CLASS 6A 

Rank – Team – District – Record — Previous 

1. St. Joseph’s Prep (12)         – 2-1 – 1 

2. Garnet Valley (1)                – 3-0 – 3 

3. Pittsburgh C.C. (7)              – 2-1 – 4 

4. Emmaus (11)                      — 3-0 – 5 

5. State College (6)                 – 3-0 – 6 

6. North Allegheny (7)           — 3-0 – 10 

7. Coatesville (1)                    — 3-0 – 9 

8. Cumberland Valley (3)       — 3-0 – NR 

9. Manheim Township (3)      — 2-1 – NR 

10. Harrisburg (3)                   – 1-1 – 2 

Teams to watch: Central Bucks East (1) 3-0, Central York (3) 2-1, McDowell (10) 2-1, Nazareth (11) 3-0, Parkland 2-1.

CLASS 5A 

Rank – Team – District – Record — Previous  

1. Imhotep Charter (12)          – 1-1 – 1 

2. Upper Dublin (1)                – 3-0 – 2 

3. Gateway (7)                        — 3-0 – 3 

4. Exeter Township (3)           – 3-0 – 4 

5. Cathedral Prep (10)            – 2-1 – 5 

6. Roman Catholic (12)          — 3-0 – 6 

7. Penn Hills (7)                      – 2-1 – 7 

8. West Chester Rustin (1)     – 2-0 – 8 

9. Strath Haven (1)                 — 3-0 – 9 

10. Upper St. Clair (7)                        — 3-0 – 10 

Teams to watch: Chester (1) 3-0, Penn-Trafford (7) 2-1, Peters Township (7) 3-0, Shippensburg (3) 3-0, Solanco (3) 3-0.

CLASS 4A 

Rank – Team – District – Record — Previous  

1. Aliquippa (7)                      – 2-0 – 1 

2. Bishop McDevitt (3)           – 1-1 – 2 

3. Jersey Shore (4)                  – 3-0 – 3 

4. Central Valley (7)               – 3-0 – 4 

5. Allentown C.C. (11)           – 2-1 – 5 

6. Thomas Jefferson (7)          – 2-1 – 6 

7. Meadville (10)                    – 3-0 – 7 

8. McKeesport (7)                   – 3-0 – 8 

9. Manheim Central (3)          — 3-0 – 9 

10. Pope John Paul II (1)        — 3-0 – 10 

Teams to watch: Armstrong (7) 2-1, Bethlehem Catholic (11) 2-1, Dallas (2) 3-0), Lampeter-Strasburg (3) 2-1, West Allegheny (7) 3-0.

CLASS 3A 

Rank – Team – District – Record — Previous  

1. Wyomissing (3)                  – 3-0 – 2 

2. Belle Vernon (7)                 – 1-1 – 1 

3. Danville (4)                         – 3-0 – 3 

4. Elizabeth Forward (7)         – 3-0 – 4 

5. Loyalsock (4)                      — 3-0 – 6 

6. Oil City (10)                       — 3-0 – 7 

7. Avonworth (7)                    — 2-1 – 9 

8. Penn Cambria (6)                — 3-0 – NR 

9. Lancaster Catholic (3)        — 3-0 – 10 

10. North Schuylkill (11)        — 2-1 – NR 

Teams to watch: Freeport (7) 3-0, Hickory (10) 2-1, Neumann-Goretti (12) 0-1, Northwestern Lehigh (11) 2-1, Sharon (10) 2-1.

CLASS 2A 

Rank – Team – District – Record — Previous  

1. Farrell (10)                          – 2-1 – 2 

2. Mount Carmel (4)               – 3-0 – 3 

3. Southern Columbia (4)       – 2-1 – 1 

4. Richland Township (6)       – 3-0 – 4 

5. Lakeland (2)                       – 3-0 – 5 

6. Sharpsville (10)                  — 3-0 – 6 

7. Steel Valley (7)                   — 2-0 – 7 

8. Bishop Guilfoyle (6)           – 2-1 – 8 

9. Berlin Brothersvalley (5)    — 3-0 – 9 

10. Williams Valley (11)        — 3-0 – 10 

Teams to watch: Beaver Falls (7) 2-1, Bedford (5) 3-0, Camp Hill (3) 3-0, Neshannock (7) 3-0, Westinghouse (8) 3-0.

