(All Classifications)
Here is information and thoughts on Mid State football, meaning District 3 teams and a few relevant D4 and D6 teams, having to cut off “Mid State” somewhere. Hard breaking it down with geographic absolutes. So here goes with some best guesstimates, as always, just for the fun of it.
16 Cedar Cliff: Mid Penn Keystone, 5A, 7-3
A 5-0 finish following a 28-21 loss to McDevitt suggests they could surprise, especially as they were a young team last year at many positions. They finished the year 4-2 in the Mid Penn Keystone, a game behind Lower Dauphin and 2 behind McDevitt, averaging 33ppg, allowing 19. Had dual Qbs in Chris Dare and Bobby Whalen although it appears Dare could get the nod based on finishing strong completing 20 of 28 for 230 yards against McDevitt. Whalen is the dual threat and a fine receiver so we’ll see how it shakes out. Return a lot of the D led by MLB Donovan Bell (5-11, 215, sr, 112 tackles), LBs Brennan Quigley (6-0, 185, sr, 48) and Kevin Lusk (5-11, 200, sr, 65), Elijah Ikeda (5-9, 185, so, 24), DE Justin Resto (6-2, 235, sr, 42), SS Bobby Whalen (6-1, 175, sr, 38) and CB Pedro Clinton (5-9, 170, jr, 14). Isaiah Tirado (5-8, 240, sr, 21) returns to the DL. The schedule is brutal opening at home to Governor Mifflin, followed by consecutive road games at Cocalico, Harrisburg, Hollidaysburg and conference rival McDevitt.
17 Central York: York-Adams 1, 6A, 6-4
6-2 190 senior Qb Cade Pribus (+1784 passing, +528 rushing), a pile of last year’s running backs and a thin defense will have them exciting again! Pribus has offers from Delaware and Albany. They return some people up front in DEs Reid Hershner (6-3, 190, sr) and Ian McNaughton (6-1, 210, jr) plus DTs Devin Gaffney (6-2, 240, sr) and Ben Barkowski (6-5, 285, sr). They lost the York-Adams best DB with Rodrick Farley, graduating for Clarion University after transferring in from powerful Skyline in Dallas-TX. But they should get off to a nice start excepting Cumberland Valley game 2 after opening with city rival West York, then CV, Hempfield and Red Lion. Both Hempfield and Red Lion lost quality at Qb, and with New Oxford and South Western following, they could be 5-1 and cruising unless they slip at Dallastown, Northeastern or York High closing out.
18 Exeter Township: Berks Inter County Section 1, 5A, 7-4
Coach Matt Bauer turned a sluggish program around since coming onboard in 2009 following two consecutive winless seasons. Prior to ’09, he was an assistant at the school for 6 years in charge of LBs/RBs and Co D/C before a 1 year stint at Governor Mifflin as the DL Coach. This D background showed up immediately, trimming 8 points from their 2008 yield of 38ppg and in subsequent years, dropping to 23ppg in 2010. 2011’s team allowed 15. Following two losing years it’s been all winning seasons, amassing a 57-22 record. No one’s calling them a monster program but they have become consistent, showing toughness and class last year after consecutive losses to Spring Ford, Berks Catholic and Mifflin by reeling off 5 straight to make the playoffs where they were defeated by Harrisburg.
At 24ppg, last year was the worst defense of the Bauer era. And that was with a supportive offense at 31ppg. Gone from that offense are Qb Brandon Unterkoefter (1392, 54%) who importantly rushed for 1138 yards. The other top two running backs also graduated, Gage Moran and Nick Sarangoulis with 1008 and 638 yards respectively. Jack Fiucci’s 512 yards in receptions also graduated. The line will miss Dylan Niedrowski (6-5, 295) who is off to UConn. So it’s looking
thin although the D returns DT Dave Filippello (6-4, 250, sr), 3 LBs and their FS. Year in and year out, Coach puts together a massive line. Schedule wise it’s shaky with Berks Catholic in the opener at Exeter followed by Boyertown, a trip to the Mid Penn to play Lower Dauphin (that’s different!) followed by Spring Ford away. Looks like a .500 season but who knows what comes up from the underclasses.
