Friday, Sept. 13
Non-League
Trinity at Susquenita
Andy Shay: Trinity 42, Susquenita 7: Resilience is alive and well in Shiremanstown. Good week to work on the offense in this matchup with an undermanned Hawks side.
Andy Sandrik: Trinity 44, Susquenita 6: The Blackhawks scored their first TD of the season last week, but they’ll need much more than that to hang with the suddenly high-flying Shamrocks.
Adam Kulikowski: Trinity 37, Susquenita 14: Who would have thought the Shamrocks would be in the position they are in now heading into Week 4 play after all the changes this team faced? Kudos to this group of young lads and their first-year head coach.
Commonwealth
Altoona at Central Dauphin
Andy Shay: Central Dauphin 17, Altoona 7: Rams are generally a squad that makes the opposition earn every little bit they get. This year CD’s team is earning some of those hard triumphs and it will be the story of the season.
Andy Sandrik: Central Dauphin 28, Altoona 0: Look at the improvement of CD from Week 1 to Week 3. The young Rams may not be stacked like their teams of the past, but they’re putting in the work to be a competitive team in the Commonwealth.
Adam Kulikowski: Central Dauphin 35, Altoona 6: After a Week 1 blanking at the hands of Central York, the Rams have turned in two strong performances. Glen McNamee’s crew will make it a third.
Cedar Cliff at Bishop McDevitt
Andy Shay: Bishop McDevitt 30, Cedar Cliff 28: Colts have shown they are a worthy foe in the big, bad Commonwealth. This is a one-time fellow Keystone Division foe against whom the Colts have enjoyed some sweet success. And yet I pick McD to win, right?
Andy Sandrik: Bishop McDevitt 35, Cedar Cliff 21: McDevitt seems to be back on track after the Week 2 loss to Harrisburg. The Colts know the Crusaders better than anyone in the Commonwealth Division, but I think they’ll need to catch a few breaks to have a shot at pulling off the upset.
Adam Kulikowski: Bishop McDevitt 41, Cedar Cliff 27: Keeping up with the high-octane offense the Crusaders bring to the table is a full metal test for any foe.
Central Dauphin East at Carlisle
Andy Shay: Central Dauphin East 35, Carlisle 0: When you are the better team and the opponent isn’t able to offer much resistance, get to 4-0 the right way and keep the momentum rolling. 4-0 Panthers is uncommon.
Andy Sandrik: Central Dauphin East 42, Carlisle 7: The best advertisement Lance Deane can have for his personal training business is success from his finely-tuned Panthers squad, a group that has a really good shot of moving to 4-0 this week.
Adam Kulikowski: Central Dauphin East 55, Carlisle 6: The Panthers are playing some of the best football this school has seen in at least a decade. Good times continue against a Carlisle crew looking to put the pieces together.
State College at Cumberland Valley
Andy Shay: State College 21, Cumberland Valley 14: Eagles have the defense to keep pace with the Little Lions. Just not sure the CV offense can make enough hay against the SC defense. Battle up front will be a mismatch.
Andy Sandrik: State College 24, Cumberland Valley 14: Will offense return this Friday for SC and CV, two teams who combined for 20 points last week?
Adam Kulikowski: State College 34, Cumberland 21: The Little Lions lost a heart-breaker last week against arguably the best team in the Commonwealth. The offense should find more green space in Week 4.
Keystone
Gettysburg at Northern York
Andy Shay: Gettysburg 20, Northern York 13: Combined these squads have two victories and neither has achieved anything close to expectations. Which quarterback has the best night will determine your winner.
Andy Sandrik: Gettysburg 19, Northern York 12: Listen, neither of these one-win teams are happy with where they currently stand, but 2-2 feels a heck of a lot better than 1-3, so I expect to see two squads playing with some desperation.
Adam Kulikowski: Gettysburg 34, Northern York 20: We finally saw a glimpse of the offense we thought the Warriors would produce each week. Can this crew find consistency as we approach the halfway point of the season?
