Around District 11: The Travels of Guy & Pam Week Sixteen: States Move to Cumberland Valley, Our game Recaps
Tagged under: Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs
Billy Splain | December 12, 2022
Around District 11: The Travels of Guy & Pam
Week Sixteen: States Move to Cumberland Valley
2022.18. When they first announced the state championship games were moving from Hershey Stadium to Cumberland Valley High School, we were disappointed. We initially felt that the games should not be held at a high school but should have some sort of neutral location, and Hershey Park seemed ideal. Let’s face it: “The Road to the Carlisle Pike” doesn’t have nearly the ring to it that “The Road to Hershey” does. Imagine the assistant coach saying to his little daughter: “Guess what, honey? We’re going to Mechanicsburg!” (PFN has dubbed it “A Trip to the Chap”) We had never been to a state final at any other venue, and had a number of daily rituals that would of course change. We read the excellent article on the four facilities that bid to host the championships, and after reading the factual pros and cons of each, agree that Cumberland Valley was the best choice, even over Hershey.
Were they ready to host the big show? Friends who had a player in the state soccer championships at Cumberland Valley said they had to play their game at the middle school, there was hardly any seating, and after the game they were given the bum’s rush out the gate so quickly that the players had to pose for the team photo with the championship banner in the parking lot. We also felt a little uncomfortable about the school switching to the less effective virtual learning for their students so that they could host football games on campus.
But after experiencing three days of football at Cumberland Valley, we were easily won over, and will have no problem supporting the event there for the next three years, possibly much longer, even though it adds about 20 minutes each way to our drive each day.
Games only cost $8, and that seems like a great bargain to see a state championship in a high-profile sport. We do not like the “no cash” policy, forcing everyone to pay an additional “fee” of $2.71 per game. Would be nice if PIAA gave people either the cash option to bypass the fee, or offer a “championship weekend” ticket good for all the games so we would only have to pay that processing fee once. Not holding our breath on that.
There were a few things we liked better at Hershey. Bricker’s fresh cut fries and the popcorn vendors in the stands were missed. But the Chic-Fil-A at CV was a nice addition, at least for the first two days. Where were they on Saturday???
Parking is better at CV, and we certainly didn’t miss standing in line at Hershey to go through the metal detectors. However, the Hershey restrooms were much superior. (as in, more of them) CV doesn’t have the seating of Hershey, but with 8,000 had plenty of room, even for the three games with local schools. And the “red zone” lights were way cool!
We had a between-game ritual at Hershey of going to Arooga’s Sports Bar on the first and last day, and Pizza Hut on day two. But the Appalachian Brewing Company just down the road from CV is as good (save they don’t show the game replay but PFN said they’ll work on that), and we liked DaVinci’s Pizza better than The Hut. Missed the Hershey Lodge, where we would go after dinner for a coffee, muffin, and warm up by the fire. But Turkey Hill has good coffee and muffins, and although blasting the car heater while sitting in the stadium parking lot isn’t as good as a fire in the Lodge fireplace, it served the same purpose.
Some may cite Hershey Park, Chocolate World, and outlet stores as additional advantages for Hershey, but we have no interest in those so for us those were all a non-issue.
It took a day to get used to the new surroundings, but once we got the lay of the land, we felt quite at home at Cumberland Valley.
ALL RECAPS AND GAME GALLERIES BY PFN CAN BE FOUND HERE
GAME 53. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022. 1A CHAMPIONSHIP. STEELTON-HIGHSPIRE STEAMROLLERS VS. UNION AREA SCOTTIES. We saw the Rollers play in the quarterfinals when they eliminated our Northern Lehigh Bulldogs with a TD in the last minute of play. Then the following week they won in the last minute again to advance to the championship game. Steelton was been a state champion three times in the past. We knew how dangerous this version of the Rollers could be.
Union was a Cinderella story. Guy is 62 years old and the last time the Scotties won districts was before he was born! They haven’t even been to the district finals since Guy was playing ball for Trexler Junior High. They were the 10th seed in their district playoffs, yet made it all the way to the championship game for the first time.
An odd thing about this game is that both teams had safeties in the fourth quarter, and neither of them were for the ball carrier being tackled in the end zone, nor for bad snaps out the back end. One was for intentional grounding, the other for holding.