CLASS 1A 

Rank – Team – District – Record — Previous  

1. Canton (4)                           – 3-0 – 1 

2. Steelton-Highspire (3)        – 1-1 – 2 

3. Bishop Canevin (7)             – 2-1 – 3 

4. OLSH (7)                            – 3-0 – 4 

5. Northern Lehigh (11)          — 3-0 – 10 

6. Tri-Valley (11)                   — 3-0 – 8 

7. Reynolds (10)                     – 2-1 – 5 

8. Muncy (4)                           – 2-0 – 9 

9. Redbank Valley (9)            — 3-0 – NR 

10. Windber (5)                      — 3-0 – NR 

Teams to watch: Leechburg (7) 2-1, Northern Bedford (5) 3-0, Penns Manor (6) 3-0, Rochester (7) 1-1.

Passing:

Stone Saunders, Bishop McDevitt: 9-14, 238, 3 TDs

Shawn Lee Jr., Harrisburg: 21-of-34, 227

Bennett Secrest, Cedar Cliff: 13-of-16, 161, 5 TDs

Drew Branstetter, Camp Hill: 13-of-22, 150, 3 TDs, 1 INT

Isaac Sines, Cumberland Valley: 8-of-12, 138, 2 TDs

Marcus Quaker, West Perry: 9-16, 131, 1 TD, 2 INT

Alex Yost, Altoona: 16-125, 1 TD

Louis Shank, Carlisle: 4-of-11, 123, 1 TD, 2 INTs

Rushing:

D’antae Sheffey, State College: 17-207, 3 TDs

Cohen Bechtel, Halifax: 6-188, 3 TDs

Jaqueece Morell, Carlisle: 20-174, 1 TD

Juan Figueroa, Palmyra: 28-157, 1 TD

Colton Hoffman, Red Land: 27-139, 1 TD

Grant Hall, Big Spring: 7-137, 3 TDs

Cyncir Bowers, Bishop McDevitt: 6-118

Cole Bartram, Northern: 20-116, 2 TDs

Talon Balluscio, Northern: 13-100, 1 TD

Isaac Miller, Halifax: 8-100, 2 TDs

Bryce McRee, Susquenita: 22-99

Preston Dent, Cedar Cliff: 22-97, 1 TD

Receiving:

Tyshawn Russel, Bishop McDevitt: 2-102, 2 TDs

Cynci Bowers, Bishop McDevitt: 4-111, 1 TD

Nathan Lusk, Cedar Cliff: 5-91, 1 TD

Carson Swartz, Carlisle: 1-80, 1 TD

Griffin Huffman, Cumberland Valley: 4-66

Michael Gaul, State College: 2-65

Blaise Swancer, Susquenita: 3-64

David Chase, Central Dauphin: 6-64, 2 TDs

Alex Long, Camp Hill: 4-62

Nick Palumbo, Harrisburg: 4-57

Mohamed Koroma, Milton Hershey: 3-54, 1 TD

Statistics unavailable:

Hershey

Lower Dauphin

Greencastle-Antrim

Waynesboro

Chambersburg

Susquenita

CD East

Shippensburg

Mechanicsburg

Gettysburg

Boiling Springs

Steel-High

James Buchanan

Passing:

Brad Rissmiller, Pen Argyl: 15-of-24, 292, 2 TDs 2 INTs

Isaac Whiteash, Williams Valley: 8-of-15, 225, 4 TDs

Luke Kane, Tamaqua: 12-of-24, 197, 2 TDs

Kole Miller, Tri-Valley: 6 of-18, 195, 2 TDs, 1 INT

Lorenzo Yourey, Minersville: 7-of-9, 129, 1 TD

Rushing:

