Districts 3, 4, 5, 6
1 State College 6A 6-0
Keaton Ellis returned the opening kick-off 97 yards for a touchdown to open the flood gates as State College jumped Central Dauphin East early then waltzed to an easy (29-7 at half) 39-15 conference win. They remain deadlocked with Harrisburg at 3-0 with Central Dauphin and Chambersburg behind them at 2-1. One of the top matches in the state occurs Saturday when SC travels to Harrisburg seeing if they can avenge last year’s 51-28 thumping. State High has a notable win against St, Augustine-NJ (3-2) 19-7 and Chambersburg (5-1) 35-16, while Harrisburg had the opening day loss to Coatesville (6-0) 37-6 then impressive wins against Cedar Cliff (4-2) 46-13 who defeat McDevitt, and a win over Central Dauphin (4-2) 20-5, who defeated Wilson and Berks Catholic. SC has more weapons while Harrisburg has Qb Kane Everson and a way underrated defense.
2 Manheim Central 5A 6-0
The Barons fell behind Cocalico early, 10-0, then responded with a 41 point outburst to defeat them 41-23 in a key Lancaster Lebanon-Section 2 game. Their massive line of Tyler Dougherty 5-11 295, Josh Painter 6-0 280, Brett Wolgemuth 6-1 260, Troy Kolk 6-2 225 and Cayden Warner 5-10 250 wore them down, pounding out 252 yards rushing. The win keeps them tied with surprising Conestoga Valley at 3-0 who also has a strong line. They’re home to Lampeter Strasburg (4-2) who will come up short here off their disappointing 28-26 home loss to Hempfield last week. Central beat them last year 41-20.
3 Harrisburg 6A 5-1
Two of the best defenses in central Pennsylvania squared off last week when Harrisburg traveled the short ride to Central Dauphin for a key Mid Penn Commonwealth game. Once again Qb Kane Everson was the difference, throwing for two 2nd half scores after the Rams shut them down in the 1st half, holding a 5-0 lead. A 42 yard Pick-6 iced it for the Cougars who won their 5th straight game, beating the Rams 20-5. Harrisburg edged them 258 to 238 in total yards. State College is next in a game that will likely decide the conference crown and impact District-3 postseason alignment although SC is in D6. Harrisburg is currently #1 in 6A District-3 postseason standings.
4 Bishop McDevitt 4A 5-1
McDevitt raced out to a 35-0 first half lead, before the subs took over in an easy 49-7 win at home against Waynesboro (3-3). CJ Reyes-Diggs rushed for 220 yards as Nazir Burnett had 146 yards on 4 receptions. Qb Chase Diehl completed 6 of 10 passes for 195 yards before sitting as most of the team did early. Total yardage saw the Crusaders up 516 yards to 56 while holding Waynesboro to zero yards rushing. 1-5 Lower Dauphin is next, coming off a 48-14 thumping at Cedar Cliff.
5 Wilson 6A 4-2
Wilson and Manheim Township got into a slugfest like Harrisburg-Central Dauphin, battling for conference supremacy where Wilson’s rebuilt squad edged the Streaks 16-14. It was a great confidence builder for them at this point in the season having lost to Central Dauphin 23-7 and Manheim Central 20-10 earlier. Township was previously undefeated with quality wins over Central Dauphin and Cocalico. The win keeps Wilson (2-0) tied atop the LL-1 with Warwick (3-0). Hempfield is up next coming in off 2 straight wins including last week’s road win at Lampeter Strasburg 28-26.
6 Manheim Township 6A 5-1
Township suffered their first loss last week in a game that was essentially dead even. Wilson out-yardaged them 260 to 254 and were 2 points better on the scoreboard, winning 16-14. Qb Harrison Kirk threw for 145 yards (7 of 22) but Anthony Futrick of Wilson was better, completing 11 of 18 for 166 yards. Neither could get the running game going with the Bulldogs held to 94 yards to Township’s 109. The big and bad Warwick Warriors are next, rolling down the pike from Lititz on a 3 game winning streak with their only loss being a 27-20 stumble at Manheim Central where they lost a 10 nothing lead! They play great defense, but how about Township’s that features at least 10 underclassman starting or getting significant time.
