Each week, we’re scouring the Mid-Penn, Lancaster-Lebanon, and York conferences to determine the top 11 teams in the area regardless of classification. Take a look at which teams made the cut after Week 1. Disagree, let us know on Twitter (@4thdownmag) and Facebook.
| 11. | Steel-High | 1-0 | 11 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huge win over fellow Class 1A power Bishop Canevin that was fueled by the defense and a running game. If that provides the horsepower for this team, the danger level only goes up from there. | ||||
| 10. | Shippensburg | 1-0 | 10 | |
| Quality win on the road at Cedar Cliff. Always is. Greyhounds make far fewer mistakes and that type of consistency will make them a difficult out this season. | ||||
| 9. | Cumberland Valley | 1-0 | 8 | |
| Huge win coming from behind and navigating lightning delays to slip past Manheim Township at home. Little smoke and mirrors, though. Eagles’ defense was roughed up a bit. | ||||
| 8. | Lampeter-Strasburg | 0-1 | 7 | |
| Came up on the short end of a 50-50 game that wasn’t decided until late. And that does not impact their status one bit. Will win more of those games than they lose over the course of a season. | ||||
| 7. | Manheim Central | 1-0 | 9 | |
| Blasted West Chester East in the opener and the Barons have a favorable schedule. That combination means this team will be troubled over the long haul of ‘22. | ||||
| 6. | Central York | 1-0 | NR | |
| Clear class of the YAIAA still has plenty cooking. Tough opener and wanted to be sure the loss of the heart and soul at quarterback didn’t have a trickle-down effect. Not often do you see the CD Rams rolled across the board. | ||||
| 5. | Wyomissing | 1-0 | 6 | |
| Spartans 49, Insert Opponent Name Here 0. Sounds about right for a Wyomissing contest the last few years. More quality in the schedule will serve them well but wasn’t tested in this one. | ||||
| 4. | Solanco | 1-0 | 5 | |
| Heckuva opener for the Golden Mules. Any win against Lampeter-Strasburg is of the highest quality. It was a back-and-forth battle with L-S and shows this team is one to keep an eye on in 2022. | ||||
| 3. | Exeter Township | 1-0 | 3 | |
| Tossing up a shutout of Daniel Boone in the opener did catch our attention. Better opponents are coming later but a 35-point win to open the campaign is a good night of work. | ||||
| 2. | Harrisburg | 0-0 | 2 | |
| Cougars didn’t get out of the garage as lightning played too much of a delay role in the Cougars’ opener in Chambersburg and the game was officially declared a no contest. Back to the practice grind. | ||||
| 1. | Bishop McDevitt | 0-1 | 1 | |
| A fierce Imhotep defense and sloppy mistakes - drops, missed field goal and a costly defensive penalty - saw the Crusaders humbled a bit. This was a match-up of the Class 5A (Imhotep) and Class 4A (McDevitt) preseason No. 1 ranked teams in the state. Whoever lost this game was getting the “quality loss” moniker. | ||||
