PIAA District III Playoff Preview, round one
Tagged under: District 3, News, Playoffs
Billy Splain | October 31, 2024
PIAA Class 1A District 3
Delone Catholic v York Catholic at Hanover High School
Friday Nov 8, 7pm
BYE WEEK
PIAA Class 2A District 3
Upper Dauphin (5-5) @ Steelton-Highspire (8-2) – 7:00 pm
Many doubted, yet here we are looking at the Rollers in a familiar, yet unfamiliar role. They’ve got 2 losses which is strange, but they come to 4A school and both of them are also in the playoffs. It’s hard to say how the defending 1A champs will fair in the playoffs because they basically play the same teams in the regular season. We’ll have to wait and see how they match up with the 2A contenders in the state round but for now let’s look at the UDA game.
Back in mid-September the two met with the Rollers coming out on top with a 34-24 win. This is kind of an odd game to figure out as both teams have similar results against common foes. Both teams Run and throw the ball. The Rollers look like a team that’s ready for playoff action. UDA will have to play a perfect game to get the win.
Camp Hill (6-4) @ Lancaster Catholic (6-4) – 7:00 pm
Interesting matchup here. These two met up in week 1 and battled to a 43-42 OT win by Crusaders. The other Lion losses came to UDA, Juniata and Steel High, all playoff teams.
Drew Branstetter has been a stud at qb for the Lions. He’s thrown for almost 2,500 yards this season. He’s also their second leading rusher with over 400 yards. Alex Serdar is the main ball carrier.
For the Crusaders, their losses came to 8-2 Delone Cathoic, ELCO, Hamburg and Schuylkill Valley. They’re a run first team. Brandon Way had 1600+ yards and 24 scores while QB David Stefanow has thrown for 1280 yards and 14 td passes. Colton Hegener, Charlie Warren and Zach Dresch are his main targets. This could be another thriller!
PIAA Class 3A District 3
Bermudian Springs will face the winner of:
Berks Catholic (6-4) @ Biglerville (7-3) – 7:00 pm
Traditionally a playoff contender, Berks hasn’t seen much success as of late. The Saints are entering the playoffs with a 6-4 record with losses to 8-2 Twin Valley, Bethlehem Catholic, Lancaster Catholic and 8-2 Schuylkill Valley. QB Zach Suski has thrown for nearly 1,300 yards and 16 tds. Leading the rushing attack is a pair of horses, Bryce Gumby and Nate Rose are both approaching 800 yards on the ground with a combing 20 tds.
7-3 Biglerville also lost to Lancaster Catholic as well as Bermudian Bprings and Littlestown. Bo Forney is the signal caller for the Canners and has just over 1,000 yards through the air with 11 td passes. Aidan Hoffman is the workhorse on the ground with over 1,000 yards and 7 tds. Scoring just 18.4 per game, the Canner defense will have to step up and slow down a Berks team averaging 33 per contest. Berks is giving up 21 per game and Biglerville gives up 16.6 per game.
Trinity will face the winner of:
Littlestown (6-4) @ Schuylkill Valley (8-2) – 7:00 pm
The Bolts enter the playoffs with a 5-4 record and have the unenviable task of playing 8-2 Schuylkill Valley. The Panthers are red hot and have won 7 straight after a loss to Fleetwood. Coach Harbaugh has the Panthers scoring 32.5 per game and are led by QB Logan Nawrocki who has 2,150 yards and 30 tds in the passing game. Cooper Hohenadel and Logan Cammauf lead the ground game with around 400 yards each.
Littlestown with need to find a way to slow down the Panthers. The Bolts are giving up 16 per game but they’re only averaging 12 points per outing. If the defense doesn’t find ways to stop Schuylkill Valley’s offense and create opportunities for their offense it could be a long night.
PIAA Class 4A District 3
Lot’s of byes this week in class 4A. Lampeter-Strasburg is the top seed, They’ll play the winner of:
Octorara (5-5) @ Eastern Lebanon County (5-5) – 7:00 pm
5-5 ELCO gives up 28 points while scoring just 17.4. Octorara is scoring just 16 per contest. Something has to give as both teams give up more than 24 per game. Collin Wood has thrown 7 td passes to 5 interceptions for the Braves while Steve Rasado has thrown 12 picks and just 4 tds for ELCO.
The Raiders will need to get RB Steve Rosado and Mitchell Frederick rolling down hill if they want to have a chance at advancing. The duo have combined for 1,300+ yards and 19 scores. If Octorara can keep the turnovers at a minimum they’ll be ok.
Susquehanna Twp and Twin Valley play next week.
On the bottom half of the bracket Wyomissing has a bye and they’ll face the winner of:
Susquehannock (4-6) @ East Pennsboro (7-3) – 7:00 pm
Two of East Penns losses came to tough Midd Penn opponents Township and Trinity. They’ve won three straight and should do well on Friday night if they can get running back JJ Gossard moving to open the passing game for Turner Barlup. The Panthers are averaging 28 points per outing and are giving up 18.
The Warriors will need to play flawlessly but they do match up on the scoreboard accumulating an average of 21 points while giving up 19. For the Warrior offensively, it’s all about Josh Pecunes. He has 800 yards in the air and leads the team on the ground with 1,167 yards, scoring a total of 19 tds.
