Five-star performance

Tight end Zack Kuntz continued his stretch of strong play Saturday.

In Old Dominion’s second straight win, 47-24 over Florida International University, Kuntz put together his fourth game in the last five with at least eight catches.

Kuntz’s line — nine catches, 102 yards and a touchdown — is the best of his career. He had nine for 119 but no TDs two games ago.

The former Camp Hill tight end, who originally went to Penn State for three years, has a five-game stretch with the Monarchs (3-6) that includes 37 catches, 365 yards and two touchdowns. On the season, he has 53 receptions for 550 yards and four scores. 

In on the action

Andre White Jr. (Harrisburg) had a career-high nine tackles in No. 13 Texas A&M’s 20-3 win over No. 12 Auburn. The Aggies (7-2) have won four straight, beginning with the upset of the season over then-No. 1 Alabama. White had eight tackles in that game a month ago and has 23 tackles in the last four games. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound junior linebacker now has 44 tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and a QB hit through nine games this season. Auburn was held to just 73 rushing yards and 153 passing.

Another former Cougar, Donte Kent, had eight tackles in Central Michigan’s 42-30 win over Western Michigan on Wednesday. Kent, who has 39 tackles this season and had eight two weeks ago against Northern Illinois, also had a pass breakup.

Keaton Ellis (State College) had two tackles in Penn State’s 31-14 win over Maryland, and Charlie Katshir (Cumberland Valley) had one takedown.

Pete Haffner (State College) had six tackles and one tackle for loss as Lehigh ended its eight-game losing streak to start the season with a 38-6 win over Bucknell.

Forrest Rhyne (Waynesboro) had two tackles and a fumble recovery in Villanova’s 35-0 shutout of Elon. The Wildcats improved to 7-2.

Damion Barber (Harrisburg/Penn State) had two quarterback hits in Austin Peay’s 42-26 win over Eastern Illinois.

Cody Gustafson (Shippensburg High) had eight grabs for 96 yards in Grove City College’s 35-21 loss to Case Western Reserve, the first time in six games and just the second time all season he didn’t break 100 yards. His brother, Nick, played in his first game this season, snagging three balls for 36 yards. Nick Gustafson had 13 receptions for 236 yards and a TD during the alternate spring season in four games.

PSAC performances

Laron Woody recorded his fourth sack of the season and finished with five tackles, giving him 43 overall this season, in Shippensburg University’s 52-14 win over Lock Haven. SU (8-2) has won three straight. Cameron Tinner (Shippensburg High) tied a season high with three tackles and a tackle for loss. Lower Dauphin grad Evan Morrill had four receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. Bill Williams (Camp Hill) rushed eight times for 31 yards.

Jaheim Morris (Cedar Cliff) had 20 yards on six carries in Millersville’s fifth straight loss, 35-38 to Bloomsburg. Teammate Timmy Smith (Central Dauphin) lost 3 yards in six carries and had 9 yards on four catches. He also had two kick returns that totaled 43 yards. Tim Kissinger (Cumberland Valley) made all three extra point attempts but missed a 24-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Kurtis Ravenel Jr. (Carlisle) had three receptions for 27 yards in Kutztown’s 21-14 win over West Chester. WCU defensive tackle A.J. Perez (Central Dauphin) had a tackle. 

Here are three District 3 playoff matchups that feature games where the lower seed could possibly post a victory over a higher seed.

CLASS 6A

No. 6 Hempfield (7-4) at No. 2 Harrisburg (10-1): This Black Knights squad played a regular season laced with quality opponents and had to grind just to make the field. That grind really showed up in the opener when they crushed No. 3-seed CD East behind a lockdown defense. It wasn’t even a fair fight, really. The Panthers never punched back. Harrisburg will, however, and the Cougars have plenty of quality wins on their resume as well.

The stage has never been too big for this Harrisburg team. It will take something really special from the Black Knights to pull off an upset at this level. But they have the tools. This has all the ingredients for a 48-minute grind where neither team ever gets far enough ahead to feel comfortable.

CLASS 5A

No. 6 Cedar Cliff (9-2) at No. 3 Shippensburg (11-0): For all the accomplishments in terms of facing a variety of offenses and pretty much coming up with a way to keep them under wraps, Cedar Cliff brings something to the table I’m not sure the Greyhounds have seen yet. The Colts have a couple wideouts that are athletic and are football fast in open space.

With the depth in the Keystone Division being so weak and the Colonial Division squads providing more of a week-to-week test overall, these teams are on pretty even ground in terms of being prepared. I like that both squads can take what a defense gives them and roll with it. Ship is the favorite, but only a slight favorite. I see this one as a toss-up all the way. Greyhounds have answered the bell at every turn, and that matters.

