One week of the high school football season is in the books. We’re taking a look around our coverage area to see who helped themselves this week and who did not in Week No. 1 in this edition of Stock up, Stock Down.
STOCK UP
• Anybody pull off a bigger upset in Week 1 than the Trinity Shamrocks? Harrisburg taking out defending state champion Pine-Richland is up there as well. I’m riding with the T-Rocks, though. I’m now keen on seeing this team sooner than later. Beating Delone Catholic with all that change that’s gone on in Shiremanstown is an old-fashioned upset. Posting a three-score victory is a jaw dropping result in my book.
• Over my career I have learned the hard lesson of evaluating CD East’s program a week at a time during the season. That’s not a knock, it’s just the smart and safe way to approach the Panthers. Despite the loss on the road in Lancaster County to Manheim Township, you have to like the direction after four quarters. The Blue Streaks are beatable, sure, but they ask a lot of the opposition in order to beat them. CD East had a lot of the right answers. The ending was brutal. Otherwise, bring on Week 2 and let’s see!
• Already regarded as one of the top running backs in the Mid-Penn Conference, East Pennsboro’s Sy Burgos went to another level in the opener by making the school single-game rushing record his own with 366 yards against York Suburban. He surpassed Onassis Neely’s 2017 mark of 320 yards by nearly half a football field. He left no doubt. And his team needed him in a game that was air-tight at halftime.
STOCK DOWN
• Penalties and lots of them are just part of the game in the early weeks of football at this level. However, some of the numbers I saw and witnessed told me the limitations everyone dealt with in 2020 related to the pandemic are going to have more impact on the sharpness meter this season. Still, I saw numbers like 15 and a couple 12s. The game I watched in person, Carlisle at Mechanicsburg, saw each squad rack up 11 flags. The small details matter, right?
• Change is never easy, just ask Cumberland Valley skipper Josh Oswalt. His system works — think Carlisle and Central York, his previous two stops. And it will work eventually in New Kingstown. But only one touchdown against Manheim Central is a downer for this offense. Maybe the Barons defense is better? Still, one score again for the Eagles is not what they needed to see.
• We continue to navigate the pandemic and how it impacts Friday night football. Last year it was fans in the stands. So, seeing fans in the stands Week 1 was nice. But an athletic director recently told me plenty of schools will not be taking their marching bands to road games. Safety first. I get it and agree 100%. One band is better than none, but it’s still a major bummer on my what-makes-Friday-night-so-special meter.