The Scotties hung around into the second portion of the fourth quarter, before dropping two scores behind and eventually falling 22-8. We think if Northern Lehigh could have been able to hold on to beat the Rollers, they would likely have been state champs.
It’s a shame more Roller fans can’t enjoy winning the championship over finding reasons to be aggrieved. Example: After a huge defensive sack in the waning minutes that just about put the exclamation point on the state championship season, Roller fans instead booed the referee’s spot of the ball, wanting a larger loss of yards. In both playoff games we saw the exciting Rollers play, the fans were constantly vocalizing how the referees were against them all game long, and continued to do so with the championship all but in hand. Today, the better team won. Enjoy the victory.
GAME 54. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022. 4A CHAMPIONSHIP. BISHOP MCDEVITT CRUSADERS VS. ALIQUIPPA QUIPS. The Quips entered the game as one of only two unbeaten teams left standing. Both schools know what it’s like to both get to, and win, at states.
At one time, we rooted for all of the East teams. But since the brackets no longer have definitive East vs. West matchups, it’s not that way anymore. We sat with the Quips, choosing public vs. parochial.
The Crusaders scored on their first offensive play and were never behind, although it was only 7-6 at the end of the first quarter. But the Quips made multiple mistakes, turning the ball over four times while being penalized eleven. People sitting around us looked shocked, saying they did things they had not done all season long.
This was a good example of how if you can figure out how to stop a one-dimensional team, they can be beat. The Quips were down multiple scores, but still had no passing game to speak of, ending the game with only 20 total yards in the air. The final was 41-18, and once again it appeared the better team won.
GAME 55. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2022. 2A CHAMPIONSHIP. SOUTHERN COLUMBIA TIGERS VS. WESTINGHOUSE BULLDOGS. It was a war out there. That may be an overused expression, but in this case it fit perfectly.
On the one hand you have perennial champion Southern Columbia, who at one point during the season had lost three of six. They executed an amazing turnaround to advance to the state final for the 8th straight year, and were looking for their sixth straight championship.
On the other hand, Westinghouse entered the game as the lone remaining unbeaten team in Pennsylvania. Although we respect the Southern Columbia program, especially head coach Jim Roth, there is nothing we like more than to see new teams make it to the state championship. And with Guy being an inner city kid from Allentown, he was especially pleased to learn that a Pittsburgh city school made it to the championship game for the first time in 25 years. We were impressed by what we had read about the Bulldogs head coach. It really sounds like he has his priorities in order. Westinghouse supporters made the trip in very strong numbers to support their school, also great to see.
But after reading all those positives about Westinghouse, it was disappointing to see and hear a large contingent of their fans chanting loudly during the National Anthem, especially since it was sung live by a high school student. In no way did she deserve that treatment.
Westinghouse scored first, but the Tigers held a single point halftime lead of 7-6. For three quarters, it was a classic defensive struggle with both teams playing their hearts out. At the end of three, it was still a single-point Tiger lead, 15-14. Southern took control in the final quarter with two TDs, but the Bulldogs added one and with only a few minutes left, only trailed by seven. The Tigers answered with their final score, and clinched the win in a game that seemed like it could have gone either way.
Credit Southern Columbia for scoring 37 against a team that had not allowed more than 18 points in any game all season. Once again the Tigers, who looked so vulnerable in mid season, found a way to get the job done in the gold medal game.
At the end of the game, the Tiger cheerleaders chanted: “You say state, we say champs, state-champs, state-champs.” Somewhere off in the distance, we thought we may have heard the PIAA Board of Directors answering with: “We say three, you say ‘A’, three-‘A’, three-‘A.” We shall see.
GAME 56. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2022. 5A CHAMPIONSHIP. IMHOTEP CHARTER PANTHERS VS. PINE-RICHLAND RAMS. The Friday matchup pitted one-time state champion Imhotep vs. two-time champ Pine Richland. The story here is not that Imhotep won a title in 2015, but that they lost in the championship game in 2013, 2016, 2017 2018, and 2021. They can’t seem to finish the job and win the big one, having lost their last five championship game appearances.
Imhotep looked like winners in the first quarter, putting seven on the board and stopping two Ram drives just short of pay dirt. But if we had to pick the MVP of the entire weekend, we wouldn’t hesitate to choose Ryan Palmieri. On offense, he led the team in rushing (174), passing (9-10, 127), and had a KO return (20). And on defense he co-led the team in tackles and had an interception for a pick six.
