Class AA All-State

Trinity made a run at pulling even with Camp Hill in terms of postseason football honors but failed to pull it off.

The Associated Press announced the Class AA All-State football team Tuesday evening and two Trinity seniors made the cut.

West Virginia-bound lineman Nick Kindler was selected as a first-team offensive lineman while Christian Kuntz, headed to Penn State, made it as a first-team defensive specialist.

Kuntz, who was lost for the season Oct. 11 after suffering a knee injury, had 17 total tackles and a team-high five interceptions that he returned for 123 yards.

At 6-foot-6, 280 pounds, Kindler was a force on the both the offensive and defensive lines for the Shamrocks, who finished the regular season 7-3. Trinity was the only team to beat Lancaster Catholic prior to the Crusaders' loss to West Catholic in the PIAA Class AA semifinals.

Trinity ended in a tie with Camp Hill for second in the Mid-Penn Patriot Division behind Steelton-Highspire and fell to Middletown, the eventual district runner-up, in the District 3 Class AA playoffs.

Wilmington's Terry Verrelli, who led the Greyhounds to the PIA Class AA title, was named coach of the year. Curtis Drake, quarterback for state runner-up West Catholic, is the player of the year.

Class A All-State

For having a mere 22 players on its varsity football roster, Camp Hill sure made a dent on the Associated Press Class A All-State team.

Quarterback Tyler Shover, who passed for 2,368 yards, rushed for 986 more and accounted for 44 total touchdowns, is the first-team quarterback. Shover's numbers were good for 83 percent of the Lions' offense, up from his junior year when he put up 71.3 percent of the team's offense in his first year under center.

Shover is also The Sentinel's Player of the Year on offense for the second straight season. Complete All-Sentinel teams will be released in the coming weeks.

Joining Shover on the first team is wide receiver Jordan Weber. The senior led the area with 898 receiving yards and scored 11 touchdowns. Weber added 543 rushing yards and six scores.

Making an appearance on the second team is receiver Trevor Polly, who caught 49 passes for 804 yards and eight touchdowns.

Camp Hill finished the regular season 7-3 and earned the No. 3 seed in the District 3 Class A tournament. The Lions, who fell to eventual state champion Steelton-Highspire in the district final, rallied from a 21-7 deficit in the semifinals on the road against Reading Holy Name and stole a 42-41 win after the hosts missed an extra point in the third quarter to go up, 41-35.

In the days following that victory, veteran Camp Hill coach Frank Kindler called it one of the more satisfying wins of his 14-year career.

Class AAAA All-State

Chad Christen, Red Land's senior kicker/punter, is the first area player to earn first-team All-State this year.

Christen, who verbally committed to the University of Connecticut earlier this month, made the team as a placekicker on offense after recording 24 touchdowns. Christen hit seven field goals, tied for the most in the area with Cumberland Valley's Andrew Reiersen, and made 17 of 20 extra points.

Christen's longest field goal was a 49-yarder against Susquehanna Twp. on Sept. 5 and he accounted for all nine of Red Land's points with three field goals against Shippensburg in a 9-7 win Oct. 24.

As for the second team, Cumberland Valley placed a pair of seniors on the offense with running back Mike Frenette and lineman Brandon Morris. Running behind the 6-foot-2, 260-pounder, Frenette led the area with 1,759 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns to help the Eagles finish 12-2 and advance to the District 3-AAAA final where they lost to Wilson, 35-7.

CV won its first district game in five years and returned to the final for the first time since 2003.

Red Land, playing in Class AAAA for the first time in five years, went 6-4 in the regular season and qualified for the 3-AAAA field for the first time in program history before falling to York William Penn, 21-7.

Class AAA All-State

Friday night the Associated Press released this year's Class AAA All-State team. Mechanicsburg seniors Jake Zeigler, a defensive back, and Tyler Bullock, a lineman, were named to the second team while East Pennsboro senior center Matt Couch found a spot on the second team offense.

Mechanicsburg went 10-0 in the regular season, won the Mid-Penn Colonial Division outright and advanced to the District 3 Class AAA semifinals where the Wildcats lost to Manheim Central, 26-21, to finish 12-1.

