JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Had an extremely tough time picking 3 Stars from Week 4 because there were so many top-notch performances.
After sifting through the stats, here’s what I came up with:
*** D.J. Loechner, senior quarterback, Manheim Central – For a kid who wasn’t even supposed to be in there playing QB, what a game for D.J. With starter Jeremy Knosp out with a shoulder injury, Loechner (wearing No. 28, not your typical QB number), completed 10-of-14 passes for 187 yards, helping the Barons beat Garden Spot 28-14 in the Section 2 opener for both teams. The win also snapped Central’s two-game losing streak.
*** Preston Faith, senior quarterback, Elizabethtown – What a start for the Bears, and what a great night for Faith, who completed 7-of-11 passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns in the Bears’ 54-14 Section 2 win at Lebanon. Faith hit Andrew Weller for a 15-yard TD; Jordan Hallman for a 45-yard TD; and Nate Koach for a 15-yard TD, as E-town improved to 4-0.
*** Travis Dresch, senior running back, Northern Lebanon – Another whopper game for Dresch, who carried nine times for 157 yards (that’s 17.4 per carry, by the way) and three touchdowns in the Vikings’ 61-6 wipeout over Pequea Valley. Dresch, who became the leading rusher in the history of the program, had TD runs of 49, 61 and 20 yards, respectively, as Northern Lebanon improved to 4-0.
Honorable Mention: McCaskey’s Jerome LaRue rushes for three TDs in Red Tornado’s win at Reading; Manheim Township’s David Soldner boots game-winning 34-yard field at the buzzer in Blue Streaks’ 9-7 win over Hempfield; Lancaster Catholic QB Kyle Smith completes 13-of-19 passes for 229 yards; Catholic WR Travis Jankowski catches six passes for 149 yards and three TDs from Smith: 69, 34 and 18 yards; Columbia QB Mike Seibert goes 18-of-26 for 269 yards and four TDs in 35-14 win over Donegal; L-S QB Brett Graeff goes 5-for 8 for 164 yards and three TDs in Pioneers’ 46-0 romp over Annville-Cleona.