CLASS 4ANo. 10 Big Spring (8-3) vs. No. 2 Lampeter-Strasburg (9-1): My biggest question here is about the Bulldogs’ focus and hunger to continue making history. Getting that first playoff victory over Conrad Weiser on Friday was such a monumental and historical accomplishment for this program. It was well earned and deserved. Keeping the focus and drive at that level would serve Big Spring well this week. Because in my opinion I think the Scouts team they just knocked off is better than the Pioneers squad they are about to face. I don’t see much quality of week-to-week tests in the L-S schedule.

The Pioneers run the ball, and the Bulldogs are pretty good against the run defensively. Lampeter-Strasburg killed the last four teams they played, so it hasn’t been in a tight squeeze for more than a month. A good version of Big Spring shows up focused and plays its normal game. The Bulldogs have a real opportunity to move on if they do that. If a rested and rolling L-S outfit finds that sweet spot it likes and Big Spring is looking at what it accomplished instead of the task at hand, the Pioneers will run away and hide. Very intriguing matchup.

Middletown’s Tajae Brodie ran like a man on a mission Friday night against West Perry, helping Middletown to a 35-21 victory in the first round of the District 3-3A playoffs.

Brodie, behind strong play from the Blue Raider offensive line, toted the rock 20 times for a career-best 174 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Audric Bryant added 145 stripes on 11 carries to help pace Middletown on a chilly evening in Elliotsburg.

View our video highlights from the game plus an interview with Middletown coach Scott Acri.

Big Spring now owns a .500 record in the District 3 playoffs.

Why does that matter? The Bulldogs are now 1-1 overall.

Big Spring won the first playoff game in program history Friday night by outscoring Conrad Weiser in a wild two-touchdown win in Berks County where the teams combined for 84 points.

When you only made the playoffs once in the nearly 40 years District 3 has hosted a second season, securing a berth instantly made the 2021 Bulldogs one of the best in program history. Getting the first win puts this Big Spring team in another stratosphere.

There was too much firepower in these two offenses, and not enough defense to push back, it was always going to take points to win this game. The combination of Bulldogs running back Dillon Wakefield powering his way through tacklers and QB Ethan Eisenberg throwing touchdown bombs overwhelmed the Scouts.

Wakefield ran for 214 yards and three touchdowns, Eisenberg threw for 220 yards, rushed for 62 and accounted for four touchdowns. Big Spring tight end Connor Black had three catches for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

It took all the Bulldogs firepower on offense to overcome Weiser QB Logan Klitsch throwing for 402 yards and four scores. Not too many teams see the opposing quarterback throw for 400 yards and celebrate.

No matter what happens going forward, and the Bulldogs could absolutely win another postseason game, this 2021 Big Spring squad made history and they did it with the formula that worked all season.

From the historic to the shocking as CD East was put on lock down by the Hempfield defense and the No. 3 seeded Panthers in Class 6A were blown out by the Black Knights at The Speedway.

CD East was limited to fewer than 200 total yards, was twice stopped on fourth down inside the Hempfield 20-yard-line and turned it over three times. Those numbers add up to a 33-point loss. The big surprise was Hempfield scoring five touchdowns and rolling up a balanced 346 total yards of offense on the Panthers defense. Clearly, Hempfield is better than its 7-4 record.

The Lower Dauphin vs. Cedar Cliff Round 2 was a much better game this time around in a Class 5A opener at West Shore Stadium. The result was still the same as the Colts slipped past the Falcons by a couple touchdowns.

The Falcons, who exit 2021 as the most improved team this season, did almost everything right to pull off the upset. The lone big mistake was a pick-six by the Colts’ Evan Zeigler to open the scoring. Otherwise this was a toss-up game all the way.

It took a big-time game from Cedar Cliff quarterback Ethan Dorrell to keep the Colts season rolling. He completed 13 of 17 passes for 163 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Star RB Jontate Morris was limited to 89 yards on 23 carries and didn’t bust loose – a credit to Lower Dauphin’s defense. Still, that’s solid work in a tight game by Morris.

Jacob Kauffman, the Falcons’ stud running back, rolled up 232 total yards – 158 rushing and 74 receiving – and scored a couple touchdowns. That’s all you can ask for.

Lower Dauphin played well and pushed the Colts. Cedar Cliff simply has more weapons to deploy and they used them all efficiently and well.

Middletown ventured to Elliottsburg to face West Perry with a spot in the Class 3A semifinals on the line and turned to its star defender who turns out is an emerging threat running the rock. Tajae Broadie had a career-best 174 yards on 20 totes and three touchdowns to power the Blue Raiders to a two-score victory.

Boradie wasn’t the only Blue Raider who ran wild in Perry County. Audric Bryant added 145 on 11 carries. The duo combined for 319 yards on 31 carries, an average of 10.3 yards per carry. Hello chunk plays on the ground and an offensive line doing some moving around of dudes.

West Perry fired its own big guns to counter as Trent Herrera had 116 yards on the ground and Ian Goodling had 145 receiving yards on only four grabs. But three turnovers and too much Broadie was simply too much for the Mustangs to overcome.