19 Selinsgrove: Heartland Athletic Conference Division-1, 4A, 11-3
The Seals had a hell of a year which is nothing new for a program that won a state title in 2009 (16-0, beat Manheim Central in final 10-7) and had but one losing season in over 20 plus years. They came close to big things again last year, losing 33-32 on a failed 2-pt conversion (pressured pass fell short) with .11 left in the quarterfinal against Bethlehem Catholic. The Hawks went on to lose to Imhotep who lost to Cathedral Prep in the final. The big loss for this season is the graduation of record setting Qb Logan Leiby who completed 64% of passes for 3782 yards. His Td to Pick ratio was 42-15. The receiver corps was gutted with 3112 of their 3782 yards graduating. 5 starters return to the defense with RB Joe Kahn ((6-0, 190, sr, 1114yds) and WR Joshua Nylund (5-10, 180, jr, 30/519) back on offense and defense. Coy Bastian (6-0, 175, so) looks to be the new Qb after playing in 8 games last year as a freshman. The HAC-1 is wide open with Shikellamy and Jersey City graduating their Qbs and big numbers from good squads where Shik beat the Seals in the regular season before losing to them in the post season. While Jersey Shore’s tough D which allowed 12ppg wasn’t quite enough, losing 14-7 in districts to the Seals. Too bad they don’t play more Harrisburg area teams being a mere 47 miles upriver.
20 Red Lion: York-Adams 1, 6A, 8-3
A 1-3 finish ruined a 7-0 start losing to fellow York Adams members Central York and Dallastown before bowing out in the 1st round against Wilson. LB Elijah Workinger (6-2, 245, sr, 98 tackles) is the center piece to their defense, joined by fellow LBs Ben Hornberger (6-1, 180, sr), Quentin Lyons (6-3, 190, sr) and Kurt Keough (6-0, 175, sr). Jared Miller (6-0, 230, sr) returns up front. But they’ll sorely miss Qb Zach Throne’s 1350 passing yards (67%) and 1523 on the ground. Big Zerick Nease (6-5, 265) will also be missed on the line and on spot duty on defense. So while they’re greatly reduced, an opening slate of J. P. McCaskey (Lancaster High), and Waynesboro at home, could get them off to a good start before heading to Chambersburg where the Trojans have gone 3-37 the last 4 years. Conversely, since taking over in 2013, Coach Jesse Shay turned things around at Red Lion immediately, going from a 1-9 season to a 4-6 outing, then cranking out consecutive winning seasons since then.
Here is information and thoughts on Mid State football, meaning District 3 teams and a few relevant D4 and D6 teams, having to cut off “Mid State” somewhere. Hard breaking it down with geographic absolutes. So here goes with some best guesstimates, as always, just for the fun of it.
16 Cedar Cliff: Mid Penn Keystone, 5A, 7-3
A 5-0 finish following a 28-21 loss to McDevitt suggests they could surprise, especially as they were a young team last year at many positions. They finished the year 4-2 in the Mid Penn Keystone, a game behind Lower Dauphin and 2 behind McDevitt, averaging 33ppg, allowing 19. Had dual Qbs in Chris Dare and Bobby Whalen although it appears Dare could get the nod based on finishing strong completing 20 of 28 for 230 yards against McDevitt. Whalen is the dual threat and a fine receiver so we’ll see how it shakes out. Return a lot of the D led by MLB Donovan Bell (5-11, 215, sr, 112 tackles), LBs Brennan Quigley (6-0, 185, sr, 48) and Kevin Lusk (5-11, 200, sr, 65), Elijah Ikeda (5-9, 185, so, 24), DE Justin Resto (6-2, 235, sr, 42), SS Bobby Whalen (6-1, 175, sr, 38) and CB Pedro Clinton (5-9, 170, jr, 14). Isaiah Tirado (5-8, 240, sr, 21) returns to the DL. The schedule is brutal opening at home to Governor Mifflin, followed by consecutive road games at Cocalico, Harrisburg, Hollidaysburg and conference rival McDevitt.
17 Central York: York-Adams 1, 6A, 6-4
6-2 190 senior Qb Cade Pribus (+1784 passing, +528 rushing), a pile of last year’s running backs and a thin defense will have them exciting again! Pribus has offers from Delaware and Albany. They return some people up front in DEs Reid Hershner (6-3, 190, sr) and Ian McNaughton (6-1, 210, jr) plus DTs Devin Gaffney (6-2, 240, sr) and Ben Barkowski (6-5, 285, sr). They lost the York-Adams best DB with Rodrick Farley, graduating for Clarion University after transferring in from powerful Skyline in Dallas-TX. But they should get off to a nice start excepting Cumberland Valley game 2 after opening with city rival West York, then CV, Hempfield and Red Lion. Both Hempfield and Red Lion lost quality at Qb, and with New Oxford and South Western following, they could be 5-1 and cruising unless they slip at Dallastown, Northeastern or York High closing out.
