Another season of high school football season is upon us and it’s time to take a preseason look at the Mid-Penn Conference. It’s the second year of Mid-Penn realignment which placed Cedar Cliff and Bishop McDevitt into the conference’s largest division. Last season, Harrisburg lost in the PIAA semifinals to Pittsburgh Central Catholic and McDevitt won the 5A state championship against Roman Catholic, and the pair of Central PA heavyweights find themselves on top of the division preseason rankings once again in 2025.
Preseason Commonwealth MVP: Tyler Merrill, Cumberland Valley
One day in the weight room working out, one of Merrill’s coaches at Cumberland Valley just made up a name out of thin air: “Big Oak.” It stuck for the 6’6”, 325 pound giant on the line. It’s even his X username, and it’s all you hear when talking about the incoming senior committed to play at Notre Dame. There’s been a lot of hype around the Cumberland Valley standout, and now that he’s reached senior year, he’s the preseason most valuable player in the Commonwealth Division.
Team-by-team Record Predictions
1. Harrisburg Cougars (10-0)
2024 Record: 11-3 | Head Coach: Calvin Everett
The Cougars are reloaded once again in 2025, and unlike last year at this time, they have a good idea of who will play quarterback this season. After Shawn Lee Jr. was ruled ineligible by the PIAA before the season, Harrisburg had to scramble to find a quarterback, and found a hidden gem in Jaiyon Lewis, who ended up throwing 14 completions for 236 yards and a touchdown at Rocco Ortenzio Stadium in a rivalry renewed between McDevitt and Harrisburg – a 35-33 win for the Cougars in an instant classic. Harrisburg will return two offensive weapons, both heading to Big Ten schools, in Elias Coke and Messiah Mickens. Coke, heading to Rutgers as a wide receiver, caught 50 passes last year for 968 yards and 10 touchdowns. Mickens, heading to Penn State next season, is a force in both the run game and on defense, which led him to earn the 2024 Gatorade Player of the Year award for the top player in the state. He ran for 1,214 yards off 155 carries and 21 touchdowns. He also tallied 81 total tackles, with a staggering number of 39 tackles for loss. Fellow Penn State commit Kevin Brown – the 6’5” 290 pound lineman – will return for his senior season at Severance Field. Brown tallied 11.5 sacks his sophomore season, but missed the bulk of junior year after getting hurt in week one against La Salle, and didn’t return until the District 3 6A semifinal. Speaking of La Salle, they’re the team that had the Cougars’ number in week one last season, coming out of nowhere to make quite a run last season. This year, it’s another Philadelphia powerhouse in Imhotep Charter that the Cougars will see in week one at the York Rose Bowl, a star-studded matchup that will be a packed house at York High’s Smalls Athletic Field. Harrisburg will certainly have the talent to make a run through the semifinals and into the PIAA final this season, but it won’t be easy in the slightest to get there through a packed regular season and tough playoff bracket.
2. Bishop McDevitt Crusaders (9-1)
2024 Record: 14-2 | Head Coach: Jeff Weachter
It’s a McDevitt squad that can easily be written off because of their change at the quarterback position. If you want to be wildly off on how this Crusader team will perform in the year 2025. Yes, Stone Saunders’ legacy at McDevitt is complete and he’ll be with Kentucky this season, but now it’s Sebestian Williams turn at throwing the rock at Rocco Ortenzio Stadium, and all signs point to readiness and a smooth transition of power for the returning 5A state champs. The junior passer has 321 yards and three touchdowns under his belt off 26 passing attempts and 23 completions. The weapons at skill positions are certainly plentiful, as always. Nazir Jones-Davis was the Crusaders’ leading rusher last year, tallying 1,657 yards and 18 TD’s off 216 carries. 2,828 is the number to beat this season for Jones-Davis, the single-season rushing record set 2004 by LeSean McCoy. Maurice Barnes shares the backfield at McDevitt, the senior who doubles as a receiving threat as well as the ground game. His 1,968 all-purpose career yardage mark has given him offers from Notre Dame, Penn State and Michigan among others. McDevitt opened the season with a statement, 45-15, win over Mount St. Joseph, a team that nearly beat them the year previous. Then, Ortenzio Stadium hosted the “Battle for the ‘Burg,” a rivalry renewed between McDevitt and Harrisburg now that the Crusaders are back in the Commonwealth division. It was a classic city barnburner, and a 35-33 overtime loss at home for Jeff Weachter’s team. “That loss was unacceptable,” said Jude Slover, McDevitt’s starting center. The team went on to lose one more game in the regular season to State College in Week 10, but ramped up in the postseason to win a PIAA District 3 title and the program’s third state championship against Roman Catholic. It was a thrilling 34-31 overtime win against the Philadelphia Catholic League squad off the foot of Aidan Grella, who kicks for the team on Friday nights and stars for the boys soccer team through the week. This season, McDevitt will play Clarkson North, a Canadian school, in week one at the York Rose Bowl. The non-conference meeting has the potential for a close game, but the Crusaders only predicted loss is to come at Harrisburg in week two, but it’s not hard to see McDevitt run the table in the postseason again and compete for back-to-back state championships.