Boiling Springs, the No. 2 seed in Class 3A, had no problem dispatching Lancaster Cathlolic exploding for 35 second-half points. Joey Menke eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season with a 74-yard scamper just before halftime to put the Bubblers, who finished with 344 rushing yards, up 21-3 at intermission. Menke finished with 150 yards on only 11 carries and two scores.

This is the postseason, but somehow undefeated Shippensburg made its Class 5A opener with New Oxford look a lot like every other Greyhounds win this season. This one was over by halftime as the Hounds exploded for 22 second-quarter points to grab a 29-3 cushion at intermission.

Nobody had a blowout night for the Greyhounds, instead all their weapons did a little bit of everything to overwhelm New Oxford. And the defense made the Colonials one dimensional by limiting the visitors to the Cumberland-Franklin County line to only 75 yards on the ground.

In what always had all the ingredients for a powder-keg game – the Class 2A semifinal between Upper Dauphin and Columbia played along the banks of the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County – played out exactly that way.

The Trojans and Crimson Tide combined for more than 1,000 yards and 100 points. Upper Dauphin led 44-12 at intermission and had to hold on for dear life as Columbia stormed back before falling 58-48. Ultimately it was UDA’s nearly 300 yards on the ground that was the difference maker.

There was a play in the final second of the first half that came in handy as the Trojans tried to hold on down the stretch. With 1 second remaining before halftime, Columbia QB Robert Footman was stripped and fumbled deep in UDA territory. The Trojans’ Austin Hartman, one of the larger lads on the field, scooped it up and started rumbling the other way with nothing but green grass ahead. 

He was going to get caught, because the two-way linemen doesn’t list speed as one of his football assets. So the fastest guy on the UDA roster, Brady Morgan, caught his teammate and told him to hand the ball to him. Pretty sure Hartman was more than glad to pass the rock to his teammate and Morgan easily scored to put UDA up 32 at intermission.

Upper Dauphin prevailed despite a Lancaster-Lebanon record 536 passing yards from Footman and a PIAA single-game record 357 receiving yards from J’von Collazo. His record came on only 11 catches and included FIVE touchdowns. Collazo averaged 32.5 yards per catch. And the Crimson Tide lost. Wow!

Northern held serve as the higher seed in Class 4A, powered by running back Talon Balluscio’s 137 yards and a touchdown to edge Octorara 28-22 at Bostic Field. The Polar Bears will square off against No. 1 Bishop McDevitt, who was on a bye, in the second round.

Each week we’ll take a look through our coverage area to highlight five gents we are looking forward to watching perform on the field.

Jontae Morris, RB, Cedar Cliff: Coming off a knee injury that cost him the 2020 season, the 5-foot-9, 160-pound senior has exploded into a horse that carries this Colts offense. It wasn’t an easy transition, though, for Morris. He worked his way back into being comfortable and confident on that knee. Once he hit his stride it was nothing short of impressive. He’s rushed for more than 1,700 yards, has 22 touchdowns, averages 7.8 yards per carry and the last month has been averaging close to 30 totes a game.

Robert Footman, QB, Columbia: The Crimson Tide are a machine on offense, and Footman drives the engine. The 6-foot, 185-pound senior has amassed nearly 3,000 yards of total offense during the regular season. He’s thrown for more than 2,500 yards, has completed 60% of his passes and has 29 touchdown passes. He averages nearly 300 yards a game through the air and can also tuck it, run and do some damage.

Aanjay Feliciano, WR, Conrad Weiser: The Scouts’ 6-2, 190-pound go-to guy on the outside is a weapon every quarterback wants. He’s a fantastic route runner, has some wiggle and shake in the open field, and will bring down anything in his zip code. He’s averaging nearly six catches a game, has surpassed 1,000 yards and most importantly averages 18.5 yards per catch with 12 touchdowns. The Scouts have depth at wideout, so they are tough to handle. But Feliciano breaks the game every time he gets his hands on the ball.

Mehki Flowers, WR/S/KR, CD East: Impact comes in many shapes and forms. And the contributions from the Panthers’ athlete verbally committed to Penn State come in a variety of ways. When you think of Flowers, you think of him catching a short to medium pass and taking it to the house. He can do that, be he also makes some tough grabs in tight spots. Do not for one second overlook what Flowers brings to the table as a safety. He’s a lot better than you might think. His run support from the back end is fun to watch. If you are punting to the Panthers, just kick away from him. Don’t give him a chance. The smallest opening, and he is gone.

Judd Novak, QB, Maheim Central: If it seems like the Barons keep pumping out high-caliber quarterbacks every few years, well, it’s because they do. Novak is a 6-foot, 165-pound athletic dual-threat senior who led the Barons to a nine-win regular season by accounting for nearly 2,300 yards and 29 touchdowns. He’s accurate (61% completion percentage), is critical to the run game (second on the team in rushing and averages 6.2 yards per carry) and has thrown for more than 1,600 yards with 20 touchdowns.