District 3 Playoff Preview, Second Round: Welcome to the show 6A

Tagged under: District 3, News, Playoffs

Billy Splain | November 8, 2023

While we waded through a much too large first round of playoffs, some had the weekend off. There were only 2 games played in the western 6A bracket. In District 3 there were four games waiting to be played while in district 7 we awaited 2 matchups.  Welcome to the playoffs Class 6A! Below we preview those games.

William Penn (6-3) @ Manheim Township (10-0) Friday, 7pm

The Bearcats opened the season with a loss to Harrisburg, then they rattled off six straight wins before getting thumped by South Western and Central York. They’ll need to see Najee Still, George Banks Jr. and company play lights out football on offense while the Bearcat defense plays even better than lights out to have a chance to slow down the Streaks.  Hayden Johnson and Landon Kennell might be one of the best QB/WR connections in all of PA.  The Blue Streaks are averaging around 47 points an outing while the Bearcats are managing just 27. Defensively, the Blue Streaks are giving up just 8 points while the Bearcats need to plug up their 24 point gifts.  This game really comes down to one thing, can York High stop Johnson and Kennell.

Wilson (7-3) @ Cumberland Valley (6-4) Friday 7pm

Cumberland Valley is one of the hottest teams in 6A right now. After a rough start, the Eagles have corrected their path that started 4-1 and have rattled off five straight conference wins including victories over a tough State College team and Central Dauphin. They’re facing a Wilson team that’s on a similar path. The Bulldogs started the year with two straight losses then rattled off 7 wins before tasting defeat in the last regular season game against Manheim Twp.  Before the season Eagle head coach Josh Oswalt said his main goal was to find a QB. Grant Shepley came off the bench vs CD and has held his own. But make no mistake, the Eagles need to get Bryce Staretz the ball when they can. He’s run for over 1,200 yards and 16 scores. They’ll have to do better than their average of 19 points against a Bulldog team that’s scoring 32 per outing.For Wilson, it’s all on Tommy Hunsicker. The senior signal caller has accumulated over 2,500 yards of offense and 31 tds, over 2,000 yards in the air. Sophomore  Correll Akings has run for 450 yards and 7 trips to the endzone.

Cedar Crest (8-2) @ Harrisburg (9-1) Saturday 1pm

Harrisburg is playing lights out football right now. Quarterback Shawn Lee Jr. is throwing the ball well and making great decisions. He’s thrown for over 1,600 and run for 1,000 more with 33 tds to his credit. Elias Coke is a huge target and has hauled in 37 passes, 11 ended up in the paint. Nehemiah Ewell is a fast, shifty back that can create problems for the Falcons. This Cougar team doesn’t have the dominant line on defense they usually have, but they’re still very good with Sirkayne Venable and Kevin Brown. For the Falcons, Jackson Custer behind center is a quality quarterback. Owen Chernich, Jack Waranavage and TE Aiden Schomp are his main targets. On the ground its all about Fernando Marquez (129 attempts for 847 yards) Alex Abreu and Jackson Custer have combined for 700 on the ground. Cedar Crest will either need to find a way to increase their scoring or play stellar defense and control the ball to slow down the Cougars.

Central Dauphin (6-4) @ Central York (10-0) Friday 7 pm

A rematch of a week one that was a close, high scoring game. The Panthers won 45-35 but needed a late insurance td for the 10 point margin. Key’Ron Plummer is doing a nice job at quarterback, throwing for just over 1,000 yards and rushing for another 400+. Miles Copper has run for 825 yards and 15 tds. If the Rams can get their massive line, led by Maryland recruit Anthony Robsock, controlling the line early the up and down Rams have a legit shot at a win here. All four of their losses came to playoff teams. For Central York, Juelz Goff leads the way. The Pitt commit is electric and has run for nearly 1,500 yards. Through the air the Panthers are stout as well. Brooklyn Nase has thrown for 1,300 yards and 10 scores. The kicking game is very solid with Matthew Parker able to hit from all over the field. The key will be which Central Dauphin team shows up.

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