Welcome to Week 5 of another episode of “As the World Turns” inside the Mid-Penn Conference’s wild wild west — the crazy Colonial Division.
This week’s offering includes one team asserting itself as the clear front runner, two upsets, a tighter grouping of standings and the promise of plenty more to come in the second half of the season.
Shippensburg has emerged as the clear front-runner in the Colonial on the heels of a convincing three-score win over Waynesboro. Running back Amari Kerr scored three times, and Blake Orndorff had a pair of interceptions for the Greyhounds. It’s clear Ship is the class of the division and everyone else is playing for second place.
Huge upset victory for West Perry against Mechanicsburg by outscoring the Wildcats. That says a lot about how far the Mustangs offense has come this season. Scoring 30 and winning by double digits is a sound triumph. Three touchdowns from RB Trent Herrera played a big role.
Northern took East Pennsboro out behind the Bostic Field woodshed and unleashed a physical pounding on the Panthers to the tune of a four-score victory where the defense pitched a shutout. East Pennsboro finished with only 134 total yards and an abysmal 82 on the ground.
After five weeks, seven of the eight Colonial teams boast a winning record, and the division race features two unbeatens in Shippensburg (2-0) and Northern (1-0) followed by four squads at 1-1.
Solid win to cap a tough week for the Cumberland Valley football program with the passing of legendary head coach Tim Rimpfel. Read how the Eagles outraced Altoona and how CV and the Mountain Lions fared in Making The Grade.
If you didn’t know it before today, CD East is a serious contender for the Commonwealth Division crown. The Panthers jumped out to an early 21-0 lead and never let off the gas to drill State College by three scores. CD East’s defense put a blanket over the Little Lions to dictate how this one was going to play out. Panthers RB Marcel McDaniels had a stellar 202 yards on 25 totes with a pair of touchdowns. He is becoming a beast in this offense.
No rust offensively for Central Dauphin after a two-week COVID-19 hiatus. The Rams piled up nearly 500 yards of total offense to subdue Chambersburg by throwing up a 50-burger on the board. Wideout Juice Selby had a monster outing with 188 yards on eight grabs with a pair of touchdowns.
Red Land had been in several games with chances to post a win but hadn’t been able to close … until Friday night when the Patriots blanked Hershey 21-0. Congrats to the Patriots. WR Sam Sklar had four catches for 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Bishop McDevitt continues to boat race Keystone squads, this time putting up 63 on Mifflin County and pitching a shutout. QB Stone Saunders threw only nine passes, completing all of them with four touchdowns. RB Cyncir Bowers returned a kickoff for a score and had 117 rushing yards and a score on only three carries. That’s 138 points in the last eight quarters.
Big Spring is another scoring machine lately, rolling up 60-plus again to overpower James Buchanan. Quarterback Ethan Eisenberg had another perfect outing, completing all eight of his passes for 186 yards with three touchdowns.
Trinity improved to 3-1 overall, using five total touchdowns from quarterback Landon Kuntzelman to overpower Newport. Kuntzelman threw for 212 with three touchdowns and added another couple scores on the ground. Tyler Rossi added 100 yards rushing and receiving to finish with 233 all-purpose yards with a couple touchdowns. Big night for the T-Rocks.
In a titanic power shift for the Capital Division, Middletown will very likely not be a player this year for the first time in a long time after Juniata pitched a defensive gem to edge the Blue Raiders 8-7. The Indians are missing arguably their best player and still showed the guts to subdue Middletown.
The Blue Raiders are the only team in the Capital with a .500 record. The other six squads all have three or more victories after five weeks.