How impressive was the Pine-Richland offense against a team that gives up an average of only seven points per game? How about 28 points, 366 yards, 90% pass completion, only seven penalty yards, and not a single punt?
Meanwhile, the defense held Imhotep, who averaged 35.6 per game, to 14. Pine-Richland won their 3rd, while Tep lost their sixth of seven finals, fifth in a row.
On a side note, Pine-Richland had the best band we had seen all year, and very possibly the best cheerleaders as well. No one trick pony, that school has their act together.
GAME 57. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022. 3A CHAMPIONSHIP. NEUMANN GORETTI SAINTS VS. BELLE VERNON LEOPARDS. Why is football such a great sport? This game says it all. This was the game we had the least interest in. We were not familiar with Belle Vernon, and had no emotional ties at all to Neumann Goretti. For both teams, it was their first trip to the state final. We sat on the home (Belle Vernon) side solely because it was in the sun and thus warmer.
Then the game turned out to be the most exciting game we saw all season. Predicted to be a high scoring game, this turned into an epic defensive battle. The Saints were down their top rusher, who threw a couple of punches (that looked more like closed-fisted pushes) after allegedly getting grabbed in the nuts during the previous week’s semi final game and was ejected and thus ineligible. We agree that the punishment probably didn’t fit the crime, but the rule is the rule. However, we also agree that the PIAA should not be involved in overturning calls made on the field. There is a critical shortage of referees, and undermining them by reversing their calls days later would do nothing but make that situation worse.
The first score was really strange. A bad snap over the punter’s head turned into a Saints TD when the punter’s knee gave out while giving chase. The ball rested quietly in the end zone behind the downed punter for what seemed like an eternity before a NG player pounced on it for the score and with the conversion, an 8-3 lead. Who would have thought that would be the end of their scoring?
Belle Vernon scored at the end of the third quarter, missed the conversion, and took a 9-8 lead. Then the last few minutes were crazy. The Saints picked off an errant throw, and advanced all the way to the “Leps” (at Lafayette, it would be the “Pards”) one. A fumble was ruled “simultaneous possession” and the offense got to keep the ball. We’ve heard of a tie going to the runner in baseball, and a tie-up using the possession arrow in basketball, but never a tie on a football fumble. Unbelievably, NG fumbled again and this time, there was nothing simultaneous about the recovery.
However, the ball was still on the one-yard line, and with a 9-8 score, any loss for a safety could win the game for NG. They jumped offside and that was all she wrote in the best game of the six.
GAME 58. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022. 6A CHAMPIONSHIP. SAINT JOSEPH’S PREP HAWKS VS. HARRISBURG COUGARS. They call this the “Marquee Game” as it is the big school championship. But it become less interesting to us as the Prep football factory is making the game the least competitive and correspondingly least interesting to watch. Prep has a roster of 85, more players than both teams combined in an earlier game. They played teams from Florida, New Jersey, New York, and District of Columbia before they even played a Pennsylvania team.
Prep was in the final for the 9th time in the past ten years, winning seven, including this year. Meanwhile, Harrisburg has players from Harrisburg. We sat on the Harrisburg side, knowing the probable outcome but supporting the public school kids. If you are looking for the bright spot for the Harrisburg kids in this game, it was the great support for their team. We are pretty sure that the Cougars had the largest crowd of supporters.
Not surprisingly, this one was all Prep. They scored on their first offensive play, had Mercy Rule in place before halftime, and opened up a 42-0 lead before cruising to a 42-7 win. This was the only Mercy Rule game this year, and we easily enjoyed this one far less than the others. Since Guy retired in 2015, he has not missed a state final. However, on the way home we talked about the possibility of skipping the 6A game in the future. It is what it is. That does not mean we have to continue to be a part of it.
We definitely think the move to Cumberland Valley went smoothly, and with a new set of rituals in place, look forward to returning there for the next several years. Total attendance was accounced at 15,729.
Guy went to 59 football games last year (high school & college). This year, he’s at 58 (high school, college, plus one NFL). Need one more to tie. Stay tuned. We enjoy the feedback at RTRYFBAR@aol.com
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