Week 9 recap

Once again, the weekend’s games aren’t completed due to heavy rain Friday. Cedar Cliff is playing today while three games are being played Monday. With the exception of those games, here’s a recap:

Biggest winners:
Big Spring – Mike Stoudt ran for a 3-yard touchdown in overtime and the Bulldogs held Susquenita out of the end zone to end a 30-game losing streak. The skid dated to 2004. The Bulldogs fought back from a 7-0 halftime deficit to win a game that, at least on paper, looked equal.
Trinity – If you count the Steelton-Highspire game as a road contest – Steel-High programs were sold and the gate was given to the Rollers after the game was moved to COBO Field thanks to the new surface at Memorial Field not being completed – Trinity had only one road shutout prior to its game at James Buchanan on Friday. Chalk up a second road shutout, via a 35-0 win, and the sixth in nine games for a streaking Shamrocks club.

Biggest losers
Cumberland Valley – Chris Jordan threw four interceptions and the Eagles offense never found its rhythm against a stout Harrisburg defense. The Cougars, at the expense of CV, may have cemented their status as team-to-beat in District 3-6 Class AAAA with an impressive 41-0 rout of the Eagles.
Red Land – The Patriots weren’t perfect in the regular season last year either. After a 40-7 loss to Gettysburg at home, Red Land coach Frank Gay will need to make sure his team understands that it still can compete for a district and state title, but not if it plays like it did Friday. Last year’s team ran off seven straight wins on its way to a District 3 title and a berth in the PIAA Class AAA semifinals after losing to Susquehanna Twp.
Boiling Springs – A 30-8 loss at home to Steelton-Highspire makes it virtually impossible for the Bubblers to make the playoffs. They’ll need to beat undefeated Trinity and get loads of help to earn the eighth and final seed.

Monday Night Lights 2

With more postponements this week, five area schools have yet to play as of Sunday afternoon. Here's the Monday football schedule:

Colonial Division
East Pennsboro at Northern, 7
Shippensburg at West Perry, 7
Capital Division
Waynesboro at Camp Hill, 6:30

District 3 playoff pairings after Week 8

The following is a glance at what the District 3 football playoff pairings would be if the season ended today:

District 3-6 Class AAAA
Upper Bracket
(16) Dallastown at (1) Harrisburg
(9) Muhlenberg at (8) Cumberland Valley
(12) Central York at (5) Altoona
(13) State College at (4) Governor Mifflin
Lower Bracket
(15) Red Lion at (2) York High
(10) Wilson West Lawn at (7) Warwick
(11) Central Dauphin at (6) Bishop McDevitt
(14) Lower Dauphin at (3) Manheim Twp.

District 3 Class AAA
Upper Bracket
(16) Spring Grove at (1) Elizabethtown
(9) Conrad Weiser at (8) Daniel Boone
(12) Manheim Central at (5) West York
(13) Northern Lebanon at (4) Hershey
Lower Bracket
(15) Cocalico at (2) Red Land
(10) Lampeter Strasburg at (7) Gettysburg
(11) Solanco at (6) Greencastle-Antrim
(14) Shippensburg at (3) Northern

District 3 Class AA
(8) Juniata at (1) Trinity
(5) Milton Hershey at (4) Wyomissing
(6) Delone Catholic at (3) Columbia
(7) Biglerville at (2) Lancaster Catholic

District 3 Class A
(8) Upper Dauphin at (1) Millersburg
(5) Reading Holy Name at (4) Camp Hill
(6) Reading Central Catholic at (3) Steelton-Highspire
(7) Fairfield at (2) Halifax

*For complete rankings of all 12 PIAA districts check out the computer rankings section thanks to the Pennsylvania Football News.

Week 9 predictions

Here are the MaxPreps picks for Week 9. For The Sentinel's staff picks and previews of each area game pick up a copy of Thursday's edition.

Friday
Commonwealth Division
Altoona 38, Carlisle 3
Keystone Division
Gettysburg 31, Red Land 27
Hershey 28, Mechanicsburg 12
Colonial Division
Northern 44, East Pennsboro 14
Shippensburg 22, West Perry 21
Susquenita 24, Big Spring 21
Capital Division
Camp Hill 17, Waynesboro 13
Steelton-Highspire 31, Boiling Springs 21
Trinity 48, James Buchanan 0

Saturday
Commonwealth Division
Bishop McDevitt 42, Cedar Cliff 7
Harrisburg 31, Cumberland Valley 17

