District 4: Class 1A-4A 2024 Playoff Preview

Tagged under: District 4, News, pfn, Playoffs

Davin Ridall | October 31, 2024

Ten weeks of high school football have come and gone which can only mean one thing, the playoffs are upon us. It’s the time where every team tries to get their game to the next level, the time where all the bumps and bruises that occurred during the regular season get pushed aside, and the time where the coaches have to bring out the very best from their squads. Every team in District 4 has been playing all year to get to this point, and now, it’s time to look at the teams that have made it this far, and where they have to go next.

District 4 – Class 1A

The single-A class contains 7 schools and the top 4 are the ones that qualify for the playoffs. This is how the final standings looked for the 2024 season:

Muncy finished with an 8-2 record and held on to the top spot that they’ve had a grasp on for most of the season. Line Mountain finished right behind Muncy with a 7-3 record and was less than 0.1 points behind them in the ratings. Montgomery also finished the season 7-3, however their strength of schedule was much weaker than Line Mountain’s, keeping them in the third seed. Canton grabbed the final spot with a 5-5 record, however this year was their worst regular season finish since 2017 when they went 3-7.

Class 1A Matchups

(1) Muncy vs (4) Canton – Saturday 11/2 @ 7:00 PM

The Indians finished the 2024 regular season with one more loss than they did in 2023. This year they won’t have a first round bye like they did last year, meaning they’ll play in the first round this upcoming Friday at home against the number 4 seeded Canton Warriors. Muncy’s 2024 season has been highlighted by their rushing attack led by senior running back Austin Johnson who is fourth in District 4 rushing yard leaders with 1,445, along with 22 rushing touchdowns. Behind Johnson is Muncy’s other senior running back Landyn Wommer who has racked up 679 rushing yards of his own along with 12 touchdowns. Meanwhile, senior quarterback Ben Fitch leads the way for the Warriors heading into the matchup. Fitch ranks 14th in passing yards among District 4 quarterbacks with 1,217, along with 15 passing touchdowns to 6 interceptions. Along with his passing stats, Fitch is also Canton’s leading rusher with 558 yards and 8 touchdowns. These two teams haven’t matched up since 2022, which was also in the playoffs. Canton ended up on the winning side of that matchup with a 45-7 blowout road victory. Both teams were 10-1 heading into that matchup, however this time around, the Warriors sit at 5-5, which is their worst regular season record since 2017 where they went 3-7 and missed the playoffs.

(2) Line Mountain vs (3) Montgomery – Saturday 11/2 @ 7:00 PM

Line Mountain was moved from 2A to 1A at the start of the 2024 season after their 44-0 playoff loss to undefeated Troy that ended their 2023 campaign, which they finished with a 9-3 record. This season they head into the playoffs with a 7-3 record, their third straight year making the playoffs after missing them back-to-back years in 2020 and 2021. The Eagles are led into this years’ playoffs by junior Kaiden Maurer, who is ranked fifth in passing yards among District 4 quarterbacks with 1,800. Maurer also leads the district in passing touchdowns with 27, compared to just 6 interceptions. Lined up behind Maurer in the Eagles’ backfield is senior Ian Bates who finished the regular season with 1,183 rushing yards, which is 8th in the district. Bates also tallied 12 rushing touchdowns to his regular season totals. On the defensive side for Line Mountain is junior defensive end Maxim Johnson who tallied up 16 sacks in the regular season, which second in the entire state of Pennsylvania. Montgomery is led into this matchup by senior running back Coy Bryson, who finished his 2024 regular season ranked fifth among District 4 rushing yard leaders with 1,244, along with 15 rushing touchdowns. Bryson was most of the Red Raiders’ offense this season, as no other player on the team had more than 271 rushing yards. Along with that, quarterback Parker Persing didn’t even break 800 passing yards on the year, yet Montgomery still found their winning ways in 7 of their 10 games this season. The Red Raiders are also coming off of back-to-back 1-9 seasons and making their first playoff appearance under second year head coach Cory Tice. This is the first meeting between these two teams since 2009, where Line Mountain crushed Montgomery 49-0 in the first round of the playoffs, and now they meet once again in the first round.

District 4 – Class 2A

The double-A class is by far the biggest class in the district, containing 12 teams. The top 8 teams in the class qualify for the postseason, here is what the final standings looked like:

Troy is leading the way in the class, as they finished with a 10-0 regular season record for the second year in a row. In the two spot is Towanda, finishing 8-2, their best regular season finish since 2017 where they also went 8-2, after the top two we have a lot of teams with similar records. The next four spots being teams with 6-4 records, those being Loyalsock, Southern Columbia, Hughesville, and Warrior Run. In the 7 and 8 spots are Bloomsburg and South Williamsport who both finished the season 5-5.

