Defense and trench warfare will rule the day in the Mid-Penn Capital Division this fall. That’s the impression that we get after poring through stats and film on our way to determining the Top 10 players to watch in the division this season.
Our list includes powerful giants and relentless monsters, all with the ability to wreck a game. Just one offensive specialist, an All-State QB, cracked into the Top 10.
We’ll take a closer look at these players–two per day–as well a few Honorable Mention selections, as part of our breakdown of the Capital Division. Stick with 4th Down Magazine in the days to come as we continue to analyze the remaining three divisions in the Mid-Penn.
10. M.A. Scaringi, Camp Hill, OLB/FB
When you live in the weight room, like the 6-foot, 200-pound Scaringi does, you can do some pretty remarkable things on the football field, like Scaringi has.
Power, acceleration, and keen field awareness are the senior’s strengths when he plays the OLB position. A “play to the whistle” kind of player, Scaringi can muscle down just about any opponent when he gets his arms wrapped around them. The Capital Division took notice of Scaringi’s big 2024 season, honoring him with a Second Team selection for his 101-tackle campaign.
Offensively, Camp Hill will be counting on Scaringi to once again produce from the backfield, where he churned out more than 700 combined rushing and receiving yards with five TDs last fall. Scaringi has soft hands and make the same basket catches as a WR, and he deploys a rumbling running style that can blast right through would-be solo tacklers.
9. Isaac Jackson, Upper Dauphin, DB/WR/Returner
Lighting in a bottle. That’s what Upper Dauphin has in Jackson, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound junior who was named a Capital Division All-Star on offense, defense, and as a returner for his electric play on the field last fall.
His incendiary speed, coupled with an ability to cut on a dime, fueled a season that saw him average 26.7 yards per catch after hauling in 18 receptions for 480 yards and five TDs. Jackson has a good sense of the ball under the stadium lights and has the hops to win jump balls, whether he’s playing on offense or defense.
8. Noah Ringes, Line Mountain, LB/RB
Don’t be fooled by the stature of the Ringes — a First Team selection in the Capital last fall — the 5-foot-8, 195-pound cannonball has been running over doubters since the moment he stepped on the varsity field as a freshman.
In two seasons as an underclassman starter for the Eagles, Ringes has piled up 211 tackles, including 23.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. There’s nothing flashy about Ringes, he just fearlessly sticks his nose in the action and gets the job done, even if he has to bang pads with the beasts in the trenches. Ringes plays with discipline, and has developed a good sense of reading blocks, hitting the hole, and executing fundamental tackling.
Ringes is also an asset on the other side of the ball, where he’s scored 10 TDs — seven rushing, three receiving — as a hard-nosed back. Powerful and shifty, Ringes doesn’t succumb to arm tackles and is especially effective when he can get the ball in open space and pop his way through defenders like a pinball machine.
7. Karson Engle, Upper Dauphin, OL/DT
If you’re facing off in the trenches against Engle, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound terror of a left tackle, get used to spending the majority of the game with your back on the ground.
Engle was cooking as a sophomore last fall, with the big man simply steamrolling nearly every opposing defender put in front of him. He generates a powerful drive right from the snap of the ball, and once Engle builds momentum, he leaves bodies in his wake.
His pass blocking is effective almost to the point of hilarity, with Engle frequently taking on the appearance of an adult warding off a flailing child.
Engle also came into his own as a DT last fall, piling up 27 tackles, including six tackles for loss and two sacks.
He is a sticky DB whose presence alone can make a QB think twice about lofting a ball toward his side of the field, where he secured 33 tackles and two interceptions last season. Jackson was also a home run threat in the return game, where he averaged 25.2 yards as a kick returner.