Week 5 winners and losers

The tide is slowing starting to shift in Lower Allen Twp.

It was seven years since Cedar Cliff had won three straight football games. Friday night, the Colts did what they hadn't done since consecutive wins over Chambersburg, Harrisburg and Lower Dauphin in 2001 when they won their third straight via a 24-3 rout of Carlisle.

Cedar Cliff and coach Jim Cantafio (right) polished off Chambersburg in overtime Sept. 19 and downed Carlisle without the services of quarterback Jake Troutman, who tore an ACL in the second half against Chambersburg. Sophomore Tim Kelly, who led both wins, will be under center the rest of the season. The Colts (3-2) travel to Mid-Penn Commonwealth leader State College (5-0) on Friday.

Biggest winners (including Cedar Cliff):

Mechanicsburg -- After a couple of close calls in recent weeks, the 45-6 pounding of visiting Waynesboro was exactly what Mechanicsburg (5-0) needed. Thanks the Lebanon's loss to Garden Spot, the Wildcats took the top spot in the District 3 Class AAA power rankings.

Red Land -- It wasn't easy but Ethan Noss scored twice in the second half to help the Patriots (4-1) down Hershey, 24-8. Dan Yenger, who rushed for 99 yards on 20 carries, will need another big game as Red Land hosts Greencastle-Antrim (5-0) on Friday. Win that and we'll see the Patriots back here next week.

Shippensburg -- The forward pass made an appearance Saturday in Bangor as the Greyhounds (2-3) eclipsed 200 yards through the air in a nice 43-28 win over Pius X. Shippensburg needs that momentum to carry over this Friday when Mechanicsburg comes to town.

Biggest losers:

Carlisle -- For much of the game, Carlisle (1-4) looked like the better team against Cedar Cliff. Unfortunately, the Thundering Herd simply couldn't finish its long drives and fell victim to the big play in a surprising 24-3 loss.

Boiling Springs -- The offense was better as it accumulated 288 yards but the result was the same for the fourth week in a row. This time it was a 21-15 setback to East Pennsboro on homecoming. The good news is that this team (1-4) isn't getting run out of the stadium. Its last two losses were by a combined 13 points. Hope for the future?

PIAA Bracketology

Other than a few stragglers who are playing at teams whose fields don't offer lights -- looking outside, the portable brand might be needed today -- Week 5 is in the books and we're halfway through the regular season.

A big topic of conversation through the offseason and early this season was that of how the PIAA state playoff brackets were restructured.

The biggest change for area teams is in Class AAA. The District 3 champion will participate in the western bracket and meet the WPIAL (District 7) champion in the state semifinals. In previous years District 3 qualified for the state semifinals out of the eastern bracket.

Another change involving the Mid-Penn comes in Class AAAA. No longer will Mid-Penn affiliates Altoona and State College, who call District 6 home, qualify for the District 3 field. Rather, those two are in a subregional with Erie McDowell, Allderdice, DuBois and Central Mountain. The winner of that meets the WPIAL champion in the quarterfinals with the survivor there taking on the District 3 champion. Those games are in the western bracket.

But that's all far down the road. If you're headed to a Saturday matinee, enjoy the rain.

Early playoff power rankings

Can you believe this Friday marks the halfway point of the regular season for high school football? It hasn't even felt like fall yet for crying out loud. Regardless, with said midway point visible on the horizon, it's time to take a look at the District 3 power rankings, which determine the playoff pairings.

Rather than regurgitate the names and numbers, you can browse them at your own pace by clicking the link above. The rankings are courtesy of the Pennsylvania Football News.

We would, however, like to take a minute and point something out. As it stands, Camp Hill is exactly where it needs to be. Frank Kindler's Lions (3-1) are sitting in second place, 40 average points below Steelton-Highspire and a slim five over Holy Name.

Why do we bring this up? Because it's imperative for Camp Hill to avoid the same side of the bracket as the defending District 3 and PIAA Class A champion Rollers. The way the eight-team bracket is set up, Camp Hill can fall to third (or sixth or seventh) and avoid Steel-High until the final, assuming the Rollers remain at No. 1. But a finish of fourth or fifth will doom the Lions to travel to Cottage Hill in the semifinals, where they lost, 33-0, last year in that round. It should be pointed out that, after a 7-3 regular season a year ago, Steel-High was the No. 2 seed behind Millersburg and Camp Hill was No. 3.

The other positive to steering clear of the Rollers, other than the fact that the two close the season against each other Oct. 31, is that anything can happen once you get to Hersheypark Stadium. Look at last year. Lampeter-Strasburg surprised Gettysburg in Class AAA and, even more jaw-dropping, Delone Catholic hammered top-seeded, unbeaten and state-ranked Trinity in AA.

The key for Camp Hill is to get back to The Stadium, somewhere it hasn't been since 2004. Once there, who knows what can happen.

Week 4 winners and losers

Without question the biggest game of last weekend was the one between Mechanicsburg and Northern. We could put both of these teams under each category. Mechanicsburg could be considered a winner due to ending Northern's 31-game winning streak and staying undefeated. The 'Cats could also be in the loser category due to nearly blowing a 23-8 fourth-quarter lead.

Northern's in the same boat. The Polar Bears could be classified as winners after taking a very strong Mechanicsburg team to the limit without their top two running backs, Isaiah Hicks and Robbie Bleiler, at full strength. Or, Northern could be in the other category for losing said regular-season winning streak.

