Springs has their work cut out for them Saturday afternoon at Wyomissing. The Bubblers will battle with a big O-Line (egs….Julyan Dodson 6-2 260, Hunter Coyle 6-2 275, Carlton Ackley 6-1 265) and a lot of guys who’ve been playing together since they were freshman. It isn’t every team that can go into Steelton and defeat the Rollers on their turf by way of a 2-point conversion. So don’t be surprised if the Bubblers give a good account of themselves.
2A PIAA First Round at Cardinal O’Hara, D1 Nov 20, 1:00 PM
York Catholic 11-0, D-3 vs West Catholic 3-7, D-12
Top seeded York Catholic had little difficulty disposing of 3rd seeded Upper Dauphin who fumbled the ball away on their first possession to open the flood gates. 28 points later the Fighting Irish were headed to the locker room at the half with a 28-0 lead enroute to a 35-8 win. That’s their third title in the last six years, with trophies in 2016, 2018 and 2021. UDA goes home at 9-3 while York Catholic advances from districts to states against West Catholic Prep. It would be a mistake to be fooled by the Burrs record after pulling the upset last week beating Conwell-Egan (8-3) 18-13 for the District-12 championship….and knowing the quality of their opponents. Their losses came to teams with a combined 46-17 record. This includes Episcopal Academy (6-4) and Malvern Prep (8-2) of the well regarded Inter-Ac, and teams from the renown Philadelphia Catholic League; Bonner Prendie (9-2), Conwell Egan (8-3), Neumann Goretti (10-1) and Archbishop Ryan (5-5), Ryan being one of the better 5-5 teams in the eastern half of the state. Add in that York has to travel to Cardinal O’Hara High in Springfield just outside Philadelphia where West Catholic will have some home field advantage. Upset alert!
1A PIAA First Round at Towanda High, Towanda
Steelton Highspire 8-2, D-3 vs Canton 11-0, D-4
Defending Single-A state champion Steel High won the District-3 title for the second consecutive year with a win against 2nd seeded Delone Catholic (6-5). This was a typical tight contest between old foes with Steelton hanging on to a precarious 13-7 lead at the half. But at the end of the day, Delone came up short against the Roller’s big offence and speed, losing 42-20. Not that they didn’t give it a go with quarterback Ryder Noel passing for 114 yards and rushing for 36. On the other side, sophomore quarterback Alex Erby threw 4 touchdowns to 4 different receivers on 11 attempts, completing 6 for 75 yards. Daivin Pryor’s 128 yards rushing and Jakhai Noss’s 72 kept the chains and clock moving. Delone was held to 219 total yards while Steel High’s economic 304 yards produced 42 points. That’s a scary 6.7 yards per point. If they continue at that pace they’ll repeat. The win advances them to States where they’ll play Canton (Dist-4, 11-0) on District-4 turf at Towanda High. Canton got the monkey (more like a gorilla) off their back last week beating Muncy (10-2) 45-7, who defeated them the previous 3 years in the district final. They are a veteran team averaging 42ppg on offense and 6 on defense that mirrors last year’s Muncy team which gave the Rollers fits, losing 50-43. If they get past Canton, they’ll likely face Old Forge (10-0), another foe from last year they edged 16-14. Bottom line, there are a number of pitfalls out there against teams that played them close last year. The power in the East is this four team group. Out west it’s the Wpial field of ever present Rochester (9-2) vs OLSH (8-3) and Bishop Canevin (11-1) vs Cornell (9-2).