Danny Darno, Notre Dame-Green Pond: 18-222, 4 TDS

Steven Lilly, Palisades: 22-174, 4 TDs (1 TD receiving)

Colm McGroarty, Mahanoy Area: 171, 2 TDs

Luke Stevenosky, Minersville: 8-137, 3 TDs

Sal Capria, Jim Thorpe: 132, 1 TD

Payton Fasnacht, Blue Mountain: 16-116

Nick Frame, Northern Lehigh: 9-115

Jyzaiah Bonilla, Catasauqua: 18-110, 1 TD

Alex Achenbach, Williams Valley: 16-88, 3 TDs

Kole Miller, Tri-Valley: 10-76, 2 TDs

Receiving:

Damian Tyminski, Pen Argyl: 8-135

Connor Dillion, Tamaqua: 4-118, 2 TDs

Jolten Flory, Tri-Valley: 4-118, 2 TDs

Brady Evans, Williams Valley: 34-104, 3 TDs

Brock Polinsky, Minersville: 4-68

Greg Campbell, Bangor: 4-53, 1 TD

Alex Moser, Pen Argyl: 2-52, 1 TD

Vote now for your 4th Down Magazine Colonial-Schuylkill League Conference Player of the Week. Our poll will remain open until Tuesday evening at 11 p.m. Vote once per hour for your favorite competitor.

Isaac Whiteash, Williams Valley, sr, QB-DB: Whiteash enjoyed another terrific week throwing the football, completing eight of his 15 attempts for 225 yards and four touchdowns in the Vikes’ 54-19 thumping of Schuylkill Haven. Although one of Whiteash’s TD passes went to Alex Achenbach, the other three went to favorite target Brady Evans, covering 21, 73 and 10 yards as Tim Savage’s 10th-ranked squad (Class 2A) improved to 3-0.

Danny Darno, Notre Dame-Green Pond, jr, QB-WR: Danny Darno is dangerous with his arm, but he’s absolutely lethal with his legs. Just ask Tamaqua. Darnos gashed the Blue Raiders for 222 stripes on 18 carries. He found paydirt four times on the ground to secure the 41-26 victory. 

Steven Lilly, Palisades, sr, RB: Palmerton might be seeing visions of Steven Lilly in their sleep. The Pirates running back punished Palmerton for a game-high 174 yards on 22 totes. He reached the promise land four times on the ground and once more through the air to help Palisades out plunder Palmerton 47-40 Friday night. 

Brady Evans, Williams Valley, sr, WR-DB: When Williams Valley opted to throw the ball in Evans’ dangerous direction, the 6-4 senior delivered by hauling in three receptions for 104 yards – with all three catches resulting in touchdowns. Evans’ touchdown catches covered 21, 73 and 10 yards as the Vikings (3-0) dealt Schuylkill Haven a 54-19 defeat.

Kole Miller, Tri-Valley, sr, QB-DB: In it up to their necks with a determined Line Mountain side, Miller used his arm and his legs to bring the Bulldogs back and ultimately prevail 35-28 over their former Twin Valley Conference rivals. Miller completed just 6 of his 21 throws – he was picked off once – but amassed 194 yards through the air. His 2 touchdown passes covered 28 and 20 yards to Jolten Flory as Tri-Valley (3-0) pulled to within seven (21-14) at halftime. With the ‘Dawgs down 28-14 entering the fourth quarter, Miller (9 carries, 69 yards) wheeled for scores of 15 and 23 yards to pull Jeff Sampson’s club even midway through the fourth.

Colm McGroarty, Mahanoy Area, jr, RB: McGroarty stands just 5-9 but this young man has all the moves to elude defenders and pin ball off defenders. Panther Valley can attest. McGroarty raced to a game-high 171 yards and two touchdowns to fuel Mahanoy Area’s 35-13 victory Friday night.  