7 Central Dauphin 6A 4-2.
The Rams lost a hard fought, physical encounter with Harrisburg last week, 20-5, but showed real development in the passing attack with Noah Hoffman completing 21 of 32 passes for 190 yards. They’re at Altoona Friday where the Lions may have found new life at 3-3 following the 49-42 overtime road win at Carlisle. They have some nice parts and the Mansion has often been a difficult venue for many teams. With State College and Chambersburg looming, CD can’t slip up with only 8 slots for the 6A District-3 playoffs.
8 Berks Catholic 4A 4-2
Berks Catholic built a 38-8 halftime lead then sat the starters in a 52-8 win against Hamburg to open Berks Inter County-Section 1 action. 4 year starting Qb Terry Derr completed 5 of 6 passes for 160 yards before leaving while Abdul MacFoy rushed for 52 yards on 2 carries with Luis Garcia getting 72 after 3 carries. After playing state power Central Dauphin plus national and regional powers McDonogh and Malvern Prep, conference games against Hamburg (2-4), Fleetwood (1-5), Kutztown (0-6) and Schuylkill Valley (3-3) seem trite and are far from competitive. Only Wyomissing (3A, 5-1) offers the hope of a competitive game. This week’s opponent is Kutztown who has scored 12 points all year. As always BC will feast on their light weight Section-2 competition to enter the postseason on a monster roll where they’ve won 3 straight district titles and 4 of the last 5.
9 Southern Columbia 2A 6-0
Southern got their 67th regular season win, scoring on their first 6 possessions to take a 40-0 half time lead against South Williamsport. #2 Qb Preston Zachman filled in well for Stone Hollenback (out since Mount Carmel game) completing 7 of 9 passes for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. They rolled up a 466 to 234 total yardage advantage, winning 54-20. Jersey Shore (3-3) is next, and with losses to Selinsgrove 31-10 and MCA 47-7, teams SCA beat 48-0 and 51-7 respectively, you know how this one will play out.
10 York (William Penn) 5A 6-0
The White Rose city is kicking “A” and taking names, beating Dallastown 68-35 as they continue morphing into something other than the team that started the season, something like Harrisburg. The total yardage was staggering, York 611, Dallastown 475. If you like offense, there’s nothing like the York-Adams for balls to the wall excitement! Have to mention receiver Rob Rideout who had 225 yards in receptions for 2 scores and 82 yards rushing for 2 more. Running back Dayjure Stewart was his usual self, running for 173 yards and 4 scores. And how about Qb Seth Bernstein completing 8 of 12 passes for 298 yards and 4 scores. Wow, they have some weapons! They’re at Red Lion Friday where the Lions will be hungry coming off a 23-16 upset by Northeastern. York’s looking to get some too after losing to them last year 31-14.
11 Warwick 6A 5-1
Warwick has a large and productive offense at 47ppg but guess what one of their best kept secrets is? It’s the defense that allowed 50 points all year, or, 8.3ppg. They have 3 shutouts to date and will need every bit of that plus their offense this week at Manheim Township who is also 5-1, but coming off their first loss of the year. Warwick’s tandem Qbs have Joey McCracken completing 32 of 44 passes (73%, 6/0 ratio) for 530 yards and Adam Ricketts completing 58 of 92 (63%, 10/3 ratio) for 1087 yards. Township beat them last year 45-7. And there’s big ramifications here in the LL-1 with Warwick undefeated and tied with Wilson with Township lurking a game behind.