Sunday matinee fallout

Every week Red Land takes its opponents' best shot.
Sunday afternoon the Patriots stayed off the canvas after Mechanicsburg popped them in the mouth, showed their grit with an impressive 13-play touchdown drive to squelch the Wildcats' upset bid and walked out of Memorial Park Stadium with a 28-13 win.
Eight weeks into a season in which it is the hunted, Red Land is starting to feel the effect.
Wide receiver Kyle Otstot left the Sunday's game in the first quarter after spraining an ankle and running back Dan Yenger suffered what coach Frank Gay called a bruised lower back. Yenger was limited to defense and special teams after the second-quarter injury.
With the two-week main event that will determine the Mid-Penn Conference Keystone Division champion set to start Friday night, Red Land needs all four days between now and the time Gettysburg marches into West Shore Stadium on Friday to get healthy.
Gay said Otstot and Yenger will be back to full-time duties when the Patriots close the season with Gettysburg and a trip to Hershey.
Both teams, with one loss in the Mid-Penn Keystone Division, are nipping at Red Land's heels.
Here's a glance at the Keystone standings followed by remaining games for Red Land, Hershey, Gettysburg and Lower Dauphin:

Team Division W-L
Red Land 5-0
Hershey 4-1
Gettysburg 4-1
Lower Dauphin 4-1

Parenthesis represent team's record against other three division contenders; results are against same teams:
Red Land (1-0)
Gettysburg
at Hershey
Results
at Lower Dauphin, W 27-7

Hershey (1-1)
Mechanicsburg
Red Land
Results
at Gettysburg, W 42-35 (OT)
vs. Lower Dauphin at Milton Hershey, L 14-20

Gettysburg (0-1)
at Red Land
Lower Dauphin
Results
vs. Hershey, L 35-42 (OT)

Lower Dauphin (1-1)
at Middletown
at Gettysburg
Results
vs. Red Land, L 7-27
vs. Hershey at Milton Hershey, W 20-14

Week 8 recap

The three games that have yet to be played throw a wrench into a complete Week 8 recap. Figuring the favorites -- Red Land, Boiling Springs and Cumberland Valley -- all win, here's how the eighth week turned out:

Biggest winners:
Trinity -- Rod Trevino's touchdown run with 1:00 to play gave the Shamrocks a 7-0 win over Milton Hershey and most likely the Mid-Penn Capital Division title. Plus, battling not only Milton Hershey but the elements as well, Trinity proved it can deal with adversity.
East Pennsboro -- It's doubtful the Panthers will be seeing the postseason this year but any time one can knock off a rival, it's good for the program. West Perry had little answer for the two-headed rushing attack of Tyler Rivera and John Hostetler, who accounted for all three East Penn scores in a 21-14 win.
Susquenita -- Sure, the Blackhawks were shut out for the fourth time this year in a 42-0 loss to Northern, but the future is bright. Games remain at Big Spring and Kennard Dale, teams with a cumulative 1-15 record.

Biggest losers:
Shippensburg -- After a promising start, the Greyhounds continue to slide in the District 3 Class AAA rankings. The latest setback -- a 27-7 loss to Greencastle-Antrim -- will make it tough for Shippensburg to host a playoff game. With games remaining at a steadily improving West Perry team and at Colonial Division monster Northern, coach Eric Foust has his work cut out for him to avoid a season-ending, four-game losing streak.
Big Spring -- A 38-7 loss to a winless Chambersburg team that hadn't won on the road since 2004 is rather unsettling. Still, there's light at the end of the tunnel because that 30-game losing streak has to end some time.

Sunday and Monday Night Lights

Here it is Sunday morning and Week 8 still isn't complete. We have four local teams -- two play each other -- ready to go after bad weather forced postponements Friday. Here is our remaining schedule:

Sunday
Keystone Division
Red Land at Mechanicsburg, 4

Monday
Capital Division
Boiling Springs at Waynesboro, 5:30
Nonconference
Cumberland Valley at Avon Grove, 5

District 3 playoff pairings after Week 7

The following is a glance at what the District 3 playoff pairings would be if the season ended today:
District 3-6 Class AAAA
Upper Bracket
(16) Central Dauphin East at (1) Harrisburg
(9) Muhlenberg at (8) Cumberland Valley
(12) Red Lion at (5) York High
(13) Central Dauphin at (4) Governor Mifflin
Lower Bracket
(15) State College at (2) Altoona
(10) Central York at (7) Bishop McDevitt
(11) Wilson West Lawn at (6) Warwick
(14) Lower Dauphin at (3) Manheim Twp.

