Sunday, November 30, 2008

Looking for the next

Cumberland Valley's 35-7 loss Saturday night to Wilson in the District 3 Class AAAA semifinals officially ended the high school football season in The Sentinel coverage area.

Before we seek input and break down stats for the All-Sentinel teams, let's take a moment and glimpse ahead to next year.

Early indications are it could be a light one on the West Shore.

History is on the side of at least one area school playing for a district title. Only once since the turn of the century, 2005, has an area team not made the journey to Hersheypark Stadium.

But there are a lot of holes to fill around the area.

Cumberland Valley will lose 20 of 22 starters while Mechanicsburg will need to totally restock its offensive and defensive lines, not to mention a slew of skill people are leaving both CV and Mechanicsburg.

Camp Hill will be without big-name offensive stars Tyler Shover, Jordan Weber, Trevor Polly and Alex Patchin but the Class A field should come back down to earth as Steelton-Highspire, the four-time defending champion, will be without the bulk of its star players.

Trinity should reload but won't have Ted Spinelli, Christian Kuntz, Nick Kindler and Billy Phillipy back.

There's always the chance a team or two will surprise (Northern and West Perry come to mind), but the names and faces that won't be back will leave a void.

One also has to remember the power in other areas of the district. Bishop McDevitt, a semifinalist in 3-AAAA, welcomes back nearly every skill guy. Manheim Central, the 3-AAA finalist, brings a ton back. Lancaster Catholic, the 3-AA champion that is still playing in the state semifinals this weekend, brings back 15 starters.

Class A might be the best chance for an area team to step up and make something happen. But until someone proves otherwise, that road runs through Cottage Hill.

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