Some leftover news and notes from the first full weekend of L-L League football …
STREAK BUSTER – When Eastern York topped Columbia 20-14 on Friday night, it was the first win in the river border series for the Golden Knights. The Crimson Tide led the all-time series 14-0-1 heading into this season, with the tie coming in 1986. On a side note, it was also Columbia’s first loss in Week 1 since 1993, when the Tide fell to Marian Catholic. So Columbia saw two long streaks go down the drain in Week 1.
DRESCH WHO? – One of the questions surrounding Northern Lebanon heading into this season was who in the world was going to replace three-time 1,000-yard rusher Travis Dresch. When converted WR Terry Clark got the nod, it raised some eyebrows. But Clark had a dandy in his debut as the Vikings feature back in the Veer, piling up 174 rushing yards on 24 carries (7.3 per touch) and he also caught five passes for 64 yards – two for touchdowns – in Northern Lebanon’s 27-0 whitewash over Pine Grove. Clark was quick to credit his o-line in his post-game comments. “You need the front to do anything in this game,” Clark told the Lebanon Daily News. “I probably wouldn’t have had any of those runs if it wasn’t for them. … It was a pretty good game and I had fun. The guys did a really good job, and I think it was a challenge for us. We have to start improving.”
SPEAKING OF THE VIKINGS – Northern Lebanon’s D picked up where it left off a year ago, when the Vikings finished sixth in the L-L League in team defense (256.3 yards a game). Against Pine Grove, Northern Lebanon gave up just 53 rushing yards and 47 passing yards for 100 total yards against. That’s another nice start for the Vikings, who opened up 6-0 last year, and who have two more home games in a row on the docket to finish out the non-league slate.
COACHING DEBUTS – Two new coaches in the L-L League this season: Jim Vieland at Ephrata and Preston McKnight at Reading. And I’m sorry to report that their teams both took it on the chin in their head-coaching debuts; Ephrata dropped a 53-0 decision at Manheim Township, while Reading suffered a 49-13 setback at York High. McKnight, a Reading grad, took it pretty hard, telling the Reading Eagle, “We did a terrible job preparing the kids. We let the kids down, and we let the city of Reading down. As the head coach of this program, my apologies. We’re going to do a better job.”
PERFECTION – A pair of L-L League quarterbacks were perfect in the passing department on Opening Night. Granted, neither of them put up eye-popping, mind-numbing numbers, but they were perfect nonetheless: Northern Lebanon’s Matt Nolan went 6-for-6 for 69 yards and a pair of TDs (both to that Terry Clark fellow) and Manheim Township’s Jon Yuko went 3-for-3 for 33 yards and a TD for the Blue Streaks, who walloped Ephrata.
FIFTY-THREE – That’s an odd number of points to score in a football game, but a pair of teams rang up 53 points on Friday: Township toppled Ephrata 53-0 and Elizabethtown mangled McCaskey 53-7. OK, I’m reaching for note items here …
QB SHUFFLE – Anxious to see what Lampeter-Strasburg does at quarterback in Week 2 at Penn Manor. Senior Blake Brubaker went down with a cracked collarbone late in camp, and sophomore Christian DelRocini got the start under center in the opener at Cocalico – a 35-21 loss, in the rain. DelRocini also just happens to be one of the top blitzing d-ends around, so he had to pull double duty. So L-S went with a freshman QB – Nate Shank – who more than held his own when he was in there; and he got a lot of snaps, especially in the second half. Shank is a spunky player with tons of energy and he can really scramble around back there. Keep an eye on the QB spot at L-S.
TRUE DUAL THREATS – Not one. Not two. Not three. But four L-L League quarterbacks rushed for more than 100 yards in Friday’s openers: Elco’s Arron Achey galloped for 174 yards and three TDs – including the go-ahead score with 1:58 to play – Lebanon’s James Capello piled up 167 rushing yards, plus a pair of TD keepers, Manheim Central’s Jeremy Knosp had 131 rushing yards and two TD runs for the Barons, and Cocalico’s Matt Carty had 106 rushing yards, including a sweet 87-yard TD dash.
THREE FOR THE SHOW – Can’t say I was stunned that Elizabethtown beat McCaskey. I just didn’t see a 53-7 score coming – the Red Tornado probably didn’t either. The Bears had a pair of players each score three touchdowns in the game – plow horse running backs Shane Rosenberry and Conrad Heisey (key cogs on last year’s 10-2 team) each found the end zone three times on Opening Night, as E-town got off to a rousing start with a big win at McCaskey.
SPEAKING OF E-TOWN-McCASKEY – Just to clarify a tiny boo-boo in the print editions last week: The last time E-town and McCaskey played was in 1991, and that game ended (believe it or not) in a 0-0 tie. McCaskey won the first meeting 28-9, meaning that series (albeit not a very long, storied one) is now knotted 1-1-1.
DOUBLE Z – Not a bad opener for Wilson sophomore QB Zach Zweizig, eh? Forced into duty when third-year starter Steve Huber went down with a knee injury in the Bulldogs’ second scrimmage, Zweizig stepped up large against bitter cross-town rival Governor Mifflin, completing 12-of-18 passes (with nary a pick) for 166 yards and a pair of TDs, including a 64-yard strike to Alex Fegley. Zweizig missed his entire freshman season with a shoulder injury. He’ll be tested again this Friday when Wilson welcomes Manheim Central to West Lawn for an intriguing non-league game.
DOUBLE K – On Garden Spot’s preseason roster, Kyle Kelley doesn’t even have a height or a weight listed. But the Spartans’ wideout had a breakout game in Garden Spot’s 17-14 victory over Warwick. He had three catches for 110 yards, and two of the grabs went for long TDs – a 61-yarder and a 35-yarder, both thrown by senior QB Weston Martin. If anybody out there has Kyle’s height and weight, I could use it.
ALL FOR NAUGHT – The L-L League’s leading rusher after Week 1 is Warwick’s Eric Resch, who churned out 195 yards against Garden Spot. Unfortunately for Eric and the Warriors, all those yards and all those carries came in a losing effort.
CIRCLE THESE GAMES – Two games to definitely keep an eye on this week: First and foremost Manheim Central @ Wilson. That should be a beauty. I’ll be blogging live from that game, by the way. More on that as the week unfolds. And don’t chuckle, but Hempfield @ Garden Spot is suddenly a very intriguing matchup. It will be Week 2 of Hempfield’s new spread O attack (I told you Jarvis Cummings would be everywhere; 166 rushing yards, 2 TDs in opener), and Garden Spot will be looking to add to its momentum after a solid win over Warwick in Week 1. … If you absolutely, positively want a third game to keep an eye on (hey, I aim to please), then check out Muhlenberg @ Elizabethtown. The Muhls are led by all-star QB Mark Daniels.
STAT PACK – Be sure to check out lancsports.com for L-L League football stats. As I get the stats, I will enter them into our new system, and they should appear right away — on team homepages and on individual player pages. I’ll also be posting the full league leaders here, probably (hopefully) on Wednesdays from here on out. So be sure to check back for that.