3. Cumberland Valley Eagles (7-3)
2024 Record: 6-6 | Head Coach: Josh Oswalt
Over the years, there’s been a lot of postseason rivalries between all sorts of different teams across the state. McDevitt and Aliquippa were battling for PIAA 4A titles for a while, Camp Hill seemed to meet York Catholic quite often, but none compare the recent meetings between Cumberland Valley and Manheim Township. The Blue Streaks and Eagles have met eight times in the last four seasons, and the Lancaster-Lebanon frontrunners seem to have CV’s number. “We beat them the one year at home when Isaac (Sines) was our quarterback, and we’ve kind of been looking back since that. We want to kind of change the vibe of that game, and make it more a rivalry,” said Cumberland Valley’s offensive tackle Tyler Merrill, committed to play at Notre Dame. Grant Shepley was CV’s quarterback last season, who waited in line for a shot in senior season and was able to complete 71 passes for 972 yards and 11 touchdowns. This year, it’ll be another senior under center in Kameron Wolfe. Wolfe was 20/33 last season when he got a shot at QB, tallying 290 yards and a touchdown. Brody Pines, the Eagles’ leading rusher last season, is also back after a 2024 season that included 133 carries for 456 yards and six touchdowns. CV will be without Nolan Buzalka, the do-it-all athlete that is heading to play this season at East Stroudsburg. Buzalka was the Eagles’ top receiver last season, and his season earned him a roster spot on the Pennsylvania roster in the Big 33 Football Classic, played on Chapman Field in Mechanicsburg. Luckily, it seems there will be a seamless transition from Buzalka to Elijah Sherman, who caught 33 passes for 453 yards and 6 touchdowns. Pines, who made his mark in the ground game, put up five receiving touchdowns in the air as well off his 31 receptions. The Eagles should be in position to win a seven Commonwealth games, but time will be the judge on whether they can get past three strong teams in Harrisburg, McDevitt and Manheim Township.
4. State College Little Lions (7-3)
2024 Record: 11-2 | Head Coach: Matt Lintal
It’s only fitting that State College’s senior athletics banquet was the same night as their PIAA first round for boys lacrosse, girls lacrosse and boys volleyball. Some seniors were late, some couldn’t make it all. That’s the way the class at SC will be remembered because of the immense amount of talent they had packed into it. That includes Ty Salazer, the wide receiver who won the Large School Mr. PA Football award and is heading to the University of Delaware. The stacked senior class also includes Eddie Corkery, the Little Lions’ starting quarterback who passed for 3,109 yards last season and is now playing his college ball at Millersville. And the third big piece to last year’s roster was Michael Gaul, a three-star linebacker now at Villanova, the newest addition to the Patriot League. Two sophomore QB’s took snaps last year in addition to Corkery in Kellen Williams and Keen Furmanek. Keen, the younger brother of State College former quarterback turned Penn State tight end, will likely get more involved as a rusher than passer, making room for Kellen Williams to take over as the primary quarterback for the Little Lions. Per usual, SC opens their season with Gateway, which is usually a win to ease into a new season for the Little Lions. Then, they’ll travel to their fellow Mid-Penn outsider in Altoona before hosting Harrisburg and Cumberland Valley. State College always seems to find plenty of athletes and reload year in, year out. Their game against CV could go either way, but it’s hard to see a way past McDevitt or Harrisburg this season.
5. Cedar Cliff Colts (6-4)
2024 Record: 4-6 | Head Coach: Colin Gillen
The Colts’ first season in the Commonwealth division was certainly a challenge. The blatant challenges of Harrisburg and McDevitt were expected, but add in a good CD East team, a Chambersburg squad that was better than expected, State College and Cumberland Valley being in the way and that’s six losses right there. Bennett Secrest was the starting quarterback and passed for 1,229 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Colts, but his legacy – and many of his peers – will revolve around the PIAA 6A baseball championship that was won in June by Cedar Cliff in a 13-inning, walk-off balk against North Penn. Jalen Hinton will develop through the year as the starting QB after two completions off 12 attempts last season as a sophomore. Luckily, the Colts will return this season like lineman Josh Gillen, wide receiver Owen Anastasi, linebacker Will Kocher and running back Alex Otero. PJ Dent, now suiting up for Harrisburg and Otero for 1,028 rushing yards last season. The Colts will open the year at West Shore Stadium against Red Land, as they now do without having the rival Patriots in their division. This year should prove easier to pull off wins against the “middle of the road” teams like CD East, Chambersburg and others for a few more wins on the Colts’ schedule. Last year, a 5-5 record was enough for fellow Commonwealth division squad Cumberland Valley, so 6-4 might be enough this year for the Colts to squeak into District play.