12 Cocalico 5A 4-2
There are easier schedules than facing Manheim Township and Manheim Central back to back but that’s how it played out this year with mandatory crossover games that while trying, have been exciting. The Barons are just too big and too good despite Cocalico getting the early jump for a 10-0 lead. Senior Garrett Longenecker (5-9, 185) had another solid performance rushing for 92 yards against a legit defense. This Friday they’ll try to stop the 2 game slide traveling to Conestoga Valley (5-1) who is tied with Manheim Central at 2-0 atop the LL-2.
13 Cedar Cliff 5A 4-2
That’s 3 straight wins for the CC Colts who swamped Lower Dauphin 48-14 to hold onto 1st place with Susquehanna Township in the Mid Penn Keystone, a game ahead of Hershey and McDevitt. Chris Dare was special, completing 11 of 14 throws for 180 yards, mostly to Bobby Whalen who snagged 4 for 142 yards while Jaheim Morris blasted out 170 yards on 15 carries. The Colts are looking good since beating McDevitt 3 weeks ago. 2-4 Hershey is next.
14 Chambersburg 6A 5-1
Chambersburg got their first win against Cumberland Valley since 1993 last week, beating the Eagles 28-14. They have the Mid Penn’s leading rusher in Keyshawn Jones who led the way with 106 yards and 2 touchdowns. That win was a nice rebound from a tough encounter with State College the week before and keeps Cumberland Valley winless at 0-6. Incredible. The Trojans are at CD East Friday who is a 17-10 loss to Manheim Township in the opener from being undefeated at home and 3-3. East won last year 36-26. Any look ahead here to Harrisburg the following week then Central Dauphin will get them defeated.
15 Middletown 3A 5-1
Qb Scott Ash was in the groove against Boiling Springs completing 9 of 11 passes for 232 yards with touchdown tosses of 70, 57 and 25 yards. Christopher Joseph caught 2 of those, finishing with 3 receptions for 140 yards. The backfield tandem of Jose Lopez and Richie Sykes rushed for 174 and 117 yards respectively as the Blue Raiders blew out the Bubblers 51-14. Up next is undefeated Milton Hershey (6-0) in a Mid Penn-Capital showdown.
1 State College 6A 6-0
Keaton Ellis returned the opening kick-off 97 yards for a touchdown to open the flood gates as State College jumped Central Dauphin East early then waltzed to an easy (29-7 at half) 39-15 conference win. They remain deadlocked with Harrisburg at 3-0 with Central Dauphin and Chambersburg behind them at 2-1. One of the top matches in the state occurs Saturday when SC travels to Harrisburg seeing if they can avenge last year’s 51-28 thumping. State High has a notable win against St, Augustine-NJ (3-2) 19-7 and Chambersburg (5-1) 35-16, while Harrisburg had the opening day loss to Coatesville (6-0) 37-6 then impressive wins against Cedar Cliff (4-2) 46-13 who defeat McDevitt, and a win over Central Dauphin (4-2) 20-5, who defeated Wilson and Berks Catholic. SC has more weapons while Harrisburg has Qb Kane Everson and a way underrated defense.
2 Manheim Central 5A 6-0
The Barons fell behind Cocalico early, 10-0, then responded with a 41 point outburst to defeat them 41-23 in a key Lancaster Lebanon-Section 2 game. Their massive line of Tyler Dougherty 5-11 295, Josh Painter 6-0 280, Brett Wolgemuth 6-1 260, Troy Kolk 6-2 225 and Cayden Warner 5-10 250 wore them down, pounding out 252 yards rushing. The win keeps them tied with surprising Conestoga Valley at 3-0 who also has a strong line. They’re home to Lampeter Strasburg (4-2) who will come up short here off their disappointing 28-26 home loss to Hempfield last week. Central beat them last year 41-20.
3 Harrisburg 6A 5-1
Two of the best defenses in central Pennsylvania squared off last week when Harrisburg traveled the short ride to Central Dauphin for a key Mid Penn Commonwealth game. Once again Qb Kane Everson was the difference, throwing for two 2nd half scores after the Rams shut them down in the 1st half, holding a 5-0 lead. A 42 yard Pick-6 iced it for the Cougars who won their 5th straight game, beating the Rams 20-5. Harrisburg edged them 258 to 238 in total yards. State College is next in a game that will likely decide the conference crown and impact District-3 postseason alignment although SC is in D6. Harrisburg is currently #1 in 6A District-3 postseason standings.
