Yeah, yeah. Monday morning quarterbacks are supposed to spout off on Mondays. Give me a break. I was enjoying my Labor Day weekend. But here are a few tidbits from Friday night’s Week One action: 

So after weeks of “voluntary” preparation, two-a-days, scrimmages and film analysis, the L-L League’s 24 teams finally got to strap on the pads and start hitting for real last Friday. For some, Opening Night was a triumphant performance that allowed them to grab the crucial early-season momentum.

For others, not so much. Read on…

DARK KNIGHTS: The most eye-opening outcome was Conestoga Valley’s 28-10 thumping of heavily favored Hempfield. Yep, you read that right. The Buckskins, who were coming off a 1-9 campaign in 2008 and breaking in a new coach in Tom Nichols, running roughshod over the consensus pick as Section One champs by Lancaster Newspapers.

(Perhaps now would be a good time to say I picked Wilson to repeat.)

Kevin Kelley, who seems to have been playing for CV for 10 years now (really, he’s just a four-year starter and a senior), galloped through the Hempfield defense for 234 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries. He’s the LancSports.com player of the week for that performance, beating out several strong nominees.

Give it up for CV, which got the Nichols Era off to a great start. We’ll see if their emergence is a sure-fire trend or a one-week anomaly this week, when they take on Warwick in Lititz on Friday. (Cheap plug alert: visit LancSports.com for Jeff Reinhart’s live blog Friday night at 6:45)

As for Hempfield…yikes. That’s not how the Black Knights wanted to start the season, especially after talking so frankly about wanting to contend for the section crown in training camp. Sure, they churned out nearly 300 yards on the ground, but they also completed just 1 of 3 passes for a whopping 10 yards. And their defense allowed CV to rack up 307 yards of total offense.

Well, they can’t hit the “reset” button and get a do-over against the Bucks, but they can even their record this week, when they host Garden Spot. The Spartans are smarting from a 24-0 loss to Warwick, where they forced five turnovers but somehow still managed to post a goose egg on the board.

If Hempfield doesn’t turn it around this week, it could get ugly fast. The Knights close their non-league schedule against Carlisle on Sept. 18, then open section play against Penn Manor — which has the look of a title contender after stomping Solanco 47-21 in its season opener.

TORNADO GETS THE WIND KNOCKED OUT OF ITS SAILS: You can look at the outcome of McCaskey’s 41-24 loss at Elizabethtown Friday and think “New coach, same results.” But you’d be wrong.

If you read between the lines, you’ll see that McCaskey was missing five defensive starters, thanks to that familiar Tornado bugaboo: academic ineligibility. How can a player who’s been in school for just four days be ineligible, you ask? Well, it dates back to last spring, where several players were failing and did not attend summer school — therefore, allowing their ineligibility to carry over to the fall. So they’ll all miss the first three games of the season.

Of course, the Tornado coaching staff only found out about this issue after Thursday night’s practice, which gave them no time to prepare for the losses. And it showed on Friday, when the Bears ran over, through and around the Tornado defense to the tune of 454 total yards. Mitch Weidman did the most damage, racking up 137 yards and three TDs on just 13 carries. He also added a momentum-crushing 97-yard kickoff return for a score, just seconds after the Tornado had grabbed a 7-0 lead on a 76-yard option run by Markeith Williams.

Incidentally, Williams and fullback Demarcus Sumpter have the looks of a potent backfield tandem. They were certainly one of the few bright spots for McCaskey on Friday, combining for 297 rushing yards between them. They’ve already got a catchy nickname: “Moose and Juice.”

The “Moose” is Sumpter, a 5-8, 210-pound bruiser who racked up 127 yards on 10 carries. The “Juice” is Williams, who had 167 yards and four TDs on 14 attempts. McCaskey might have its share of hurdles to overcome this season, but production from its ground game won’t be one of them.

CRUSADERS ROCK: Lancaster Catholic sure got out of the gate fast on Friday, trouncing Mid-Penn nemesis Trinity 42-0. It was sweet revenge for the Crusaders, who hadn’t beaten the Shamrocks in three years.

Kyle Smith, whom you may have heard a thing or two about lately, completed 10 of 16 passes for 214 yards and four touchdowns in his 2009 debut. He even added 15 yards and another score on the ground. The Crusader defense yielded just 108 total yards and posted the first of what could be a lot of goose eggs on the scoreboard. Catholic is loaded, people. Buckle in for a long ride.

CENTRAL ROLLS: Remember last year, when everyone said Manheim Central’s precocious junior class was a year away from being a powerhouse after they fell to West York in the District Three Class AAA final?

Yeah. Those people were right.

The Barons are simply loaded with talent this year, as evidenced by their 58-0 drubbing of overmatch Susquehannock in Week 1. Central held a 440-72 advantage in total yards, completed all three of the passes it attempted and only punted the ball once. It took the Barons exactly one quarter to build a Mercy Rule-worthy lead of 35-0, and didn’t get much prettier as the game progressed.

Of course, Susquehannock might not be the greatest measuring stick out there. But the next two weeks will show us just how good these Barons are. They host perennial Section One powerhouse Wilson on Friday night (you’ll probably read a thing or two about that, both here and in print, in the coming days), then visit Section Three favorite Lancaster Catholic on Sept. 18 (ditto).

Wilson, of course, reached the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals last season before falling in triple overtime. Catholic made it to the Class AA semis before bowing out as well. Both teams are defending District Three champs in their respective classes, and both appear to be talented and deep again this time around.

Last year, the ‘Dawgs and the Crusaders handed Central back-to-back losses to drop the Barons’ record to 1-2 at the end of non-league play. Of course, Central gave Wilson everything it could handle before falling — one of the few teams to do so during the regular season — and lost to Catholic in tropical storm conditions. I think it’s a safe bet the Barons will be out for revenge this time around.

(Cheap plug alert #3: Be sure to check out LancSports.com on Friday night for my live blog from the Central-Wilson game. And Jeff Reinhart will be bringing you the action from Central-Catholic the following week).

Now that The Huddle is up and running, keep checking back here for more updates. I’ll have more on the upcoming Central-Wilson game later this week, as well as my thoughts on the other big games in Week 2. Stay tuned.