Brad Rissmiller, Pen Argyl, jr, QB: The Golden Knights QB1likely didn’t like what the scoreboard read at the end of the night, but Rissmiller slung it Friday night in a 44-14 loss to Northern Lehigh, racking up 292 passing yard and a pair of touchdowns in the loss. 

Jolten Flory, Tri-Valley, sr, WR-DE: Flory flashed his clutch gene repeatedly in Tri-Valley’s come-from-behind 35-28 victory over Line Mountain, catching four passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. HIs TD receptions of 28 and 20 yards arrived before the break, the latter pulling the Bulldogs within 21-14 with nine seconds to go. He added receptions covering 40 and 30 yards in the fourth quarter, both eventually leading to critical Bulldogs (3-0) scores.

Vote now for your 4th Down Magazine Mid-Penn Conference Player of the Week Sponsored by Crown Trophy of Harrisburg (in Lemoyne). Our poll will remain open until Tuesday evening at 11 p.m. Vote once per hour for your favorite competitor.

Grant Hall, so., RB, Big Spring: The Bulldogs got off the schnide in a big way, blowing out Newport 47-0 for their first win of the season. Hall was responsible for half of those points, scoring four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving). He finished with seven carries and 137 yards plus two catches for 55 yards.

Bennett Secrest, so., QB, Cedar Cliff: The youngster only grabbed the starting gig in Week 2, but he already has his first five-TD game. Secrest went 13 of 15 for 159 yards and five touchdowns in the Colts’ 44-0 blowout win of JP McCaskey. He hit Carter Enders and Daniel Schraeder twice for scores.

Jaqueece Morell, sr., RB/LB, Carlisle: The Thundering Herd lost a 54-47 shootout to York High on Friday, but Morell carved up the Bearcats for 173 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

Cyncir Bowers, sr., RB/DB, Bishop McDevitt: The rare 100-yard effort on the ground and through the air. Bowers dashed for 116 yards on seven carries and caught four passes for 108 yards. He scored three times in total — runs of 76 and 19 yards, catch of 62— in a 56-7 rout of La Salle College.

Stone Saunders, so., QB, Bishop McDevitt: The ground game did a lot of heavy lifting in the 56-7 win over La Salle College, but Saunders got in his shots. In his first win in two tries against the Explorers, he was 9 of 13 for 246 yards and three touchdowns of 55, 62 and 57 stripes.

Keith Oates, jr., QB/LB, East Pennsboro: Oates only had 14 passing yards (on 3-of-7 passing with a pick) in the Panthers’ third win of the season, 17-8 over Milton Hershey, but he chipped in in other ways. Oates ran 20 times for 60 yards and two scores and had a game-high 15 tackles (one TFL) with a sack and interception.

Isaac Sines, sr., QB, Cumberland Valley: The Eagles’ quarterback continues to impress during their 3-0 start. Against Spring-Ford in a 28-16 win, Sines threw for 138 yards and ran for another 59 and contributed to three of CV’s four touchdowns. Those came on two 27-yard passes and a game-opening 8-yard scoring plunge.

Jayden Johnson, sr., RB/DB, Gettysburg: The Warriors handed Boiling Springs its first loss of the season 35-20, and Johnson was right there leading the charge. He rumbled for 137 yards and a touchdown in the win.

Luke Parise, sr., MLB/WR, Camp Hill: Parise had a game-high 13 solo tackles and 21 total (plus two TFLs) and recorded a sack in the Lions’ 26-12 win over Upper Dauphin to remain undefeated. 

Cole Bartram, jr., RB/DB, Northern: Bartram scored two touchdowns in the Polar Bears’ 29-28 loss to Dover to fall to 1-2. Cole’s TDs came from 3 and 14 yards out, and he finished with 116 yards on 20 totes.