18 Exeter Township: Berks Inter County Section 1, 5A, 7-4
Coach Matt Bauer turned a sluggish program around since coming onboard in 2009 following two consecutive winless seasons. Prior to ’09, he was an assistant at the school for 6 years in charge of LBs/RBs and Co D/C before a 1 year stint at Governor Mifflin as the DL Coach. This D background showed up immediately, trimming 8 points from their 2008 yield of 38ppg and in subsequent years, dropping to 23ppg in 2010. 2011’s team allowed 15. Following two losing years it’s been all winning seasons, amassing a 57-22 record. No one’s calling them a monster program but they have become consistent, showing toughness and class last year after consecutive losses to Spring Ford, Berks Catholic and Mifflin by reeling off 5 straight to make the playoffs where they were defeated by Harrisburg.
At 24ppg, last year was the worst defense of the Bauer era. And that was with a supportive offense at 31ppg. Gone from that offense are Qb Brandon Unterkoefter (1392, 54%) who importantly rushed for 1138 yards. The other top two running backs also graduated, Gage Moran and Nick Sarangoulis with 1008 and 638 yards respectively. Jack Fiucci’s 512 yards in receptions also graduated. The line will miss Dylan Niedrowski (6-5, 295) who is off to UConn. So it’s looking
thin although the D returns DT Dave Filippello (6-4, 250, sr), 3 LBs and their FS. Year in and year out, Coach puts together a massive line. Schedule wise it’s shaky with Berks Catholic in the opener at Exeter followed by Boyertown, a trip to the Mid Penn to play Lower Dauphin (that’s different!) followed by Spring Ford away. Looks like a .500 season but who knows what comes up from the underclasses.
19 Selinsgrove: Heartland Athletic Conference Division-1, 4A, 11-3
The Seals had a hell of a year which is nothing new for a program that won a state title in 2009 (16-0, beat Manheim Central in final 10-7) and had but one losing season in over 20 plus years. They came close to big things again last year, losing 33-32 on a failed 2-pt conversion (pressured pass fell short) with .11 left in the quarterfinal against Bethlehem Catholic. The Hawks went on to lose to Imhotep who lost to Cathedral Prep in the final. The big loss for this season is the graduation of record setting Qb Logan Leiby who completed 64% of passes for 3782 yards. His Td to Pick ratio was 42-15. The receiver corps was gutted with 3112 of their 3782 yards graduating. 5 starters return to the defense with RB Joe Kahn ((6-0, 190, sr, 1114yds) and WR Joshua Nylund (5-10, 180, jr, 30/519) back on offense and defense. Coy Bastian (6-0, 175, so) looks to be the new Qb after playing in 8 games last year as a freshman. The HAC-1 is wide open with Shikellamy and Jersey City graduating their Qbs and big numbers from good squads where Shik beat the Seals in the regular season before losing to them in the post season. While Jersey Shore’s tough D which allowed 12ppg wasn’t quite enough, losing 14-7 in districts to the Seals. Too bad they don’t play more Harrisburg area teams being a mere 47 miles upriver.
20 Red Lion: York-Adams 1, 6A, 8-3
A 1-3 finish ruined a 7-0 start losing to fellow York Adams members Central York and Dallastown before bowing out in the 1st round against Wilson. LB Elijah Workinger (6-2, 245, sr, 98 tackles) is the center piece to their defense, joined by fellow LBs Ben Hornberger (6-1, 180, sr), Quentin Lyons (6-3, 190, sr) and Kurt Keough (6-0, 175, sr). Jared Miller (6-0, 230, sr) returns up front. But they’ll sorely miss Qb Zach Throne’s 1350 passing yards (67%) and 1523 on the ground. Big Zerick Nease (6-5, 265) will also be missed on the line and on spot duty on defense. So while they’re greatly reduced, an opening slate of J. P. McCaskey (Lancaster High), and Waynesboro at home, could get them off to a good start before heading to Chambersburg where the Trojans have gone 3-37 the last 4 years. Conversely, since taking over in 2013, Coach Jesse Shay turned things around at Red Lion immediately, going from a 1-9 season to a 4-6 outing, then cranking out consecutive winning seasons since then.
