Nine is devine.
Wilson, Manheim Township and Penn Manor from Section 1.
Manheim Central, Conestoga Valley and Cocalico from Section 2.
And Lancaster Catholic, Elco and Lampeter-Strasburg from Section 3.
Those will be your L-L League participants in the District 3 playoffs.
Wilson, Manheim Township and Penn Manor in Quad-A.
Manheim Central, CV, Cocalico, Elco and L-S in Triple-A.
And Lancaster Catholic in Double-A.
Wilson and Lancaster Catholic will be out to defend their crowns.
No L-L League teams qualified for the Single-A bracket.
Preliminary Quad-A bracket here.
The bubble burst for a few L-L League teams in Week 10, most notably Reading, which was on the No. 16 line in Quad-A coming in, but the Red Knights dropped a 14-10 decision to McCaskey - which snapped its 20-game losing streak in the process - and were leapfrogged by Harrisburg, which walloped Altoona 75-6 to finish 5-5 overall and get in.
So in the last two weeks, Reading, which played its final game as a member of the L-L League in Week 10, gave up 70 points in a loss to Cedar Crest and lost to a 0-9 team and saw its bubble burst.
Other L-L League teams on the bubble that came up just short: Warwick, which dropped a 31-13 gut-wrencher to Wilson, is out in Quad-A. The Warriors were No. 17 coming into the week. And Solanco, which was No. 17 in Triple-A, lost to Cocalico 34-17 and was bumped.
KELLEY COMES UP SHORT: Conestoga Valley senior RB Kevin Kelley did not crack the 2,000-yard plateau in the regular season. Unofficially, the Bucks’ back rushed for 125 yards in CV’s 34-24 loss to Ephrata. So Kelley will need 75 yards (unofficially) in the Bucks’ first-round District 3 Triple-A playoff game to reach 2,000 yards this season. He was trying to become the first L-L League back to rush for 2,000 yards in the regular season since Lebanon Catholic’s Tommy Long pulled off that feat in 1996.
FOUR MORE FOR MR. SMITH: Lancaster Catholic senior QB Kyle Smith became the first player in Pennsylvania history to throw 100 career touchdown passes in the Crusaders’ 51-28 shootout win over Elco. Smith, of course, came into the game with a state-record 99 TD tosses. He threw four more against the Raiders, giving him 35 this season and 103 in his career.
OUTRIGHT CHAMPS: Speaking of Smith and the Crusaders, Lancaster Catholic wrapped up its second outright Section 3 championship in a row compliments of its 51-28 win over Elco. That’s five Section 3 titles in a row - shared or outright - for the Crusaders. … This is also the second year in a row that all three section races were won outright; Wilson, Manheim Central and Lancaster Catholic are all back-to-back outright champs.
THE SCORES: Week 10 results - Section 1: Wilson 31, Warwick 13 (Warriors led 13-10 in the fourth quarter; Bulldogs pull off miracle 3rd-and-41 play and win going away), Penn Manor 36, Cedar Crest 35 (Comets trailed 35-22 in the second half, rally past Falcons), Manheim Township 28, Hempfield 14 (Brian Sourber rushes for 241 yards and 3 TD for Blue Streaks), McCaskey 14, Reading 10 (Red Tornado snaps two-year losing streak, Red Knights, in final L-L League game, eliminated from playoff chase). … Section 2: Manheim Central 49, Garden Spot 0 (fourth shutout win in a row for Barons, who lock up No. 1 seed in District 3 Triple-A playoffs; 0-10 finish for Spartans), Cocalico 34, Solanco 17 (Eagles break open a close 6-3 lead at the half), Ephrata 34, Conestoga Valley 24 (no 2,000 for Kelley; two-win season after 0-10 campaign for Mountaineers), Lebanon 39, Elizabethtown 32 (Cedars snap three-game losing skid; Alex Trautman passes for 342 yards and 4 TD). … Section 3: Lancaster Catholic 51, Elco 28 (Smith outduels Achey; fifth section title in a row for Crusaders, who lock up No. 1 seed in District 3 Double-A bracket), Lampeter-Strasburg 55, Annville-Cleona 7 (Chad Frey returns two punts for scores for Pioneers, who clinch spot in Triple-A field), Northern Lebanon 47, Pequea Valley 19 (Vikings finish 6-4 but miss out on playoffs), Donegal 40, Columbia 0 (Indians finish on a high note; Crimson Tide finishes 0-10).