Ty Millhimes, jr., RB/KR, Lower Dauphin: Millhimes was weaponized yet again Friday, scoring on kickoff returns of 90 and 71 yards, plus a 31-yard reception. But his Falcons lost to Elizabethtown 41-28.

Alex Yost, sr., RB, Altoona: Brennen Freiwald gets a nod for scoring three times in the 38-0 shellacking of Mifflin County, but Yost was efficient with 16 carries for 125 yards (107 of them in the first half) while snaring an 11-yard pass. He would’ve had a much bigger night if he had played deeper into the second half.

Cohen Bechtel, fr., RB, Halifax: The rookie averaged an eye-popping 31.3 yards per touch in the WIldcats’ 53-0 blowout of Hancock (Maryland). Three of his six carries wound up in the end zone, and he finished with 188 stripes.

Jacob Frey, jr, RB/LB, James Buchanan: Frey rolled up 119 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries, but it wasn’t enough as the Rockets (2-1) dropped a 21-14 decision to Biglerville. Frey’s 41-yard touchdown run had JB sitting in a 14-14 tie with 9:25 to play. He also caught one pass for 10 yards.

Nolan Baumert, jr, RB/QB/DB, Line Mountain: Baumert rarely left the football field in Week 3, rushing for 85 yards and two touchdowns whether serving as the Eagles’ feature back or directing Line Mountain’s offensive approach from the quarterback position. He cashed in from 3 and 1 yards in the first half, his latter TD giving the Eagles a 21-7 lead with 36.8 seconds left yet it wouldn’t be enough as Tri-Valley rallied for a 35-28 victory. Baumert also swiped one pass, returning it 32 yards to set up his second touchdown.

D’antae Sheffey, fr., RB, State College: This State College freshman continues to impress through the first three games of the 2022 circuit. Friday night, he ripped off 207 yards on 17 carries. He reached the promise land three times to help fuel the Little Lions to a 45-3 victory against Hollidaysburg.

Bishop McDevitt put a bow on head coach Jeff Weachter’s 250th career victory by going on the road and thoroughly dominating a quality big-school opponent that sent a clear message.

Powered by its multi-weapon offense, the Crusaders unleashed the full arsenal on La Salle College in the first half with six touchdowns that sent this game to mercy rule by intermission.

This was a message sending performance for a team that dropped a tight opener to Imhotep, the No. 1 ranked Class 5A team in the state, two weeks ago. McDevitt’s game last week was lost to COVID-19 on the West Toronto Prep. Two weeks of pent up frustration squarely landed at the Explorers’ front porch.

Running back Cyncir Bowers eclipsed 100 yards rushing and receiving and chipped in three touchdowns. Crusaders QB threw for 246 yards on only nine completions. This big-strike offense has found its comfort zone again.

Manheim Township pulled off the biggest upset of the season Saturday after the Blue Streaks coughed up a two-score lead then rallied in dramatic fashion in the final 30 seconds to take down the Cougars.

For the second time in as many outs Harrisburg was sluggish coming out of the blocks, trailing 17-6 in the third quarter. A pair of stretch-run touchdown drives appeared it might pluck another victory from the jaws of defeat, but MT quarterback Hayden Johnson delivered in the clutch. With no timeouts inside the final 30 seconds, Johnson threw back-to-back completions covering 17 yards to finish off the winning drive.

Harrisburg had this game in its hands late. The Cougars had the ball with 3:46 to play. A couple first downs would have wrapped up another come-from-behind victory. Three-and-out and a punt handed control of this one over to the Blue Streaks.

Cumberland Valley continues to be the biggest surprise of 2022 heading into the capper for the first month of the season. Eagles are unbeaten with three wins over quality opponents (Manheim Township, Central York and Spring-Ford). By the middle of the third quarter CV had built a 28-8 lead against the Rams thanks to a defense that bends some in the passing game, but doesn’t break as often as the numbers say it should.

