District 3 playoff predictions

Here are the MaxPreps predictions for the second weekend of the District 3 football playoffs. Complete brackets, with results, can be found on the district’s Web site.

District 3-6 Class AAAA
Quarterfinals
Upper Bracket
Harrisburg 35, Muhlenberg 14
York William Penn 24, Wilson West Lawn 17
Lower Bracket
Manheim Twp. 24, Central Dauphin 17
Governor Mifflin 35, Bishop McDevitt 28

District 3 Class AAA
Quarterfinals
Upper Bracket
Northern 24, Daniel Boone 19
Gettysburg 38, West York 26
Lower Bracket
Elizabethtown 31, Lampeter-Strasburg 21
Red Land 19, Hershey 17

District 3 Class AA
Semifinals
Trinity 26, Milton Hershey 7
Lancaster Catholic 34, Delone Catholic 17

District 3 Class A
Semifinals
Millersburg 28, Reading Holy Name 14
Steelton-Highspire 22, Camp Hill 20

*-The only game that does not begin Friday at 7 p.m. is the Muhlenberg at Harrisburg game, which begins Saturday at 1.

District 3 playoff predictions

Here are the MaxPreps predictions for the first weekend of the District 3 playoffs. Complete brackets can be found here.

District 3-6 Class AAAA
Upper Bracket
*Harrisburg 40, Lower Dauphin 3
Muhlenberg 24, Cumberland Valley 22
York William Penn 35, Dallastown 19
Altoona 21, Wilson West Lawn 14
Lower Bracket
Manheim Twp. 28, Red Lion 7
Central Dauphin 31, Warwick 22
Governor Mifflin 31, State College 21
*Bishop McDevitt 35, Central York 17

District 3 Class AAA
Upper Bracket
Northern 35, Hamburg 10
Daniel Boone 19, Greencastle-Antrim 10
Gettysburg 35, Northern Lebanon 14
West York 28, Solanco 17
Lower Bracket
Elizabethtown 38, Shippensburg 12
Lampeter-Strasburg 21, Conrad Weiser 20
Red Land 24, Manheim Central 14
Hershey 27, Cocalico 17

District 3 Class AA
Trinity 38, Littlestown 6
Wyomissing 22, Milton Hershey 21
Lancaster Catholic 34, Juniata 19
Columbia 31, Delone Catholic 21

District 3 Class A
Millersburg 42, Upper Dauphin 0
Halifax 34, Reading Holy Name 21
Steelton-Highspire 49, Fairfield 6Camp Hill 31, Reading Central Catholic 6

*Harrisburg hosts Lower Dauphin on Saturday at 1 p.m.; Bishop McDevitt hosts Central York at Landis Field on Saturday at 1.

Playoff preview week

In anticipation for the first week of the district playoffs, there will be a story regarding high school football in The Sentinel every day this week. The exception is Friday -- our paper hits newstands in the afternoon making it difficult for people to to read a preview or feature story so close to kick off.

Here's a schedule of what will run starting with Tuesday's edition. It's not too late to grab today's paper and check out the District 3 playoff breakdown and state playoff projections.

Tuesday: Statewide playoff notebook
Wednesday: Muhlenberg (9, 8-2) at Cumberland Valley (8, 7-3) game preview
Thursday: 'Football This Week' weekly tab

District 3 playoff pairings

The brackets are finalized and action starts Friday night. The District 3 playoffs culminate on Nov. 23 for Class A and AA with 1 p.m. and 7 starts, respectively, at Hersheypark Stadium. A week later Class AAA takes the field at 7 p.m. and the 3-6 sub-region concludes a day later, also at 7 p.m.

All games begin Friday at 7 p.m. unless indicated
(seed, overall record in parenthesis)
District 3-6 Class AAAA
Upper Bracket
Lower Dauphin (16, 6-4) at Harrisburg (1, 8-1), Saturday, 1
Muhlenberg (9, 8-2) at Cumberland Valley (8, 7-3)
Dallastown (13, 6-4) at York William Penn (4, 9-1)
Wilson West Lawn (12, 7-3) at Altoona (5, 8-2)
Lower Bracket
Red Lion (15, 6-4) at Manheim Twp. (2, 9-1)
Central Dauphin (10, 7-3) at Warwick (7, 9-1)
State College (14, 6-4) at Governor Mifflin (3, 9-1)
Central York (11, 7-3) vs. Bishop McDevitt (6, 8-2) at Landis Field, Saturday, 1

Class AAA
Upper Bracket
Hamburg (16, 7-3) at Northern (1, 10-0)
Daniel Boone (9, 7-3) at Greencastle-Antrim (8, 8-2)
Northern Lebanon (13, 7-3) at Gettysburg (4, 9-1)
Solanco (12, 7-3) at West York (5, 9-1)
Lower Bracket
Shippensburg (15, 7-3) at Elizabethtown (2, 9-1)
Conrad Weiser (10, 7-3) at Lampeter-Strasburg (7, 8-2)
Manheim Central (14, 6-4) at Red Land (3, 9-1)
Cocalico (11, 7-3) at Hershey (6, 8-2)