WEEK 10 NUGGETS: One week after returning a punt for a touchdown in a win over Northern Lebanon, Lampeter-Strasburg’s Chad Frey one-upped himself by returning two punts for scores in the Pioneers’ 55-7 romp over Annville-Cleona. Frey also scored on a TD run, but he missed out on rushing for 1,000 yards during the regular season. … Lancaster Catholic QB Kyle Smith vs. Elco – 13-of-23 for 170 yards, four TD, no picks. He’s up to 35 TD against two picks this season, and both interceptions came in the same game, vs. L-S in Week 5. … Manheim Central QB Justin Gorman torched Garden Spot – 12-for-13 for 183 yards and two TD passes; seven keepers for 141 yards and three TD runs (all in the first half, by the way). … Manheim Township RB Brian Sourber ran wild against Hempfield – 34 carries (many coming out of the Streaks’ Razorback direct-snap package) for 241 yards and three TD runs. He also caught a clutch pass on the sideline right at the marker on a key third-down conversion in the first half. Sourber finished the regular season with 21 TD runs – two behind CV’s Kevin Kelley, whose 1-yard plunge vs. Ephrata gave him 23 during the regular season. … Huge game for Ephrata RB George Murray in the Mountaineers’ 34-24 win over CV – 33 carries for 197 yards and four TD runs. … Two winless teams in the L-L League this season – Garden Spot (0-7, 0-10) and Columbia (0-7, 0-10). … One undefeated team in the L-L League this season – Manheim Central (7-0, 10-0), which handed coach Mike Williams his 297th career win with its fourth shutout victory in a row, a 49-0 whitewash over Garden Spot. The Barons have six shutout wins this season, and have outscored their opponents by a whopping 423-76. Central held Garden Spot to 112 yards and six first downs. … Lebanon QB Alex Trautman, who has been running hot-or-cold the second half of the season, was scorching hot in the Cedars’ wild 39-32 win over Elizabethtown – 16-of-27 for 353 yards and four TD passes, plus an 8-yard TD keeper, as Lebanon snapped its three-game losing skid. … Elco QB Arron Achey had two TD runs and two TD passes in the Raiders’ 51-28 loss to Lancaster Catholic. … Cocalico, which came into Week 10 with the third-ranked defense in the league, yielded 329 rushing yards to Solanco; B.J. Enck had 119 of those yards for the Golden Mules, who had their three-game winning streak snapped and missed out on the postseason. … Northern Lebanon QB Tanner Dresch in 47-19 win over Pequea Valley – 8-for-9 for 130 yards and three TD tosses. … McCaskey’s Markeith Williams just missed out on 1,000 rushing yards; he had 40 yards in the Red Tornado’s 14-10 win over Reading, leaving him with 965 yards this season. … Wackiest play of Week 10 – Wilson, trailing 13-10 at home to Warwick, faced 3rd-and-41 from its own 20. QB Zach Zweizig hit Sheldon Hannibal-Nixon for a 66-yard gainer to get Wilson out of jail. Bulldogs went on to score three unanswered touchdowns and won 31-13, putting a shiny bow on a 7-0 Section 1 season.
COMING SOON: Check back Monday for audio Podcast interviews with Manheim Township coach Mike Melnyk, plus Blue Streaks’ players Brady Souders and Moyo Oluleye. … Also check back next week for full preview capsules of every District 3 playoff game involving L-L League teams. Plus my final rankings, Week 10 ‘3 Stars’, final regular-season statistics, video previews and a Podcast preview for the District 3 playoffs. And more random goodies, I’m sure. … Not sure about the live blogs for Round 1 of Districts. Stay tuned.