West York and Eastern York will play next week.
PIAA Class 5A District 3
#1 seed New Oxford awaits the winner of:
South Western (7-3) @ Exeter Township (9-1) – 7:00 pm
This game looks like one of the better contests in round one for District 3. Exeter leads D3 in scoring averaging 45 points per game and defensively they’re among the tops giving up just 8 points a game. Riley Martinez has thrown for 847 yards and 14 tds but it’s the run game where Jayden Zandier leads the way with 1,473 yards and 23 tds.
The Mustangs will need stellar defense to stop Zandier and slow down the scoring machine of Exeter. They’re only scoring 29 points a game while giving up 21. Bryce Graham is solid at QB with 1,800 yards through the air with 16 td passes. The run game will have to step up and control the ball for the Mustangs. Austin Rollman is their guy with 700+ yards and 12 trips to the endzone.
Conestoga Valley awaits the winner of:
Warwick (5-5) @ Shippensburg (9-1) – 7:00 pm
The Greyhounds are coming off their lone loss, a 42-21 drop to rival Mechanicsburg. Make no mistake, it’s the run game led by Jayne Statum and mark Carothers that got them this far. The two have combined for over 1,900 yards and 25 tds, Statum talleying 16 of those. Brady Maciejewski is solid at QB with 700 yards and 5 td passes to just 1 interception. Shippensburg averages 32 points a game and they give up 15.
Warwick will try to counter with their run game but they’ll need the defense to step up as they’re giving up just 12 points a game but they’re at the bottom of D3 scoring just 12.
Mechanicsburg has a bye and will face the winner of:
Hershey (7-3) @ Cocalico (7-3) – 7:00 pm
Another nice matchup this weekend. The Trojans have losses to Ship and Mechanicsburg as well as Red Land. This is a contest that will likely be won in the trenches. Hershey running backs Cam Sweeney, Sean Elliot and Samir Edwards-Pace have combined for nearly 2,400 yards and 31 trips to the paint.
Countering for Cocalico are Dane Horning, Josh Myer and Brayden Eppinette with over 2,700 yards rushing and 23 scores. Yes, this game may come down to whoever controls the line of scrimmage best. Both teams are low scoring and both give up under 20 points per game.
Conrad Weiser has a bye and will face the winner of:
Lower Dauphin (6-4) @ Bishop McDevitt (8-2) – 7:00 pm
The Crusaders are coming off a crazy 58-55 loss to 6A State College. This team has several weapons and none are more well known than Kentucky commit Stone Saunders. The states td pass record holder has thrown for 2,356 yards (approaching the record career mark) and 32 tds this year. They don’t just lean on his arm either. Nazir Jones-Davis and Marcus Barnes have run for over 1,400 yards and 15 tds. Look for Saunders to find Dom Diaz-Ellis and soph Jonai Quick through the air. Barnes is also one to watch on defense.
Lower Dauphin is scoring just 21 points an outing so a track meet isn’t what they want. The Falcons will need great defense and opportunities in the way of turn overs. Braeden Heckard has 800+ in the air with 7 tds. They’ll look to play ball control and use Hunter Strohm and Carter Burton to slow down the Crusaders.
PIAA Class 6A District 3
There are just two games this week in 6A. We’ll detail this classification more next week. For this week:
Hempfield (4-6) @ Cedar Crest (7-3) – 7:00 pm
The winner of this game will face the #2 seed Wilson Bulldogs, a team both have lost to this season. Also of note, The Falcons beat Hempfield two weeks ago in a close 31-27 game. Will this game be a repeat of that one? Cedar Crest got a 53 yard pass from Jackson Custer to Isiah Zimmerman for the win. Custer is one of the better District 3 quarterbacks having thrown and run for over 1,300 yards. The Falcons are averaging over 35 points each game while allowing just 18. Jack Waranavage is dangerous on defense.
The Black Knights have fallen on hard times recently but they won’t go down without a fight. Derek Katch can sling the ball around and has for nearly 1,800 yards this season. He also leads the team in rushing. Hempfield is giving up 24 points a game so that defense will have to tighten up for the Black Knights to have a shot at the win.
Governor Mifflin (5-5) @ Cumberland Valley (5-5) – 7:00 pm
The Mustangs run the ball, and they do it pretty good. As a team they’ve run for 275 yards a game. Grady Garner leads the way with 1,300 stripes and 19 trips to the endzone. Lebron Leaf and Javien Pletz will get their share of carries too. The Mustangs have played and lost to four teams with 7 wins or better. They’re scoring 28 points each game but they give up 26 points.
The Eagles have the tougher schedule on paper and they haven’t faired much better against teams with winning records thought they do hold a win over Harrisburg. Brody Pines is an athlete to keep an eye on. Offensively he averages 3.4 yards a carry. Defensively the Eagles are giving up 19 points each outing, but they’re also only scoring 19. The Eagle defense will need to create opportunities to take advantage of a defense that gives up nearly four tds per game.
The rest;
Central York faces CD East, Wilson gets the Cedar Crest/Hempfield winner, Harrisburg hosts Dallastown, Manheim Twp gets the CV/GM winner. All games are next week.
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