Random thoughts while waiting to post game stories at 12:42 a.m. early Saturday …
FISHER: Running out of superlatives to describe Cocalico senior RB Kyle Fisher. He was spectacular Friday night against Elizabethtown: The 140 rushing yards were (believe it or not) below his average. But his game-winning 75-yard TD burst was nothing short of amazing. Facing third-and-10, he took a simple toss and bolted, racing untouched down his own sideline for the go-ahead score in Cocalico’s thrill-a-minute 35-34 victory over Elizabethtown. Fisher also had a 7-yard TD run and he caught a 56-yard TD pass from QB Matt Carty. Fisher is the fastest kid I’ve ever seen in football pads.
GOOSE EGGS: A bunch of shutouts in Week 7 – Garden Spot 30, Ephrata 0; Annville-Cleona 35, Columbia 0; Lancaster Catholic 61, Northern Lebanon 0; and Lampeter-Strasburg 39, Donegal 0 … four shutouts in 12 games (three in Section 3 alone). Interesting.
TWO TIES, ONE FOR THE SHOW: Section 1 and Section 3 have two-way ties for first place, while Section 2 has a solo leader through Week 7. … In Section 1, Wilson (4-0, 7-0) and Penn Manor (4-0, 7-0) share the top spot, after the Bulldogs whacked Reading 46-6 and the Comets outlasted Manheim Township 20-19. … In Section 2, just one team remained unbeaten – Manheim Central (4-0, 5-2) – with a very, very interesting race right behind the Barons, with Cocalico (3-1), Garden Spot (3-1) and Elizabethtown (3-1) all right there. … In Section 3, Lancaster Catholic (4-0, 6-1) and Annville-Cleona (4-0, 5-2) are tied at the top. Those two will knock heads in Week 9, by the way.
REVENGE (PART 1): Looks like Lancaster Catholic got some major redemption against Northern Lebanon on Friday night. The Vikings derailed the Crusaders 17-13 a year ago in Week 10 at Northern Lebanon, knocking Catholic into a share of the Section 3 crown with Lampeter-Strasburg. The Crusaders have had this game circled ever since, and Friday night, Catholic took its frustrations out on Northern Lebanon.
REVENGE (PART 2): Another game with redemption written all over it was Cocalico at Elizabethtown. The Bears were 9-0 when they went to Denver in Week 10 last year, but the Eagles dropped Etown, forcing the Bears to share the section crown with Solanco. Cocalico tossed a monkey wrench into E-town’s first-place plans for the second year in a row on Friday night.
WEEK 8 SLATE: Just perusing next Friday’s schedule, and to be brutally honest, not a lot jumps out at me. Of course, I’m sitting here falling asleep with my fingers on the laptop, so I’m not exactly in big-game L-L League football mode. All apologies for that. Game of the week is probably in Manheim, where the Barons will host Elizabethtown in an interesting Section 2 game. Central is the outright section leader. E-town is a game back. And there should be plenty of hype surrounding that game, considering what the Bears did to the Barons last year – 56-14 in E-town. You know Central has had this one circled ever since. … Also on the docket, Wilson (4-0) will host Manheim Township (3-1), Garden Spot (3-1) is at Cocalico (3-1) and Elco (3-1) will travel to Annville-Cleona (4-0).
PODCASTS COMING: Caught up with several folks after Cocalico’s big win over at Elizabethtown on Friday night. On Monday, please check back for interviews with: Cocalico coach Dave Gingrich, Cocalico QB Matt Carty, Cocalico RB Kyle Fisher, Cocalico WR/DB Kyle Rissell and Elizabethtown coach Jeff Polites.
DOMINATING DEFENSE: My favorite defensive stat from Friday night – Lancaster Catholic held Northern Lebanon to three first down and 35 yards of total offense. The Crusaders forced the league’s passing efficiency leader – Northern Lebanon senior Matt Nolan, who was 21-for-28 coming into the game – to a 0-for-7 performance with two picks.
ANOTHER RAZORBACK: Looks like you can add Conestoga Valley to the list of local programs going with some sort of spread or single-wing type of scheme. Against Manheim Central – which topped the Bucks for the 19th time in their last 20 meetings, by the way – CV coach Gerad Novak had scatback Kevin Kelley lined up behind center in the shotgun taking a majority of the snaps. Kelley responded with more than 170 rushing yards, including a 61-yard TD bolt – CV’s lone score in the game.
That’s all I have for now … feel like I’m falling asleep at the wheel here. Sorry.
Check back later this weekend for Reinhart’s Rankings and some random L-L League stat leaders … plus my 3 Stars. Followed by all kinds of stuff. Up next: Week 8.
