JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Pop quiz:
Which Lancaster-Lebanon League football team went further than anyone last season?
No peeking.
Come on, now. Did you have to think this long?
If you said Lampeter-Strasburg, take a little extra out of petty cash.
One L-L League team brought home a District 3 championship last fall – the Pioneers, who put together a magical run, culminating with the first Triple-A title in school history, and a trip to the PIAA playoffs.
The journey ended with a gut-wrenching 27-20 loss to Garnet Valley in the PIAA Triple-A Eastern Final.
But what a journey it was.
And the names – oh my, the names.
Cintron. Rolko. Stevens. Yingst. Zimmerman. Graeff. Gainer. Lefever. Frankford. Mellinger.
And some kid named Justin Taylor, who won practically every postseason award in sight.
Oh, and the catchy defense – ‘Speed Rush’ – featuring blitzing ends and hard-hitting linebackers. Wow, what a group that was.
Yep, it was a special team that took pretty much everyone in the L-L League community on a magic ride.
That was then. This is now.
Eighteen (yep, 18) starters graduated off that team.
But one of the three returning starters back in the fold for this fall was the Pioneers’ thumper last fall – the punishing fullback, busting open holes for Taylor and Rob Zimmerman; the bruising middle linebacker, sticking unsuspecting running backs in their tracks.
He is Joe Good. And he’s one of the few familiar faces headed to Pioneers’ camp.
In this post, hear Joe talk about last year’s terrific run, and what it was like playing with that classy group of seniors; about what it’s like playing in coach John Manion’s system, and why L-S usually reloads – not rebuilds; a recruiting update; and how everyone in Section 3 (and around District 3) will be chomping at the bit for piece of the new-look Pioneers.
To listen, please click on the ‘play’ button above.
And to download a copy of the interview for use on your favorite mp3 device, kindly click here.
Enjoy – and stay tuned for more audio interview Podcasts.