District 3 Class AAA
Upper Bracket
(16) Cocalico at (1) Elizabethtown
(9) Northern Lebanon at (8) Daniel Boone
(12) Shippensburg at (5) West York
(13) Maheim Central at (4) Hershey
Lower Bracket
(15) Spring Grove at (2) Red Land
(10) Conrad Weiser at (7) Greencastle-Antrim
(11) Lampeter-Strasburg at (6) Gettysburg
(14) Solanco at (3) Northern York

District 3 Class AA
(8) Littlestown at (1) Trinity
(5) Wyomissing at (4) Milton Hershey
(6) Delone Catholic at (3) Lancaster Catholic
(7) Middletown at (2) Columbia

District 3 Class A
(8) Hanover at (1) Millersburg
(5) Steelton-Highspire at (4) Reading Holy Name
(6) Reading Central Catholic at (3) Camp Hill
(7) Fairfield at (2) Halifax

*For complete power rankings for all 12 PIAA districts check out the Pennsylvania Football News' computer rankings section.

Week 8 predictions

Here are the MaxPreps picks for area teams this week with the Altoona at Bishop McDevitt game thrown in to make it an even 12. Remember, these do not reflect The Sentinel's outlook on each matchup. For our staff selections and a breakdown of each game, pick up a copy of The Sentinel on Thursday.

Friday
Commonwealth Division
Central Dauphin 35, Carlisle 14
Harrisburg 44, Cedar Cliff 3
Keystone Division
Red Land 28, Mechanicsburg 12
Colonial Division
East Pennsboro 27, West Perry 22
Greencastle-Antrim 21, Shippensburg 17
Northern 55, Susquenita 3
Capital Division
Boiling Springs 21, Waynesboro 14
Trinity 28, Milton Hershey 10
Nondivision
Chambersburg 34, Big Spring 17
Nonconference
Cumberland Valley 28, Avon Grove 8
Saturday
Commonwealth Division
Altoona 24, Bishop McDevitt 22
Capital Division
Camp Hill 27, Scotland 3

A rankings clarification

If you're like me you probably checked out the District 3-6 Class AAAA standings and had one question pop in your head. How can Harrisburg, with 700 power points, retain its top seed despite having less points than four other teams?

Well, it's rather complicated so here's the scaled-down version. To be fair to teams like Harrisburg and West Perry, who play only nine games, seeds are determined by a team's average points. In this case, because Harrisburg plays a relatively tough schedule in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth, the Cougars remain in first thanks to earning an average of 116 points per week.

If it weren't for Tom Elling of the Pennsylvania Football News having the patience to explain that to me, I'd probably still be sitting here scratching a hole in my head.

This week's football tab: Pick up a copy of The Sentinel on Thursday afternoon to read about some of the area's top kickers, how Cumberland Valley plans to bounce back from its loss to Central Dauphin East, previews of all 11 area high school games, the area leaderboard and our staff picks.

Week 7 recap

Before any district standings come out Monday, lets take a quick look at how Week 7 shook out:

Biggest winners:
Trinity -- Behind 95 yards, a touchdown and an interception from Christian Kuntz, the Shamrocks ended Camp Hill's four-game winning streak and spoiled the Lions' homecoming. It was Trinity's fourth shutout in seven games and solidified its spot atop the District 3 Class AA standings.
Carlisle -- If nothing more, the Thundering Herd gained some confidence thanks to running back Kahlil Bunce's game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter to beat Chambersburg, 21-14. A win on the road in the Mid-Penn Commonwealth is something coach Brett Ickes can build on in the future.

Biggest losers:
Cumberland Valley -- The Eagles survived a killer September with one loss, which set the table for a good playoff seed with winnable October games. Somehow CV lost, 21-16, on homecoming to Central Dauphin East. CV, which was No. 5 in the District 3-6 Class AAAA standings before Friday, may have kissed a home playoff game goodbye with that loss.
Red Land -- Sure, the Patriots won, but they needed a Skyler Hunt 3-yard touchdown run with 1:45 to play to break a 14-14 tie. This against Susquehanna Twp., which is now 3-4. The Indians laid a blueprint for how to stop Red Land's pass-happy attack -- the team only threw for 33 yards. The good news for the Patriots is that they ran for 243 yards, led by Dan Yenger's 191, but they'll need a more balanced offense to make it out of District 3 next month.
Shippensburg -- Some coaches say a loss can be a good thing. Maybe the Greyhounds' 45-21 loss to Bangor Pius X on Friday will inspire Shippensburg to rebound and make a run at a Colonial Division title. Remember, the Greyhounds still have Greencastle-Antrim and Northern on the schedule, so the Pius loss should be an easy one to brush off.

What's in a Muhl?

