Ah yes, another week of Reinhart’s Rankings … let the message-board war begin.
Guess I better put this disclaimer up a smidge higher this week: I do this for fun, folks. Are the following six teams the absolute, bottom-line six best teams in the Lancaster-Lebanon League? Um, probably not. But they are the only six L-L League teams to get through the non-league portion of the slate unscathed, and that’s pretty cool. So they made my top six this week. Got a problem with that? Then make your own list. And stop taking this one so seriously.
Drum roll please …
1. Wilson (3-0) – Waxed Downingtown East 34-0 to stay unbeaten, and D was as gnarly as ever. I said it last week and I’ll say it again, just for yucks: Unless something wacky happens, the Bulldogs are going 10-0. Stick that up on your bulletin board. This week: Home with McCaskey on Friday.
2. Cocalico (3-0) – Absolutely love the double-barreled backfield action of TB Kyle Fisher and FB Austin Hartman, who chewed up and spit out Annville-Cleona last Thursday night. Already heard someone refer to those guys as Thunder (Hartman) and Lightning (Fisher). Nice. This week: Home with Manheim Central. Not a bad little Section 2 opener, eh? I’ll be there blogging live, by the way.
3. Hempfield (3-0) – Black Knights just keep on keeping on, this time rallying in the second half for a win at Carlisle. I don’t think senior QB Jarvis Cummings has had a bad game yet, and Eric Macik busted a long one for a TD last week. If he gets hot carrying the ball, watch out. Looking forward to actually seeing these guys in person sometime relatively soon. This week: Home with Penn Manor in a battle of 3-0 teams. Gotta love those Week 4 showdowns.
4. Penn Manor (3-0) – Comets continue to amaze, especially on D, where Penn Manor is allowing just 145.3 yards per game – tops in the L-L League. And keep an eye on QB P.J. Rhem. All he did in his first start this season last Friday was go 6-for-10 with three TD tosses. If their O gets cranking and the D stays hot, the Comets could be in the Section 1 race until Halloween. This week: At Hempfield in a battle of 3-0 squads. Keith Schweigert will be blogging live from Landisville, by the way.
5. Lebanon (3-0) – Break up the “Air Raid”, which has showed zero signs of slowing down. If I had to pick an L-L League MVP right now, I’d probably go with Cedars’ senior QB James Capello, who has yet to have a bad game. Check out these stats: 562 passing yards, 7 TDs; 502 rushing yards, 5 TDs – plus he returned a pick for a score. Amazing. This week: At home with 0-3 Ephrata.
6. Northern Lebanon (3-0) – Second year in a row the Vikings have been 3-0 out of the chute, and they’re doing it with a strong D (191 yards per game) and super-duper efficient QB Matt Nolan, who has completed a cool 12-of-16 passes – three for touchdowns. He’s the second-ranked passer in the league, and he’s running the Vikings’ Veer quite nicely, thank you. This week: First road trip this season – at Elco in an all-Lebanon County scrap.
