1. Something we media types hear every football preseason: "All our skill kids are back. If we can put a line together … ."
Lancaster Catholic junior QB Kyle Smith threw for more than 2,000 yards as a sophomore.
Some high school coaches say it every year. Lots of them can say it, with justification, this year, in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
2. Three 1,000-yard rushers (Cocalico's Kyle Fisher, Penn Manor's Carl Christmas, Warwick's Eric Resch) are back, along with at least a half-dozen other runners who'll be featured enough this fall to reach that total.
The league's top quarterback by QB rating (Cocalico's Matt Carty) and top two by passing yards (Lancaster Catholic's Kyle Smith and Lebanon's James Capello) are back, as are the top two in pass receptions (Penn Manor's Sean Persch, Lebanon's Jordan Clentimack).
3. Stronger non-league schedules are an unintended but happy consequence of expanded district playoffs. Particularly in Class AAAA and AAA, strong programs no longer have to worry much about making districts, so they're willing to schedule potential losses.
Manheim Central-Wilson and Manheim Central-Lancaster Catholic are notable examples.
"Our thinking has always been to play a good non-league schedule," Williams said. "If you're AAAA and you can't beat a AAA, how are you gonna do anything [in the postseason] anyway?"
"If we win, it's a shot in the arm," Lancaster Catholic coach Bruce Harbach said. "If we lose, we still get better."
4. Speaking of playoffs, we've been through this (several times) before, so allow us to dispense with District Three's format quickly:
If you can operate a kicking tee, you're in.
5. More on non-league scheduling: McCaskey dropped Downingtown East in lieu of Elizabethtown.
Lancaster Catholic dropped Mount Carmel and Boiling Springs and added Manheim Central and Ephrata, which dropped Susquehanna Township for Catholic.
Warwick dropped Harry S Truman (Bucks County) for Garden Spot.
Wonder if gas prices are a factor?
6. The L-L's only rookie head coach is Ephrata's Jim Vieland, a 34-year-old former Hempfield assistant who was an all-conference player at Grove City College.
"You're the guy now," Vieland said. comparing a head coach's life to an assistant's.
"For all the parental concerns, the boosters, you're on call all the time."
That's what new head coaches always say.
7. Vieland got the job at a challenging time. Ephrata went 2-8 last year, and its three non-league games are with Manheim Township, Lancaster Catholic and Warwick, three programs on a roll of late.
"Hopefully people will overlook us a little bit," he said.
8. Before hiring Vieland, Ephrata did a high-profile dance with Jim Cantafio, before the colorful former Conestoga Valley and Wilson coach withdrew his name, and eventually signed on at Cedar Cliff.
Cedar Cliff shares the West Shore (Harrisburg) School District and a stadium with Red Land.
District administration barred both schools from practicing at the stadium last week, reportedly amidst tension between the programs and, yes, Red Land coach Frank Gay and Cantafio.
9. Lampeter-Strasburg went to the Class AAA state semifinals last season. Naturally, the historic season reaped benefits for the program, short- and long-term.
"We have a young group that has worked extra hard to get back to that level," coach John Manion said.
"Maybe we got over some of the rebuilding phase faster because of the offseason."
Manion added that, "Long-term, our camps are filled up, our midget program keeps growing. I'd like to think [winning big] has something to do with that."
10. Lancaster Catholic has gone 43-7 since 2004, with three Section Three (last year's was shared with L-S) and two District Three championships.
This year's edition could be the best yet.
"It's the best athletic group I've had," coach Bruce Harbach says.
Included are a second-team all-state QB (Kyle Smith) and a two-way lineman (Nick Schmalhofer) who could be major-college players.
A Class AA school, Catholic has 70 players on the roster, plus 55 at the junior high level.
"The kids realize what's expected of them," Harbach said. "Five wins was acceptable in 2002. It no longer is."
11. Smith is 6-3, 180. He threw for over 2,000 yards last year as a sophomore with 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
This summer he attended all the right camps, did all the right things.
"He studied film all summer," Harbach said. "He worked with our receivers almost every day."
Pittsburgh, Boston College, Syracuse and Temple are already recruiting Smith, and Notre Dame and Penn State have expressed interest.
12. Lebanon QB James Capello isn't far behind Smith. He also threw for 2,000 yards last year, and also has D-1s, like Pittsburgh, interested.
Capello leads in the crucial personal Web sites category:
jamescapello.com.
13. High school football on TV: Blue Ridge Cable-11 is airing at least one game involving L-L teams per regular-season weekend.
The broadcasts began a half-hour before kickoff, and are replayed at noon the following Monday. Get the schedule at
www.cable11.com.