East Pennsboro was Mechanicsburg's first-round victim in the 3-AAA field and suffered a 35-7 loss to the top seed. The Panthers ended 5-6.

Thomas Jefferson senior running back Brian Baldridge, a vital part of the Jaguars' run to their second straight state title, was the Player of the Year while first-year Selinsgrove coach Dave Hess picked up Coach of the Year. Hess led the Seals to the state semifinals where they lost to Archbishop Wood, 13-7.

All-Sentinel, All-State football information

Keep an eye out over the holiday season as media publications release their all-star football teams.

We'll have updates here as the Associated Press releases the All-State selections, which should include numerous area players spread out over the four classifications.

The All-Sentinel football teams will also be released at the end of this month or early next month. For an early look at who made the first- or second-team on offense and defense check back here frequently. We'll post the teams here the night before they appear in The Sentinel.

What's wrong with District 1?

Until recently, everyone in this half of the state knew that the road to Hersheypark Stadium, site of the PIAA football championships, ran through District 1 in terms of the big schools.

From 1996 through 2004 not a state finals weekend went by that District 1 wasn't represented in either Class AAAA or Class AAA. Starting in 1996, the suburban Philadelphia district took home AAAA gold four straight years while Strath Haven, beginning in 1999, played for four straight AAA titles and won two.

Since the Panthers' last appearance -- a 21-10 loss to Hopewell in 2002 -- the only District 1 school to reach the AAA final was Garnet Valley, which fell to Thomas Jefferson last year. In its place stepped Manheim Central, which split two title games, and Pottsville, a District 11 team that went 0-for-2.

The last AAAA team from District 1 to find its way to Hershey was Neshaminy in 2004, when the Redskins lost to Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 49-14. The year before North Penn beat Central Catholic, 37-10. The District 1 trophy case has been void of golden footballs since.

In the meantime District 11 has thrived at the AAAA level with four straight showings, including this year. Bethlehem Liberty (left) will try to snap a district-wide three-game AAAA finals losing streak and capture the district's second AAAA crown Saturday when the Hurricanes meet Bethel Park at 7 p.m.

PIAA semifinal projections

There aren't any area teams playing football this weekend but that doesn't mean there aren't football games this weekend. For the sake of changing things up, we're going to list the projections in the order that the state finals will take place next week at Hersheypark Stadium.

Class A
Clairton 18, Farrell 7 -- Both defenses have been outstanding but it's the Bears who get the edge and halt Farrell's 12-game winning streak.
Steelton-Highspire 28, Schuylkill Haven 17 -- We've been picking on the Rollers this postseason. First it was a Riverside state title pick. Then it was a projection that had Bishop McCort downing Steel-High. Not this week. Natural grass won't slow Steel-High.

Class AAA
Thomas Jefferson 31, West York 14 -- The Bulldogs haven't seen a team like this all year. We've said all along woe is the District 3-AAA champion. We aren't changing our tune now.

Archbishop Wood 24, Selinsgrove 16 -- Where did the Vikings come from? They've been overlooked all year but after taking out the Seals, there will be no more sleeping on the Philadelphia Catholic League rep. (Not to beat our chests but we picked a TJ-Wood final when districts started).

Class AA
Aliquippa 39, Wilmington 6 -- Karns City beat Wilmington, 22-21. Aliquippa beat Karns City, 42-14, and led, 35-0, early in the second quarter. You do the math.

West Catholic 30, Lancaster Catholic 19 -- Burrs are too quick, too athletic and too finely-tuned for the Cruasders to handle. Take a bow for 13 straight wins, Lancaster Catholic, but all good things must come to an end.

Class AAAA
Wilson 17, Bethel Park 9 -- Wilson has a nasty defense that might not give up a touchdown to the Black Hawks, who haven't exactly destroyed people in the postseason. The good vibrations continue in Sinking Spring for one more week until the Knights come calling.

North Penn 28, Bethlehem Libery 19 -- Doesn't matter what the Hurricanes say, they don't want North Penn right now. The Knights will be state champions in two weeks and haven't been tested in quite a long time. Liberty's a nice team but North Penn is a runaway freight train.