4 Bishop McDevitt 4A 5-1
McDevitt raced out to a 35-0 first half lead, before the subs took over in an easy 49-7 win at home against Waynesboro (3-3). CJ Reyes-Diggs rushed for 220 yards as Nazir Burnett had 146 yards on 4 receptions. Qb Chase Diehl completed 6 of 10 passes for 195 yards before sitting as most of the team did early. Total yardage saw the Crusaders up 516 yards to 56 while holding Waynesboro to zero yards rushing. 1-5 Lower Dauphin is next, coming off a 48-14 thumping at Cedar Cliff.
5 Wilson 6A 4-2
Wilson and Manheim Township got into a slugfest like Harrisburg-Central Dauphin, battling for conference supremacy where Wilson’s rebuilt squad edged the Streaks 16-14. It was a great confidence builder for them at this point in the season having lost to Central Dauphin 23-7 and Manheim Central 20-10 earlier. Township was previously undefeated with quality wins over Central Dauphin and Cocalico. The win keeps Wilson (2-0) tied atop the LL-1 with Warwick (3-0). Hempfield is up next coming in off 2 straight wins including last week’s road win at Lampeter Strasburg 28-26.
6 Manheim Township 6A 5-1
Township suffered their first loss last week in a game that was essentially dead even. Wilson out-yardaged them 260 to 254 and were 2 points better on the scoreboard, winning 16-14. Qb Harrison Kirk threw for 145 yards (7 of 22) but Anthony Futrick of Wilson was better, completing 11 of 18 for 166 yards. Neither could get the running game going with the Bulldogs held to 94 yards to Township’s 109. The big and bad Warwick Warriors are next, rolling down the pike from Lititz on a 3 game winning streak with their only loss being a 27-20 stumble at Manheim Central where they lost a 10 nothing lead! They play great defense, but how about Township’s that features at least 10 underclassman starting or getting significant time.
7 Central Dauphin 6A 4-2.
The Rams lost a hard fought, physical encounter with Harrisburg last week, 20-5, but showed real development in the passing attack with Noah Hoffman completing 21 of 32 passes for 190 yards. They’re at Altoona Friday where the Lions may have found new life at 3-3 following the 49-42 overtime road win at Carlisle. They have some nice parts and the Mansion has often been a difficult venue for many teams. With State College and Chambersburg looming, CD can’t slip up with only 8 slots for the 6A District-3 playoffs.
8 Berks Catholic 4A 4-2
Berks Catholic built a 38-8 halftime lead then sat the starters in a 52-8 win against Hamburg to open Berks Inter County-Section 1 action. 4 year starting Qb Terry Derr completed 5 of 6 passes for 160 yards before leaving while Abdul MacFoy rushed for 52 yards on 2 carries with Luis Garcia getting 72 after 3 carries. After playing state power Central Dauphin plus national and regional powers McDonogh and Malvern Prep, conference games against Hamburg (2-4), Fleetwood (1-5), Kutztown (0-6) and Schuylkill Valley (3-3) seem trite and are far from competitive. Only Wyomissing (3A, 5-1) offers the hope of a competitive game. This week’s opponent is Kutztown who has scored 12 points all year. As always BC will feast on their light weight Section-2 competition to enter the postseason on a monster roll where they’ve won 3 straight district titles and 4 of the last 5.
9 Southern Columbia 2A 6-0
Southern got their 67th regular season win, scoring on their first 6 possessions to take a 40-0 half time lead against South Williamsport. #2 Qb Preston Zachman filled in well for Stone Hollenback (out since Mount Carmel game) completing 7 of 9 passes for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. They rolled up a 466 to 234 total yardage advantage, winning 54-20. Jersey Shore (3-3) is next, and with losses to Selinsgrove 31-10 and MCA 47-7, teams SCA beat 48-0 and 51-7 respectively, you know how this one will play out.
