LOOKING AHEAD: Three big, big, big games on the Week 7 docket …
SECTION 1 – Penn Manor (3-0, 6-0) at Manheim Township (3-0, 4-2).
SECTION 2 – Cocalico (2-1, 5-1) at Elizabethtown (3-0, 5-1).
SECTION 3 – Northern Lebanon (2-1, 5-1) at Lancaster Catholic (3-0, 5-1).
Let the hype officially begin …
Meanwhile, Wilson will look to stay in at least a tie for first in Section 1 with a win at cross-town rival Reading; Manheim Central will look to stay in at least a tie for first in Section 2 with a win at home against archrival Conestoga Valley; and Annville-Cleona will look to stay in at least a tie for first in Section 3 with a win at home against Columbia.
CAPELLO: Huge night in a losing effort for Lebanon senior QB James Capello, who tossed the ball all over the yard Friday night in the Cedars’ 53-38 loss at Cocalico. Capello, already the league leader in passing yards coming into the night, went 28-of-44 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. He was also picked off three times. His favorite target, senior WR Jordan Clentimack, who led the league with 31 receptions through five weeks, had (get this) 13 catches for 161 yards and a score against Cocalico. Check back here in a few days for updated statistics on those guys. Wow.
KNOSP: Check out senior QB Jeremy Knosp’s line for Manheim Central on Friday night – 14-for-16 for 254 (no picks) and a touchdown. Yeah, that’ll help his QB efficiency rating. Central walloped Ephrata 61-14, by the way.
POINTS: Seven teams scored 40 or more points in Week 6 – Lancaster Catholic (68 vs. Pequea Valley), Manheim Central (61 vs. Ephrata), Cocalico (53 vs. Lebanon), Annville-Cleona (48 vs. Donegal), Wilson (45 vs. Hempfield), Manheim Township (40 vs. Cedar Crest) and Northern Lebanon (40 vs. Columbia). … Elizabethtown and Elco each scored 35 in victories.
POINTLESS: Penn Manor earned its second shutout victory this season – a 23-0 whitewash at McCaskey. The Comets have allowed just 36 points through six games. And they should stay at the top of the total team D category when I update the stats over the next several days.
STREAKING: Pequea Valley’s losing skid hit 23 games, and Conestoga Valley’s losing streak hit the unlucky No. 13 mark.
YAY FOR YOHN: Talk about redemption – Just seven days after missing a game-winning field goal at the buzzer against Manheim Township, Warwick’s Ryan Yohn booted the go-ahead field goal with 1:27 to go Friday night in the Warriors’ come-from-behind 16-15 win over pesky Reading. How about that? He’s the clubhouse leader for New Era Player of the Week, by the way. We have to go through our top-secret meeting to vote, but his credentials are really good.
SCOREBOARD WATCH: Figured that Cocalico vs. Lebanon matchup, featuring the top two offenses in the league, would be nutty. And if 53-38 isn’t nutty, I’m not sure what is. More than 900 total yards in this game, gang. And Lebanon had (gulp) 30 first downs.
STILL UNBEATEN: With wins, Wilson and Penn Manor remained undefeated. Bulldogs and Comets are both 6-0 overall.
MR. SMITH GOES TO KINZERS: Kyle Smith’s line from Lancaster Catholic’s 68-14 demolition over Pequea Valley – 13-of-15 for 215 yards and four TD tosses. Nice. Three of those TD passes went to Freddy Jankowski, who has had back-to-back whopper games after missing a few weeks after getting dinged up in the opener vs. Trinity.
EVEN WORSE THAN THEIR BARK: Wilson toppled Hempfield 45-13. The Bulldogs held the Black Knights’ spread O in check for 79 rushing yards and 99 passing yards. I said it last week and I’ll say it again – someone is going to have to play a near perfect game to beat the Bulldogs. They are lights-out at the moment.
WEIDMAN: I was over in E-town Friday night for Mitch Weidman’s breakout game for the Bears. FB Shane Rosenberry and HB Conrad Heisey have both had breakout games this season. Now healthy, Weidman had his breakout game in the Bears’ 35-19 come-from-behind win over Garden Spot, rushing for 105 yards with a TD run and a TD catch, plus two picks from his safety spot. He’s the speed guy who is stepping in for last year’s 1,000-yard back, Jordan Hallman. Against Garden Spot, with first place on the line, Weidman showed everyone what he’s got.
PODCAST: I headed to E-town’s locker room after the Bears’ big win over Garden Spot. On Monday, please look for audio Podcast interviews with Weidman, E-town coach Jeff Polites, and E-town LB David Kennedy, who chatted about the Bears’ gnarly D effort on Spartans’ QB Weston Martin (they chased him silly).
PREDICTION: Penn State 45, Purdue 10. Thought I’d chuck that in there.
PREDICTION II: Phillies win, complete sweep of Brewers.
NEXT WEEK: Haven’t picked our blog games yet, but you can bet we’ll be at 2 of those 3 ‘feature’ games on Friday. I haven’t seen Lancaster Catholic yet, so I might go there. Of course, I haven’t seen Penn Manor yet, either. So that looks appetizing. Going to sleep on it and flip a coin Monday. Be sure to check out our live blog spot on lancsports.com, and you’ll see where Keith and I will be next Friday night for Week 7.
THAT’S ALL FOLKS: Plenty more to come on my page and lancsports.com in the coming days. I’ll crank out a Reinhart’s Rankings for you, and the stats will be updated immediately as I get them from the coaches and get them typed into the system. Keep checking for that – as well as my 3 Stars and all that other good stuff. Week 6 … done.