West Perry has surged to 3-0 and revealed its full potential this season by thumping tough-to-beat Juniata. The Mustangs’ main weapons – QB Marcus Quaker and RB Trent Herrera – delivered again. That wasn’t unexpected. The West Perry defense pitching a shutout and limiting Juniata to fewer than 100 total yards is a difference maker. The combo of plenty of firepower offensively backed up by a defense that can hold serve is a lethal combo. The win was No. 300 in the program’s rich history. 

Camp Hill also has three wins in as many games after nudging past Upper Dauphin. The Trojans’ bully Wing-T offense was shut down by the Lions defense and for the second week in a row Camp Hill won a game scoring four or fewer touchdowns.

Central Dauphin East cruised past Northeastern as expected to win for the second time in three games. District mate Central Dauphin fell to 0-3 after a solid effort overall against Coatesville came up short. Panthers have played two soft opponents while the Rams have played all high-quality opponents. Bottom line is results, though, and CD winless is a very different look.

We had concerns about Boiling Springs and the quality of its opponents the opening two weeks with all those points the Bubblers were scoring. With the playing field a little more level the result of Gettysburg posting a 35-20 victory makes perfect sense. Warriors have a solid 1-2 punch at RB and QB and the Bubblers are restocking the shelves.

I had to double check a couple editions of standings to make sure it was indeed true that East Pennsboro is 3-0. The Panthers have quietly taken care of business without a lot of flash and noise. That’s a refreshing change over a year ago when highs and lows for the Panthers was extreme on both ends. EP defense has allowed one touchdown over the last eight quarters against Palmyra and Milton Hershey.

York High came into Week 3 with a couple close losses while Carlisle was flying high with back-to-back wins. The Bearcats and Herd combined for more than 100 points and the final dagger was delivered by York. When your offense scores 47 and you lose, that’s a bad loss all the way. Was this a one-game thing or does the Herd have a weakness on defense?

A couple quick hits that stood out … Trinity put up a respectable effort in falling to Wyomissing by three touchdowns. Best 1-2 in the Mid-Penn is the T-Rocks … Northern is 1-2 after losing another close one but the Polar Bears have undefeated Shippensburg on deck and a season of so much promise has fizzled with losses to Chambersburg and Dover. … Greencastle-Antrim is 3-0 and just took Delone Catholic out behind the wood shed with a 35-0 drubbing. Don’t get caught napping on the Blue Devils.

TOP PERFORMERS

Cyncir Bowers, RB, Bishop McDevitt: Bowers proved on Friday night he’s no second banana in a Bishop McDevitt backfield, topping 100 yards in both rushing and receiving and tallying three total touchdowns in a 56-7 win over La Salle on Friday.

Tavon Cooper, RB, Greencastle-Antrim: Cooper continues to prove he’s one of the best running backs in the Mid-Penn, taking 11 carries for 132 yards and scoring a touchdown in a 35-0 win over Delone Catholic.

Colton Hoffman, RB, Red Land: Hoffman started the game slow for the Patriots, but ended up with a strong 27 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown in a 16-14 win over Mechanicsburg.

Jayden Johnson, RB, Gettysburg: The Warriors running back had a field day in a 35-20 win over Boiling Springs, taking 19 carries for 163 yards and a score.

Luke Parise, LB, Camp Hill: The star baseball player has proven to be a menace on the gridiron this year, and had perhaps his best showing of the year on Friday in a 26-12 win over Upper Dauphin, recording 21 tackles, two tackles-for-loss and a sack.

Stone Saunders, QB, Bishop McDevitt: Saunders only needed nine complete passes to reach 246 passing yards in Friday’s 56-7 win over La Salle, as the efficient game and a strong connection with Tyshawn Russell led to three touchdown passes.

Bennett Seacrest, QB, Cedar Cliff: The new Colts quarterback was nearly perfect on Friday in a 44-0 win over J.P. McCaskey, going 13 of 15 for 159 yards and five touchdown passes.