Week 6 winners and losers

There weren't a multitude marquee matchups in Week 6. Arguably, the biggest game was Saturday night's clash between Cumberland Valley and Lower Dauphin. In that one, the Falcons proved once again that they might be the team with the hardest luck in the Mid-Penn.

Coming into Week 6, this team had a close loss to Cedar Cliff (21-14) and another that got away in the second half of a loss to Bishop McDevitt (42-20). In that game, Lower Dauphin (2-4) was down, 21-20, at halftime before letting it get away at McDevitt Field.

Saturday was another hard-luck loss as the Falcons, after recovering a fumble at midfield late in the fourth quarter of a 31-28 game, handed the ball, and the game, right back to CV with a fumble of their own. Oh, the humanity.

Biggest winners:

West Perry -- Don't look now but the Mustangs (2-4) are still alive for a berth in the District 3-AAA playoff field. West Perry scored the last 14 points - Dayne Abeling's extra point in the fourth quarter was the difference - to keep a glimmer of postseason hope alive for a young, experienced team.

Mechanicsburg -- This team is starting to master the final piece of the puzzle. Early in the year, the Wildcats (6-0) couldn't seem to put anyone away. A 56-6 blitzing of Shippensburg one week after a 45-6 rout of Waynesboro proves that they can now do that.

Boiling Springs -- It's going to be extremely tough but if the Bubblers (2-4) keep winning, 6-4 might be enough to sneak into the 3-AA postseason party. Jake Grove stepped into the limelight Friday and gashed Milton for 243 yards on 19 carries in the 22-0 win.

Trinity -- This has as much to do with Steelton-Highspire's rout of Middletown, which previously held the top seed in 3-AA, than of Trinity's 24-0 win over East Pennsboro. The Shamrocks (5-1) keep climbing up the standings following an early loss to reigning District 3 champion Delone Catholic.

Biggest losers:

Red Land -- Talk about not taking advantage of a golden opportunity. The Patriots (4-2) lost out on 50 bonus points and dropped near the bottom of the 3-AAAA standings with a 31-7 loss at home to Greencastle-Antrim. That inability to stop a good running team could come back to haunt Red Land.

Northern -- This was a surprise. The Polar Bears (4-2) should have cruised against a rebuilding Hershey team. Instead, Northern failed to a hold a 10-point lead and turned the ball over three times in a 23-16 loss at Hersheypark Stadium.

Cumberland Valley -- A win's a win but that young secondary may have been exposed late in the fourth quarter of the 31-28 win over Lower Dauphin. If the Eagles (5-1) are to live up to the expectation of being one of the district's best, they'll need to succeed at stopping the run and the pass.

Carlisle -- Central Dauphin hadn't exactly been lighting up the scoreboard in recent weeks but the Rams poured 38 points on Carlisle in a 31-point win. The Thundering Herd (1-5) is reduced to playing for pride at this point. A .500 season is still attainable but the road is tough.