ACCOLADES FOR SAUNDERS
Plenty of intrigue to dig into as we glide past Week 6 of the Mid-Penn Conference football season, but there is no other place to start than a couple of individual records getting eclipsed from the Commonwealth Division.
Bishop McDevitt senior quarterback Stone Saunders, a Kentucky recruit, took over the No. 1 spot in career touchdown passes in the state of Pennsylvania by surpassing fellow MPC mate Alex Erby from Steel-High, who set the standard last season, with his 177th TD toss early in the first quarter on the road to victory against Altoona.
The next Erby record of interest for Saunders is the career passing yards mark. Saunders went over 11,000 yards Friday night, becoming only the third QB in state history to eclipse that mark. Saunder is still more than 2,200 yards behind Erby’s 13,562 mark, though. Feels like that one is a bridge too far for Saunders.
Still pretty heady stuff, the top two record setting quarterbacks in the state of Pennsylvania in terms of career yards passing and touchdowns thrown are a couple of lads from the MPC.
CD East senior running back Leon Parson has had a spectacular first season at his new school after transferring from Bishop McDevitt. Now Parson has etched his name in the Panthers football record books for the most rushing yards in a single game.
Parson eclipsed current NFL running back Chase Edmonds by rushing for 315 yards in a tough grind-it-out victory over Cumberland Valley. Parson also had four touchdowns, including the game winning TD deep into the final quarter.
This record was earned, too. Parson carried the rock a staggering 35 times and averaged a difference making 9.0 yards per carry. Parson is well on his way to a 1,000-yard season with more than 800 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
PANTHERS CLIMB BACK INTO CONTENTION
There were some lofty expectations around this East Pennsboro team when the season kicked off. And it had serious merit, it wasn’t just a flyer based on one of those well if a couple things fall into place expectations. Panther have some dudes.
Well when you start 0-2 including a loss in your division, well you kind of fall off the relevancy radar. Well since losing to MPC Colonial mate Trinity a month ago, East Pennsboro has said hold my root beer we got work to do.
On the heels of a convincing 35-14 drilling of once-beaten West Perry the Panthers are in the hunt for the MPC Colonial title. Wideout Aaron Angelo had himself a game against the Mustangs. He caught all five passes thrown his way for a mind blowing 191 yards (38.2 yards per catch) including TD catch-and-runs covering 88 and 73 yards. And he intercepted a pass as well on defense, one of four turnovers created by the EP defense.
Trinity, if you had the Shamrocks winning the MPC Colonial Division on your preseason bingo card you are not being truthful, continues to headline the division with a perfect 4-0 division mark. The Panthers are a game back along with Susquehanna Township. West Perry and Big Spring, told you the Bulldogs had more bark than their record, are each 2-2 in the Colonial.
This will continue to be a crazy division title chase, but East Pennsboro has definitely climbed its way back to having a say on how this plays out.
KEYSTONE PICTURE STILL BLURRY
Mechanicsburg kept on rolling in Week 6, crushing Red Land 35-7 to make it six wins that kind of all look the same. As we’ve said before the Wildcats are killing ‘Cats. And M’burg continues to share top billing with fellow unbeaten Shippensburg as the front runners in the MPC Keystone.
Here’s the thing … Why do I think Hershey might have the final say in how this shakes out and I’m not sure what the Wildcats look like under a real test because they haven’t had one.
The six Mechanicsburg opponents to date have a combined seven victories. Nothing the Wildcats can do about that, except take care of business on their end and they are doing that. But six in a row without a true test gets dicey the longer you go.
Shippensburg and Mechanicsburg play each other the final week of the regular season. The Greyhounds have already knocked off Hershey, so they totally control their own destiny. The Hounds haven’t been as impressive overall as the Wildcats, edging LD by a point last Friday and getting pushed to the limit by Waynesboro. Still, 6-0 says it all.
The trio of contenders, Shippensburg, Mechanicsburg and Hershey, are crystal clear. I can’t get a sense of who has an upper hand, though. Excited to see how this one plays out.
MY 2 CENTS
Running backs Samir Edwards-Pace and Sean Elliott along with quarterback Cam Sweeney combined for nearly 400 rushing yards in a wild 41-35 victory over Gettysburg. The trio combined for 45 totes and accounted for five of the six Trojans touchdowns. That’s a ridiculous 8.8 yards per carry. … Congrats to Newport for picking up win No. 1 of the season, using three Zach Bates touchdown runs to edge Milton Hershey 20-18. … If nothing else, and remember that Middletown knocked West Perry from the ranks of the unbeaten last week, the Blue Raiders are extremely difficult to beat. Susquehanna Township QB Torin Evans threw for 235 yards on 14 completions and needed every bit of his strong effort to nudge past Middletown 21-14. … Upset of the week goes to Chambersburg. The Trojans walked into their Week 6 matchup with Cedar Cliff toting a single victory achieved more than a month ago. Not only did Chambersburg drop the Colts, who have lost four straight, it was a dominating 25-point victory.