We'll make it simple and just keep both off the lists this week:

Biggest winners:

Camp Hill -- The Lions (3-1) responded on the road in a tough environment and blitzed rival East Pennsboro, 17-7, a week after losing to Trinity, another rival. Jordan Weber's four interceptions and one touchdown catch all but eliminated any chance the Panthers (1-3) had of winning.

Cedar Cliff -- Win No. 2 for Jim Cantafio came a week following the coach's first win at the school. On Friday, the Colts (2-2) needed Tim Kelly's 1-yard touchdown run in overtime to down Chambersburg, 30-27. Do we hear three straight for Cantafio? Colts host Carlisle (1-3) on Friday.

Cumberland Valley -- How do you erase bad memories from an upset a year ago? Beat that team 45-0 on its home field. That's exactly what the Eagles (3-1) did to Central Dauphin East on Friday. Mike Frenette, the area's leading rusher, pounded out 125 yards on 11 carries.

Biggest losers:

Carlisle -- The good news was that the Thundering Herd (1-3) held a 7-0 lead on Harrisburg. That's where the good news ends as Carlisle allowed 50+ points to the defending District 3-6 Class AAAA champion for the second year in a row via a 53-14 loss.

Boiling Springs -- The playoffs are slipping away. Last year's 13-7 loss to Milton Hershey finished off the Bubblers' playoff hopes. A 21-14 loss to the Spartans in Week 4 dropped Boiling Springs to 1-3 but didn't mathematically eliminate it. If the Bubblers can't score more, it'll be a long second half to the season.

Shippensburg -- What happened? A 42-12 loss to a previously winless foe is never good. An issue the Greyhounds (1-3) had was a lack of a passing game. Now, it appears the defense can't stop anybody. The holes need to be plugged quickly before a team with 18 returning starters watches its season slip away.

Week 3 winners and losers

Friday marked the first night that weather really made its presence felt. The rain rotated between steady and heavy most of the night, which is supposed to slow offenses down. Someone forgot to tell Cedar Cliff and Lower Dauphin, who rung up more than 500 yards on offense. Other teams (Northern, Camp Hill) weren't as good on offense in the third week of the season, which offered some edge-of-your-seats results.

Biggest winners:

Cedar Cliff -- The Colts handed new coach Jim Cantafio his first win and QB Jake Troutman threw for 197 yards as Cedar Cliff made a 21-14 halftime lead stand. Against a second-half team like Lower Dauphin, that stout defense after the break was a welcome sight.

Cumberland Valley -- Mike Frenette ran for 247 yards to help the Eagles do something Mid-Penn teams don't often do: win at Mansion Park in Altoona. CV hadn't won at Mansion since 1992 when the Eagles and coach Tim Rimpfel won the PIAA Class AAAA title. The win Friday, coupled with State College's 27-13 win over Central Dauphin, makes CV appear to be one of the better teams in the conference. If not for a late turnover, the Eagles could have beaten State College in a game the Little Lions won, 17-14, Sept. 5.

Mechanicsburg -- After two easy wins, the Wildcats proved they can win the close ones. A blocked extra point with 11.7 seconds left lifted the team to a 3-0 start. Considering Mechanicsburg played two of its first three on the road, this team is battle tested heading to Dillsburg on Friday.

Biggest losers:

East Pennsboro -- It's happening again. The Panthers simply cannot win the close games. This time it was a 41-40 double-overtime loss at Palmyra. If it can't win the close ones, it'll be another season at home during playoff time for East Penn.

Northern -- Sure, sure, the Polar Bears won. But 12-6 against winless Milton Hershey? If it weren't for two safeties, it's unclear who would have won this game. Let's just chalk this up to the Bears looking ahead to their game with Mechanicsburg on Friday. Two safeties, though, makes it imperative to give props to Northern's 'D'.

Week 2 winners and losers

This one's a day or so late (busy days in the fall) but there's a lot to discuss after the second weekend of high school football. It's said that the biggest improvement for teams comes between the first and second weeks. Some teams will be hoping that improvement shows up a week late.

Biggest winners:

Northern -- Again, the Polar Bears are making yours truly look bad. Picked behind Greencastle-Antrim and Shippensburg, Northern took to dispatching one of those teams (Shippensburg) Friday night, 14-3. Matt Murphy and the dominating defense (left, sacking Shippensburg quarterback Greg Boldosser) kept the Greyhounds bottled up and moved Northern a step closer to another division title.

Carlisle -- A win over Central Dauphin East boosted the team's confidence heading into Week 3 against a tough Hempfield team. Coach Brett Ickes moved running back Travis Mease from defense and the results were a career day for the junior, who sits atop the area leaderboard for rushing yards.

Mechanicsburg -- Another impressive win for the Wildcats, who beat Hershey worse than that 28-14 count indicates. Another test is on the horizon at Susquehanna Twp. but through two weeks, this is the team to beat in the Mid-Penn Colonial.

Biggest losers:

Trinity -- Another game against Delone Catholic, another loss. The Shamrocks did rally from a 14-0 hole to force overtime but the team needed this win at home. Still, it's early and Trinity needs to bounce back fast with rival Camp Hill coming to COBO this Friday.

Shippensburg -- Over two games the Greyhounds have thrown for 14 yards (negative 1 against Halifax in Week 1). It's imperative for this team to move the ball through the air to open running room for the stable of backs it has. If it can't pass, the opponents will simply crowd the box and bottle up the offense.

Susquenita -- A week after narrowly losing to Newport, the Blackhawks gave up 54 points in a loss to Middletown. The losing streak is at 13 and needs to end this week at winless James Buchanan.