Mifflin County at Hershey
Andy Shay: Hershey 34, Mifflin County 14: The Trojans have been quietly going about their business by running the ball and overwhelming teams with wave after wave of dudes toting the rock. That means the OL is running the show. That continues here.
Andy Sandrik: Hershey 36, Mifflin County 14: I counted four different Trojan rushers who are averaging more than five yards per carry, which tells me that Hershey is winning the battle up front. If the Huskies don’t show up to play, this one could quickly turn into a blowout.
Adam Kulikowski: Hershey 41, Mifflin County: 17: Running chalk on this one after I pushed chips in on the Huskies last week. Line play will be the difference in this one.
Lower Dauphin at Mechanicsburg
Andy Shay: Mechanicsburg 28, Lower Dauphin 26: Riding the hot hand and going with the Wildcats here because they have the best player on the field. LD is deeper, though, at the skill positions.
Andy Sandrik: Lower Dauphin 28, Mechanicsburg 21: I can’t pick against the team I picked to win the Keystone, but man, those Wildcats from Mechanicsburg are tempting me.
Adam Kulikowski: Mechanicsburg 31, Lower Dauphin 28: One of the best match-ups on the docket in Week 4. Give a nod to Wildcats QB Eli Reider who is completing nearly 77 percent of his passes and has yet to toss a pick.
Waynesboro at Red Land
Andy Shay: Waynesboro 29, Red Land 15: The Patriots have struggled to slow teams down defensively and the Indians have some serious “explosive play” in their running game.
Andy Sandrik: Waynesboro 30, Red Land 16: Waynesboro lost its first game last week, but I think QB Rayshawn Frazer-Hewitt and the Indians have the moxie to bounce back and earn their third win.
Adam Kulikowski: Waynesboro 28, Red Land 14: Indians are rushing for 6.5 yards per carry as a team this season while the Red Land defense has struggled. Not a good mix.
Palmyra at Shippensburg
Andy Shay: Shippensburg 27, Palmyra 14: Week by week this Greyhounds squad adds a brick or two to the foundation. It has been a slow and deliberate build but the results speak for themselves. Simple, solid football.
Andy Sandrik: Shippensburg 33, Palmyra 17: We overuse the term “coming together as a team” but that really seems to be what’s happening in Shippensburg with an unbeaten Greyhounds squad whose confidence is growing by the week.
Adam Kulikowski: Shippensburg 45, Palmyra 14: We predicted the Greyhounds to finish fifth in the new-look Keystone Division. Early results show the error in our ways.
Capital
Camp Hill at Newport
Andy Shay: Camp Hill 49, Newport 6: Camp Hill has way too much firepower for the lads from Perry County.
Andy Sandrik: Camp Hill 42, Newport 7: Make it two wins in two weeks for the Lions over Perry County teams.
Adam Kulikowski: Camp Hill 55, Newport 6: The only question in this one is when the Lions will pull back the throttle and cruise to the finish line.
Line Mountain at Halifax
Andy Shay: Line Mountain 49, Halifax 7: When you are talented and experienced, man that shows up in so many different ways it makes competing with the opposition that much more difficult. LM will overwhelm the Wildcats.
Andy Sandrik: Line Mountain 45, Halifax 7: Halifax could have a very tough time against Line Mountain, the team I picked to win the Capital Division.
Adam Kulikowski: Line Mountain 48, Halifax 13: Line Mountain is capitalizing each week on the benefits of having a leap of returning varsity talent.
James Buchanan at Juniata
Andy Shay: Juniata 35, James Buchanan 7: The JB winning train is pulling into the station and jumping off the tracks at Juniata. Rockets have been impressive, but the Indians will ask some tough questions.
Andy Sandrik: Juniata 39, James Buchanan 6: Big props to JB for dashing out to a 3-0 start, but Juniata poses a new challenge altogether for the Rockets.
Adam Kulikowski: Juniata 31, James Buchanan 14: The feel-good part of the schedule has concluded for the Rockets. Now we learn just what kind of chops they have.
Steelton-Highspire at Upper Dauphin
Andy Shay: Upper Dauphin 28, Steelton-Highspire 26: If this happens it will be because the UDA defense makes a couple of critical stops in the final 12 minutes. If the Rollers reach 30 points, they win.