10 York (William Penn) 5A 6-0
The White Rose city is kicking “A” and taking names, beating Dallastown 68-35 as they continue morphing into something other than the team that started the season, something like Harrisburg. The total yardage was staggering, York 611, Dallastown 475. If you like offense, there’s nothing like the York-Adams for balls to the wall excitement! Have to mention receiver Rob Rideout who had 225 yards in receptions for 2 scores and 82 yards rushing for 2 more. Running back Dayjure Stewart was his usual self, running for 173 yards and 4 scores. And how about Qb Seth Bernstein completing 8 of 12 passes for 298 yards and 4 scores. Wow, they have some weapons! They’re at Red Lion Friday where the Lions will be hungry coming off a 23-16 upset by Northeastern. York’s looking to get some too after losing to them last year 31-14.
11 Warwick 6A 5-1
Warwick has a large and productive offense at 47ppg but guess what one of their best kept secrets is? It’s the defense that allowed 50 points all year, or, 8.3ppg. They have 3 shutouts to date and will need every bit of that plus their offense this week at Manheim Township who is also 5-1, but coming off their first loss of the year. Warwick’s tandem Qbs have Joey McCracken completing 32 of 44 passes (73%, 6/0 ratio) for 530 yards and Adam Ricketts completing 58 of 92 (63%, 10/3 ratio) for 1087 yards. Township beat them last year 45-7. And there’s big ramifications here in the LL-1 with Warwick undefeated and tied with Wilson with Township lurking a game behind.
12 Cocalico 5A 4-2
There are easier schedules than facing Manheim Township and Manheim Central back to back but that’s how it played out this year with mandatory crossover games that while trying, have been exciting. The Barons are just too big and too good despite Cocalico getting the early jump for a 10-0 lead. Senior Garrett Longenecker (5-9, 185) had another solid performance rushing for 92 yards against a legit defense. This Friday they’ll try to stop the 2 game slide traveling to Conestoga Valley (5-1) who is tied with Manheim Central at 2-0 atop the LL-2.
13 Cedar Cliff 5A 4-2
That’s 3 straight wins for the CC Colts who swamped Lower Dauphin 48-14 to hold onto 1st place with Susquehanna Township in the Mid Penn Keystone, a game ahead of Hershey and McDevitt. Chris Dare was special, completing 11 of 14 throws for 180 yards, mostly to Bobby Whalen who snagged 4 for 142 yards while Jaheim Morris blasted out 170 yards on 15 carries. The Colts are looking good since beating McDevitt 3 weeks ago. 2-4 Hershey is next.
14 Chambersburg 6A 5-1
Chambersburg got their first win against Cumberland Valley since 1993 last week, beating the Eagles 28-14. They have the Mid Penn’s leading rusher in Keyshawn Jones who led the way with 106 yards and 2 touchdowns. That win was a nice rebound from a tough encounter with State College the week before and keeps Cumberland Valley winless at 0-6. Incredible. The Trojans are at CD East Friday who is a 17-10 loss to Manheim Township in the opener from being undefeated at home and 3-3. East won last year 36-26. Any look ahead here to Harrisburg the following week then Central Dauphin will get them defeated.
15 Middletown 3A 5-1
Qb Scott Ash was in the groove against Boiling Springs completing 9 of 11 passes for 232 yards with touchdown tosses of 70, 57 and 25 yards. Christopher Joseph caught 2 of those, finishing with 3 receptions for 140 yards. The backfield tandem of Jose Lopez and Richie Sykes rushed for 174 and 117 yards respectively as the Blue Raiders blew out the Bubblers 51-14. Up next is undefeated Milton Hershey (6-0) in a Mid Penn-Capital showdown.