Pennsylvania Cable Network offers a statewide game of the week which will twice involve L-L teams: Manheim Central at Cocalico at 7 p.m. Sept. 19, and E-town at Ephrata at 9 p.m. Oct. 25 (taped Oct. 24).
For the full PCN schedule, check
www.pcntv.com.
14. McCaskey's roster numbers have dwindled of late, but 60 kids did sign up this summer.
"We've already lost a few," Red Tornado coach Scott Feldman said. "It's a time-consuming game, and it's hard to be good at, and we just don't have a lot of kids right now who are willing to do it."
Feldman isn't the type to gripe about "these rotten kids today," either. With that in mind, consider this quote:
"I don't think we'll have football at McCaskey in another couple years if we don't change some things."
What has to change is a blizzard of player losses due to academics, discipline and away-from-school problems.
Now Feldman will have his players in his homeroom first period every day.
"I talked to the superintendent last year about building from the ground up," Feldman said.
"Now [the players will] be with me, and it'll be up to me to make sure that they're in school, they're organized, they're on time. And I'll mix some football in there."
15. Pequea Valley's Persch played six positions and racked up over 2,400 all-purpose yards last year, in addition to leading the league in pass receptions.
Persch might be the closest thing in the L-L to his coach, Curtis Waltman, who did a lot of the same stuff for Garden Spot from 1998-2000.
"He's like a lot of our kids," Waltman said.
"At first, football was not his first priority [Persch is also a hockey player]. He's still learning what to do. But now he wants to be good, and he wants to play college football."
16. The Braves allowed an insane 544 points last year, which is why they went 0-10.
In his first year as a head coach at age 24, Waltman admitted he "was floored. ... If one of our kids misses a tackle, it's a touchdown. Our kids just didn't know to go get the ball and attack."
Waltman and his assistants talked to the Solanco coaches this summer, and as a result went to a 3-5 defensive scheme.
"Their program has had some of the same issues ours has," Waltman said. "With [the 3-5] there's never any question that you should be attacking. We could go from the bottom to the middle of the pack [defensively] just from that."
17. L-L realignment comes in 2009, and takes in effect in the fall of 2010. By then Octorara could have joined the league [it'll come to a vote in November] and Reading could have dropped out to join the Berks IC [that vote could come this week].
In that case Octorara will join Section Three in football, meaning someone in Section Three would be bumped to Two, and someone in Two to One.
If that's done by enrollment — the most obvious but not only way — using current numbers (which will have changed by then) Lampeter-Strasburg would move to Two and Elizabethtown to One.
18. Cocalico at Conestoga Valley Oct. 24 may or may not be a key game in L-L Section Two, but it will definitely be about something bigger than that. The teams are combining to raise money and awareness for the fight against breast cancer.
Fans will be able to buy a pink breast-cancer awareness T-shirt and admission to the game for $10, with the proceeds going to the Lancaster County Unit of the American Cancer Society.
It's a cause driven home dramatically for CV coach Gerad Novak, whose mother's long fight with cancer ended when she passed away Wednesday.
"I've been thinking of coming up with a community service project for our program for a while now," Novak said.
"It'll be neat to see teams and communities battling on the field and working together at the same time."
19. A year ago, Manheim Central coach Mike Williams suggested the Barons were, "Maybe a year away from being an elite team again."
Maybe not. The Barons went an unimaginable 6-5, finishing an unimaginable third in L-L Section Two.
Can Williams buy another year, maybe?
"We're a lot better than last year, and not just attitude-wise; athletically, too," Williams said.
"We have an outstanding junior class but only 10 seniors, so maybe we are a year away from being elite again."
20. Billy Beecher, the dynamic QB who was starting at the end of the year for Central as a freshman, has transferred to Hempfield.
21. Cocalico has had two straight undefeated junior-high teams that have drawn wild-eyed raves from opposing coaches.
Cocalico coach Dave Gingrich doesn't want to hear it, of course.
"I'm biased, but I think we have great junior high coaches," he said. "I don't think we're any more athletic than these other schools."
OK, but for most of last season Gingrich started a sophomore quarterback, a sophomore center, two sophomore linebackers and a freshman d-lineman. And went 7-3.
22. Let us now praise the 14 seniors at Annville-Cleona. Since their stadium wasn't available the last two years, while the school and its facilities were rebuilt, those 14 Dutchmen have never played a home game.
In 2006 A-C played all away games, except for one game at Lebanon Valley College. Last season it played one "home" game at LVC, the rest at Cedar Crest.
"We just came off the field [after practicing] under the lights," coach Terry Lehman said Wednesday. "You can't believe how much it fires the kids up."