Andy Sandrik: Steel-High 28, Upper Dauphin 21: Games that were once automatic for the Rollers now have us stopping for a moment to think. Upper Dauphin lost last week but earned some respect by holding the West Perry machine to 16 points.
Adam Kulikowski: Upper Dauphin 27, Steel-High 26: OK this feels like a trap game. The Trojans defense showed some real mettle last week and the Rollers don’t possess the firepower from a year ago. This one will still keep me up at night.
Colonial
Middletown at Boiling Springs
Andy Shay: Middletown 21, Boiling Springs 18: I like where this group of Blue Raiders has steered the ship. Bubblers have been roughed up the last eight quarters and might find the playing field here a little more level. Still taking Middletown.
Andy Sandrik: Middletown 25, Boiling Springs 14: I’m trying not to read too much into Boiling Springs’ back-to-back blowout losses because they played some awfully tough competition, but giving up more than 50 points per game in those contests is certainly a cause for concern.
Adam Kulikowski: Middletown 17, Boiling Springs 14: Each week we’ve seen progress from the Blue Raiders–a Week 1 Dub and a pair of 2-point losses tell me this team is close to breaking through.
East Pennsboro at Greencastle-Antrim
Andy Shay: East Pennsboro 27, Greencastle-Antrim 21: One of these teams will be enjoying a two-game winning streak. I think the Blue Devils might be the better team here, maybe? So yeah give me the Panthers.
Andy Sandrik: Greencastle-Antrim 27, East Pennsboro 24: There are few feelings better than getting that first win, so congrats to the Blue Devils and Panthers for breaking through. Only one of these teams, however, gets to go on a winning streak now.
Adam Kulikowski: Greencastle-Antrim 28, East Pennsboro 27: This is a coin toss game to me. Neither team has shown the consistency you’d like to see heading into Week 4. But both have plenty of potential to make their case as the better team.
Susquehanna Township at West Perry
Andy Shay: Susquehanna Township 28, West Perry 20: I just don’t feel the Mustangs have the firepower to stay with this Hanna Tribe outfit for the full 48 minutes. WP has a path to victory, but it requires help from ST, and not sure that’s in the cards.
Andy Sandrik: Susquehanna Township 25, West Perry 21: The Mustangs have a shot if they can control the clock and limit the number of possessions for ‘Hanna. If this game turns into a shootout, however, Indians’ QB TD Evans and his three all-star caliber receivers could very well make it a quiet night in Elliottsburg for the WP faithful.
Adam Kulikowski: Susquehanna Twp. 31, West Perry 28: This has the potential to be a Game of the Week. I’ll have an eye on the Mustangs secondary vs. the aforementioned all-star caliber receivers.
Saturday, Sept. 14
Commonwealth
Chambersburg at Harrisburg, 1 p.m.
Andy Shay: Harrisburg 48, Chambersburg 0: For the record the Cougars have beaten Bishop McDevitt and State College in the last two weeks with less than their full complement of talent to employ on the opposition. The key here is zero steps backward.
Andy Sandrik: Harrisburg 50, Chambersburg 0: The faint of heart may want to cover their eyes for this game, which could be in mercy rule territory before halftime.
Adam Kulikowski: Harrisburg 55, Chambersburg 6: That Cougars defense presents a huge challenge–not just for the Trojans, but any opponent. Just as State College.
Colonial
Big Spring at Milton Hershey, 1:30 p.m.
Andy Shay: Big Spring 28, Milton Hershey 14: The Bulldogs are the winless team you don’t want to face. Spartans have been on the struggle bus. Big Spring gets a richly deserved win here.
Andy Sandrik: Big Spring 23, Milton Hershey 16: It’s hard for me to fathom how the Bulldogs can be 0-3 with RB Grant Hall averaging nearly eight yards a pop. I think Big Spring will turn it around this week.
Adam Kulikowski: Big Spring 33, Milton Hershey 14: Spartans have mustered just 34 points through their first three games. The offense will need to find another gear to turn the tide in this one.