If you take a close look at the District 3-6 Class AAAA power points you'll notice one thing: Every team has at least one loss except Muhlenberg.
So why are the Muhls the whole way down at No. 8 in the district standings? It's simple. Muhlenberg plays only two AAAA schools. Competing in the Inter-County League Section I, the Muhls' only AAAA league opponent is Governor Mifflin. The other AAAA team Muhlenberg played was Boyertown, which has one win.
Throw in a game against winless Susquenita, a AA team, and it's easy to see why Muhlenberg is eighth.
That's not to say Muhlenberg isn't good. The Muhls have outscored their opponents 243-53 but a 21-20 win over Blue Mountain raises red flags. If you're going to play smaller schools, no matter how good they are, you have to beat them convincingly, if for nothing more than respect.
One thing Muhlenberg does well, outside of playing tough, hard-nosed defense, is moving the ball threw the air. Nathan Daniels has 12 touchdowns to three interceptions and has thrown for 1,127 yards.
Daniels' favorite target is senior Vaughn Carraway, who has 13 total touchdowns.
If the numbers aren't simply a product of inferior competition, the Muhls could cause serious problems for one of the traditional powers in the postseason. Defense, coupled with a potent offense, is nothing to sneeze at.

District 3 playoff pairings after Week 6

District 3-6 Class AAAA
Upper Bracket
(16) Lower Dauphin at (1) Harrisburg
(9) Warwick at (8) Muhlenberg
(12) Red Lion at (5) Cumberland Valley
(13) Central Dauphin at (4) Manheim Twp.
Lower Bracket
(15) State College at (2) Altoona
(10) Central York at (7) York William Penn
(14) Hempfield at (3) Bishop McDevitt
(11) Wilson West Lawn at (6) Governor Mifflin

District 3 Class AAA
Upper Bracket
(16) Solanco at (1) Elizabethtown
(9) Shippensburg at (8) Gettysburg
(12) Lampeter Strasburg at (5) West York
(13) Hamburg at (4) Northern
Lower Bracket
(15) Conrad Weiser at (2) Hershey
(10) Greencastle-Antrim at (7) Daniel Boone
(14) Manheim Central at (3) Red Land
(11) Spring Grove at (6) Northern Lebanon

District 3 Class AA
(8) Littlestown at (1) Trinity
(5) Wyomissing at (4) Columbia
(7) Middletown at (2) Lancaster Catholic
(6) Delone Catholic at (3) Milton Hershey

District 3 Class A
(8) Hanover at (1) Millersburg
(5) Reading Central Catholic at (4) Steelton-Highspire
(7) Fairfield at (2) Halifax
(6) Reading Holy Name at (3) Camp Hill

*These pairings will change after each week. Thanks to the Pennsylvania Football News for the computer rankings.

Week 7 predictions

In the middle of each week MaxPreps offers predictions on high school football games throughout the country via its pregame feature. Remember, these are not my picks. You can find breakdowns of each game and our staff selections in our weekly football tab, which comes out each Thursday. Here are this week's predictions for the teams we cover courtesy of MaxPreps:

Friday night
Commonwealth
Altoona 35, Cedar Cliff 6
Carlisle 28, Chambersburg 21
Cumberland Valley 35, Central Dauphin East 14
Keystone
Gettysburg 34, Mechanicsburg 10
Red Land 34, Susquehanna Twp. 17
Colonial
Greencastle-Antrim 28, East Pennsboro 17
Northern 56, Big Spring 3
West Perry 34, Susquenita 7
Capital
Boiling Springs 31, James Buchanan 7
Saturday afternoon
Capital
Trinity 35, Camp Hill 3

*No prediction was available for Pius X at Shippensburg

Introduction

As the football and baseball prep writer (and possibly wrestling, but winter beats haven't been determined yet) for The Sentinel in Carlisle, Pa., I'm starting this blog to offer tidbits of interesting information that I normally can't fit into our print edition.

Through the middle to end of December I'll be posting mainly about high school football. With the change to winter sports I will be focusing on wrestling. After the snow melts you can come hear to read about prep baseball on the West Shore.

We're an afternoon daily that covers 15 high schools. Bible Baptist is our only school without a football team. The following schools are in our coverage area:

Bible Baptist Bobcats
Big Spring Bulldogs
Boiling Springs Bubblers
Camp Hill Lions
Carlisle Thundering Herd
Cedar Cliff Colts
Cumberland Valley Eagles
East Pennsboro Panthers
Mechanicsburg Wildcats
Northern York Polar Bears
Red Land Patriots
Shippensburg Greyhounds
Susquenita Blackhawks
Trinity Shamrocks
West Perry Mustangs