Class AA
Littlestown (8, 6-4) at Trinity (1, 10-0)
Milton Hershey (5, 7-3) vs. Wyomissing (4, 8-2) at Albright College
Juniata (7, 7-3) at Lancaster Catholic (2, 8-2)
Delone Catholic (6, 7-3) at Columbia (3, 8-2)

Class A
Upper Dauphin (8, 1-9) at Millersburg (1, 9-1)
Reading Holy Name (5, 6-4) at Halifax (4, 7-3)
Fairfield (7, 3-7) at Steelton-Highspire (2, 7-3)
Reading Central Catholic (6, 4-6) at Camp Hill (3, 7-3)

Week 10 recap

Susquenita is the only local team that didn’t play Friday night, the Blackhawks are at Kennard-Dale this afternoon. That said, I’m posting the Week 10 recap a day early to focus on the District 3 playoff pairings, which are expected to be released Sunday morning.

Biggest winners:
Northern – A 35-21 win over Shippensburg assured the Polar Bears of their fourth straight Mid-Penn Colonial title and, thanks to Elizabethtown’s loss to Cocalico, a top seed in the upcoming District 3-AAA playoffs. With Michael Davies and Bubba Smith running hard in the backfield and quarterback Jordan Rutherford playing his best ball of the year, Northern is going to be a tough out.
Red Land – The Patriots emerged from a physical war against Hershey victorious to stake their claim to a share of the Mid-Penn Keystone crown with Gettysburg. Junior Rodriguez (20 carries for 99 yards) led a Red Land attack that was focusing on the run in anticipation for the upcoming 3-AAA playoffs. Chad Christen booted two field goals – 42 and 22 yards – while all 13 Red Land points came off turnovers in the 10-point win.
Trinity – A Boiling Springs touchdown in the final minute foiled the Shamrocks’ bid for their seventh shutout and were the first points Trinity allowed at home. But the Shamrocks still polished off an unbeaten season and a Mid-Penn Capital championship with the 48-6 rout behind Rod Trevino's 127 yards and three touchdowns. Trinity also earned the top seed in the 3-AA playoffs.
Cumberland Valley – The Eagles will host a playoff game next week thanks their 41-7 win over Cedar Cliff and Muhlenberg’s 35-24 loss to Governor Mifflin. CV may need to rely on its home field advantage because either opponent – Central Dauphin or Muhlenberg – will pose a huge challenge.
Mechanicsburg – A frustrating season ended with a thrilling 28-21 win over Palmyra to snap a seven-game losing streak. It was a good, positive way to put an end to very emotional season at Memorial Park. Tarik Leftenant, a sophomore, scored on an 89-yard kickoff return, rushed for 189 yards on 22 carries and scored once on the ground. The future looks bright for Mechanicsburg.

Biggest losers:
Big Spring – Allowing 444 offensive yards in a 65-0 loss to East Pennsboro wasn’t the best way to follow up the program’s first win since 2004. The Bulldogs gave up 32 first-quarter points and allowed the Panthers to find the end zone 10 times. Blake Wheeler scored half of East Penn's touchdowns.
Boiling Springs – It was surprising to see the Bubblers blown out by Trinity. That’s not a good note to end a frustrating season on.

District 3 playoff pairings after Week 9

The following is a glance at what the postseason playoff picture would be in District 3 if the season ended today. Rankings are courtesy of the Pennsylvania Football News and seeds are in parenthesis:

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

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

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

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

For complete rankings of every District 3 team and for all 12 PIAA districts, head to the PFN's Computer Rankings page.

*Final rankings and brackets are expected to be released late Sunday morning or early afternoon.

Week 10 predictions

Here’s an early afternoon post. These predictions weren’t done last night because of Internet problems on my personal computer. There are two extra games included in this week’s MaxPreps picks because we have only 10 local games. Harrisburg at State College is added for the reason that, if Harrisburg wins, it locks up its second straight Commonwealth title and another top seed in the District 3-6 subregional playoffs.

The other bonus game is Muhlenberg at Governor Mifflin, due to the impact is one will have on the 3-6 subregional. Muhlenberg is eighth, 80 points in front of Cumberland Valley, while Governor Mifflin is fourth. Potentially, a Mifflin win could move CV into the No. 8 seed, which would secure a game at Chapman Field next Friday. This game is also huge for the Inter-County League Section I, which Mifflin will win outright with a win. A loss and the Mustangs share it with Muhlenberg.

Here are this week’s picks thanks to MaxPreps:

Friday
Commonwealth
Bishop McDevitt 44, Carlisle 7
Cumberland Valley 34, Cedar Cliff 10
Harrisburg 28, State College 14
Keystone
Hershey 22, Red Land 20
Mechanicsburg 24, Palmyra 13
Colonial
East Pennsboro 41, Big Spring 12
Greencastle-Antrim 21, West Perry 12
Northern 38, Shippensburg 14
Capital
Milton Hershey 20, Camp Hill 10
Trinity 34, Boiling Springs 0
Inter-County League Section I
Governor Mifflin 35, Muhlenberg 21
Saturday
Nonconference
Kennard-Dale 22, Susquenita 20

*Remember, for The Sentinel's staff picks and a preview capsule of each local game, pick up a copy of this afternoon's edition.