23. Lehman, by the way, is now is in 22nd season at A-C, making him second to Manheim Central's Mike Williams in L-L head-coaching seniority. Except that unlike Williams, Lehman has perennially dealt with substandard facilities and amenities.
"Misery loves company, I guess," he said.
24. The first home game at A-C's new stadium will be with longtime, neighboring rival Palmyra. The second will be with Cocalico, which hasn't played A-C in years.
Just for something different, it'll be played on a Thursday (Sept. 11).
"It'll be the only game in town," Gingrich said.
25. According to
Rivals.com, Pennsylvania's only five-star prospect is Gateway LB Dorian Bell, a 6-0, 225-pounder committed to Ohio State.
One of Bell's teammates, "athlete" Corey Brown, is Rivals' fourth-ranked player in the state and also headed to Ohio State, and another, OL Colin Rodkey, is No. 21.
26. Maybe that's why Gateway's the top-ranked team in the state, at least according to Pennsylvania Football News.
Gateway tops PFN's Class AAAA rankings. Defending state champ Pittsburgh Central Catholic, which went 16-0 and finished 11th in the country according to USA Today, is ninth.
27. More PFN rankings: Thomas Jefferson is No. 1 in AAA, Dunmore in AA, and defending state champ Steel-High in A.
28. State-ranked L-L teams: Wilson, No. 9 in AAAA; Manheim Central, just beneath old pals Strath Haven and Berwick at No. 9 in AAA, and Lancaster Catholic, No. 10 in AA.
29. Gateway is the seventh-best team in the country, and the only Pennsylvania team in the top 25, according to
PrepNation.com.
The site has Trinity High of Euless, Texas, the defending AAAAA state champ, ranked first in the country.
30. If you're wondering if the folks at Rivals.com and prepNation.com have a clue, well, you're not alone.
31. Returning first-team all-section players: Section One — Penn Manor RB Carl Christmas, Warwick RB Eric Resch, Wilson DL Rodney Hill, Wilson LB Colton Weaver, Hempfield LB Eric Macik, Cedar Crest LB Joe Sarra, Reading DE Demrick Cook, and Hempfield punter Logan Smith.
32. Section Two — Cocalico RB Kyle Fisher, Lebanon WR Jordan Clentimack, Manheim Central C Riley Clugston, Cocalico T Pat McMillan, Elizabethtown DL Alex Kirchner, Conestoga Valley DL Tanner Edgell (now at Donegal), Garden Spot LB Joe Strangarity, Manheim Central LB Travis Ebersole, and Manheim Central DE Dakota Royer.
33. Section Three — Pequea Valley WR Sean Persch, Columbia OT Kevin McCarty, Lancaster Catholic OL/DL Nick Schmalhofer, Annville-Cleona DL Dominic Frattaroli, Lancaster Catholic LB Chase Haberstroh, Lampeter-Strasburg DE Anthony Cintron, Donegal DE Morgan Rupp.
34. Mark this one down on your calendar, part one: Week three (Friday, Sept. 12), Lancaster Catholic at Manheim Central. "An instantaneous rivalry," according to Barons coach Mike Williams. "They'll dislike us and we'll dislike them. It's a natural."
35. MTODOYC, part two: Week five (Friday, Sept. 26), Lancaster Catholic at Lampeter-Strasburg. Sorry to overfocus on the Crusaders, but can Section Three really be decided this early? Could be.
36. MTODOYC, part three: Week 10 (Friday, Oct. 31), Wilson at Warwick. Is Warwick a Program now? We know Wilson is.
37. Predicted order of finish, Section One: 1. Wilson, 2. Warwick, 3. Hempfield, 4. Manheim Township, 5. Penn Manor, 6. Reading, 7. McCaskey, 8. Cedar Crest.
38. Predicted order of finish, Section Two: 1. Manheim Central, 2. Cocalico, 3. Elizabethtown, 4. Garden Spot, 5. Lebanon, 6. Solanco, 7. Conestoga Valley, 8. Ephrata.
39. Predicted order of finish, Section Three: 1. Lancaster Catholic, 2. Lampeter-Strasburg, 3. Columbia, 4. Elco, 5. Donegal, 6. Northern Lebanon, 7. Annville-Cleona, 8. Pequea Valley.
40. When the season begains Friday, so does a new era of multimedia coverage of L-L football.
That's when Lancaster Newspapers debuts a Web site,
lancsports.com, that will cover football in a way it's never been done before, with staff- and fan-generated video and photos, blogs, live game coverage and a beyond-comprehensive package of information on every L-L team and player.
It'll be cool. You'll see.
Mike Gross is assistant sports editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at mgross@lnpnews.com.
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