With practice starting Monday, questions abound in L-L League football

Intelligencer Journal

Published: Aug 09, 2008
00:12 EST

Landisville

By ED GRUVER, Sports Writer

Two days remain until the first day of practice and there are still three weeks before the start of the Lancaster-Lebanon League football season, but already there's enough mystery to support a John Grisham novel.

Can Lampeter-Strasburg and Elizabethtown, two of the L-L's top teams last year, maintain their momentum? Will Manheim Central, Conestoga Valley and McCaskey reclaim their contender status following down years?

Are Section One powers Manheim Township and Warwick programs that can now reload every August rather than rebuild? Is Wilson a team without peer in the section?

Will junior QB Kyle Smith build on his superb sophomore season and guide Lancaster Catholic back to the district playoffs? And can Section Two co-champion Solanco continue its winning ways?

"We're anxious to start the season," Red Tornado coach Scott Feldman, who was speaking for his team but whose words were echoed by the majority of league coaches Friday morning at L-L Media Day at Four Seasons Golf Course in Landisville, said. "It's going to be interesting."

The early season prognosis put forth by coaches is that L-L football, circa 2008, will be one of the more intriguing campaigns of recent years, filled from start to finish with numerous story lines. The reasons involve some of the above, but there's more.

Because the expanded district playoff field allows teams to absorb an early season loss or two without seriously jeopardizing their postseason status, and because athletic directors are looking to save on transportation costs while maximizing gate receipts, more L-L teams are filling non-league dates with county neighbors rather than traveling to York, Harrisburg, Reading or the Philadelphia suburbs.

So instead of McCaskey playing Downingtown East in Week One, the Red Tornado will take on Section Two co-champ E-town. Instead of Manheim Central playing Hershey, the Barons will face Lancaster Catholic in a Week Three clash of traditional powers.

"It should be one of the biggest games of the year," Central coach Mike Williams said of the matchup with the Crusaders. "Lancaster Catholic and Manheim Central could be a great rivalry with a lot of sparks."

Crusaders coach Bruce Harbach is looking forward to the game with Central, but he's not looking past the opener against rival Trinity or the Week Two meeting with another Section Two team, Ephrata.

"It's a meat grinder," he said of the Crusaders' schedule. "But if you want to stay good, you have to play good teams."

Harbach's opinion is shared by L-L coaches around the league. Manheim Township's Mike Melnyk, E-town's Jeff Polites and CV's Gerry Novak, among others, schedule strong nonleague opponents to prepare their teams for the even more difficult league season that follows. So, too, did Wilson's Doug Dahms, who will host Manheim Central in West Lawn in Week Two.

"It should be a great game," he said. "They've been the dominant team in Section Two for years and we've been one of the dominant teams in Section One."

No L-L team was more dominant last year than L-S, the Pioneers winning the District Three Class AAA title and advancing to the PIAA semifinals. But as successful as the Pioneers were, head coach John Manion is ready to put the best season in program history behind him.

"I've had enough time to soak in last season, it's time for this season," he said. "It's something to build on. But that whole (playoff experience), the kids have been through it, they see what it's about, and they want to do their best to get to that level."

For L-L teams, the first step to that next level begins Monday.

E-mail: egruver@lnpnews.com