Coaches from Penn Manor, Cocalico, Elco earn L-L Coach of the Year kudos
JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
MOUNT GRETNA – The votes are in, and the Lancaster-Lebanon League football coaches have chosen a Coach of the Year in each of the league’s three sections.
Penn Manor’s Todd Mealy in Section 1, Cocalico’s Dave Gingrich in Section 2, and Elco’s Mark Evans in Section 3 were named the league’s top coaches Wednesday night at the annual season-ending banquet at The Timbers.
In just his second year on the job in Millersville, Mealy has resurrected Penn Manor’s program. This season, the Comets went 5-2 in Section 1 and 9-3 overall and qualified for the District 3 Quad-A playoffs. Penn Manor won its first-round game, drilling Dallastown 42-7 before falling to eventual runner-up Cumberland Valley in the district quarterfinals.
Penn Manor was known for its defense – Mealy’s specialty – which surrendered just 220 yards a game, third-best in the L-L League.
Gingrich just completed his fifth year with Cocalico, and this season the Eagles went 6-1 in Section and 10-2 overall. Both of Cocalico’s losses were to eventual District 3 Triple-A runner-up Manheim Central, the latter in the district semifinals.
Cocalico cranked out 428 yards a game (second-best in the league) and the Eagles rushed for an incredible 4,478 yards, by far the most in the L-L League.
Evans just completed his 11th season with Elco, and it was a memorable season for the Raiders, who went 5-2 in Section 3 and 6-5 overall after advancing to the District 3 playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Elco’s season including a rip-roaring five-game winning streak, and the Raiders went into their Week 10 game against Lancaster Catholic needing a victory to tie the Crusaders for the Section 3 championship.
Elco dropped that game 42-7, but advanced to the Triple-A playoffs for the first time in seven years, falling to eventual runner-up Manheim Central 45-14 in the first round.
Evans’ team was a plus-13 in turnover ratio and averaged more than 340 yards a game.