6. Chambersburg Trojans (4-6)
2024 Record: 4-6 | Head Coach: Mark Luther
Chambersburg turned heads last year in week one with a 24-17 win at Gettysburg. Then those heads turned the other direction when the same Trojans team lost 50-2 to CD East in week two. Still, a team with nothing to lose put together four total wins, beating Cedar Cliff, Carlisle, and another upset against Cumberland Valley. The good news: Ceagen Truett is back at the helm, after going 78/133 for 885 yards and four touchdowns last year as a junior. That statline is the fifth best in the Mid-Penn conference for returning passers. Unfortunately, though, a lot of Truett’s options won’t return like Antonio Harrison, Imari Watson, Trever Luther and Jason Chambers. Games against CD East, Carlisle, Altoona and Central Dauphin are open doors through the year and if the Trojans can play the right game, they’ll be able to make out some wins.
7. Central Dauphin Rams (3-7)
2024 Record: 3-7 | Head Coach: Glen McNamee
Central Dauphin and Central York have been battling in week one for a few years, and it’s a great chance for CY to ease into the season, coasting to wins over the Rams. That’s certainly not where CD wants to be as a program, but it’s been difficult for the program to find it’s footing in recent years. Last year, the team forced overtime at West Shore Stadium against Cedar Cliff and followed up by beating Carlisle and Altoona in weeks three and four. They went on to beat Chambersburg, 28-21, to finish the season 3-7. With Central York only improving into this season and the same divisional schedule, it’s hard to see the Rams picking up any more wins this season. Additionally, quarterback Gavin Kirkpatrick graduated after a senior season last year that saw 71 completions for 963 yards and five touchdowns. Mark Lebo is likely set as the replacement after throwing just three passes last year, all completions for a total of 56 yards and a touchdown along with it. Lebo also had five rushing touchdowns.
8. CD East Panthers (3-7)
2024 Record: 7-4 | Head Coach: Tyshaun Pollard
There was a lot of buzz around CD East last season and for good reason. The Panthers outscored opponents 90-8 in their first two games, they started 7-0, and everything seemed to be going so right. Some teams get hit with the injury bug late in the year, but CD East got hit with the scheduling bug. They had to play McDevitt, Harrisburg and State College to finish the season, and then were expecting to somehow bring back what they had going for the playoffs. Central York took advantage of their fatigue for a 47-14 win in the first round of District 3 playoffs, thus ending CD East’s season at 7-4. Demaj Jalloh, now at Clarion, was the do-it-all QB for the Panthers, and will sit in school legacy with the most passing yards in a career, a season and a game. Tanie Young, who transferred from Trinity to CD East after sophomore year, will also be a legend for quite some time at East High after receiving for more than 1,000 yards last year. He’ll play his college ball at LIU. CD East seemed to never run out of playmakers last season, but a heavy senior class will hit them hard now. To add to the turnover, Lance Deane, the Panthers’ former coach, left in the offseason to become Director of Athletics at Susquehanna Township. The school stayed internal with hiring former assistant coach Tyshaun Pollard to lead the program, which makes it quite possible for the program to be right back in a good spot soon, but this might be a rebuilding year.
9. Carlisle Thundering Herd (1-9)
2024 Record: 1-9 | Head Coach: Brandon Cook
It didn’t take long for Carlisle to be tested last season. They played their yearly rivalry game against Mechanicsburg in week one, and the Wildcats could not stop scoring. It ended 34-6, and then more tests continued to pile on Brandon Cook’s squad. Another rival, Cumberland Valley, were the challenge the next week, a 35-0 loss. The Thundering Herd struck within nine points of CD East, but did not grab a win until their week ten game at Altoona. It’s a tough division, and Carlisle has not seen a winning season since 2022, when they went 6-5. Brett Ickes, who spent 26 years involved in the program, stepped down after that season. The team will host Mechanicsburg in the “Backyard Brawl” this year, then get into divisional play with Cumberland Valley at home.
10. Altoona Mountain Lions (0-10)
2024 Record: 1-9 | Head Coach: Vince Nedimyer Jr.
Mark Harrington’s run as the quarterback of the Mountain Lions ended after last season, and now it’ll likely be time for Conner Pike – a junior – to step into the role. Running back Julian Hazlewood steps up after a 283-yard rushing season for the squad last season. Hazlewood also caught four passes for 32 yards last year. The team will lead off the year at Hollidaysburg, whom they lost to 27-14 in 2024. The Mountain Lions squeaked out a 21-14 win over Chambersburg last season in week eight, so it’s certainly possible for them to pull off another upset this year, it’s just hard to see where.
