District 3 Class 5A Semi-Final round: Breaking them down

Tagged under: District 3, News, Playoffs

Billy Splain | November 16, 2023

Cocalico (10-1) @ Cedar Cliff (10-1) (West Shore Stadium) Friday – 7:00 pm

They’re on a mission. We are still scratching our heads over that early season loss to Warwick, but coach Bryan Strohl has his team firing on all cylinders. Last week they easily dispatched of the Buckskins, but this week they face a different kind of opponent. The Colts can throw the ball well. Their only lost was to McDevitt, so they get a mulligan there. Bennett Seacrest leads the way from the QB spot and had a nice game last week. He’ll spread the ball around with five receivers sharing the load. Cocalico lines up and runs over ya. And run and run again. Sam Steffey can get loose at any time. It’s a difficult offense to stop. Air vs ground. Whichever team figures out the way to move better will likely get the win here.

Ephrata (11-1) @ Hershey (9-3) (Ephrata HS) Friday – 7:00 pm

If you had Ephrata and Hershey playing in the D3 semi-finals on your board at the end of last season, or even midway through this season, you win a prize. Ephrata dumped Garden Spot last week and continues to lean on Sam McCracken and Brayden Brown. The Mount’s offense can score at will, averaging 39 points each contest so the Trojans are going to need to either fine tune their offense, or clamp down on defense. Probably the biggest surprise team in all brackets, Hershey got here with losses to McDevitt and Cedar Cliff. To get a rematch with the Colts, Cameron Sweeney will need a flawless game. This could be the upset of the year if Hershey plays their best game.

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