Class 2A Matchups

(1) Troy vs (8) South Williamsport – Friday 11/1 @ 7:00 PM

Troy steamrolled their way to an unbeaten regular season, averaging a whopping 51.6 points per game on offense, and surprisingly, they’ve spread that offense out very well. The Trojans have senior quarterback Evan Woodward leading the charge on offense, and he finished the regular season with 1,181 passing yards and 17 touchdowns. Their rushing attack is led by Brendan Gilliland who totaled 667 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Troy also has 3 other running backs that have more than 300 rushing yards, one of those being their quarterback Woodward who added 318 yards on the ground and 6 touchdowns. South Williamsport comes into the matchup with a record of 5-5 which is a pretty big step down from their 8-2 record from last season. This year they’re led by senior Tadd Lusk, who leads the team in passing yards with 1,061, and freshman Cade Lusk, who is the team’s leading rusher with 553 yards and 6 touchdowns. One concern for the Mountaineers is that they have struggled against every team with a winning record they have faced this season. This includes the last matchup between these two teams where Troy blew out the Mountaineers at home 43-7 on September 6th of this year.

(2) Towanda vs (7) Bloomsburg – Friday 11/1 @ 7:00 PM

Towanda finished with an 8-2 record under first year head coach Jamie Wecker, their best regular season finish since 2017. The Black Knights highlight this year was their senior quarterback Riley Vanderpool, who finished his season with 1,050 passing yards and 6 touchdowns. Along with his passing stats, his rushing stats maybe be even more impressive, racking up 1,106 rushing yards, which is 10th in the district, and 16 rushing touchdowns. On the other side, Bloomsburg is coming into this matchup red hot. After the Panthers started their season 1-4, they finished out the year going 4-1 down the stretch, improving to 5-5 and making the playoffs for third time in 5 years under head coach Mike Kogut. The Panthers offense is led by junior quarterback Wyatt Brosious, who leads all of District 4 in passing yards with 2,068 along with 17 touchdowns. Brosious also was a impactful runner this season, finishing second on his team in rushing yards with 425 yards and 7 touchdowns, only behind their freshman running back Jharee Moore-Stewart who had 576 yards and 9 touchdowns. Brosious and Moore-Stewart made out to be a very dynamic duo down the stretch of the regular season, so it will be interesting to see what they can bring to the table against a Towanda defense that has only allowed 17 points per game on defense, including only giving more than 16 twice, those being their only two losses on the year. This will be the first matchup between Bloomsburg and Towanda since 2015.

(3) Loyalsock vs (6) Warrior Run – Friday 11/1 @ 7:00 PM

Loyalsock enters the playoffs this season with a 6-4 record, this being the 13th consecutive playoff berth since Justin Van Fleet took over as head coach in 2012. Junior running back Dolan Harman led the way for the Lancers this season, finishing with 1,212 rushing yards which was 6th in the district, and 12 rushing touchdowns. Loyalsock has made it to the district championship in two straight years, but lost both of them to Danville who has actually eliminated the Lancers each of the past three seasons. Luckily for Loyalsock, Danville is in 3A and Loyalsock was moved to 2A at the beginning of this season so they won’t have to worry about facing Danville in the playoffs this year. Meanwhile, Warrior Run also enters this year’s playoffs with a 6-4 record, however the Defenders sort of stumbled their way to the finish line, starting the season 4-0 and only winning two of their last six games. Junior quarterback James Keifer was the focal point of Warrior Run’s offense, finishing 6th in the district with 1,669 passing yards and 19 touchdowns. The Defenders’ top wide receiver Samuel Hall was also 6th in district with 778 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. This will be the second meeting between Loyalsock and Warrior Run this season, the Lancers taking the first game 24-23 on the road on October 4th.

(4) Southern Columbia vs (5) Hughesville – Friday 11/1 @ 7:00 PM

Southern Columbia is coming into the playoffs this season with a record of 6-4, which is the first time they had more than 3 losses in a season since 2010, where they also went 6-4 in the regular season and finished with a 9-5 record. This year was very different for the seven-straight defending PIAA 2A state champions, they didn’t seem like the dominant force that they have been for the past decade. Nevertheless, Southern Columbia is back in the playoffs for the 43rd consecutive year, and they’ll be led in this year by their sophomore quarterback Ayden Hockenbroch plus their powerful rushing attack. Hockenbroch finished his 2024 regular season with 1,029 passing yards and 12 touchdowns, plus 124 yards and 2 more touchdowns on the ground. The Tigers’ run game overall totaled 2,196 yards and 27 touchdowns, leading the way was junior Brayden Andrews who finished with 791 yards and 9 touchdowns on the year. Hughesville also enters the playoffs with a 6-4 record, which is their best record so far under fourth year head coach Howard Rainey. This season the Spartans are led by their senior quarterback Blake Davis who finished 9th in passing yards among District 4 quarterbacks with 1,559 and 22 touchdowns to go along with it. Hughesville’s story for this season was very similar to Southern Columbia’s down the stretch. Both teams entered week 8 with 3-4 record coming off a demoralizing home loss the previous week, and followed up their losses by winning their final 3 games to make it to 6-4. This will be the first meeting between the Tigers and the Spartans since 2021 where Southern Columbia blew out Hughesville at home 41-7.

District 4 – Class 3A

The triple-A class contained 8 schools this year, two of those schools opted out of the playoffs this year, those being 2-8 Central Columbia and 1-9 Midd-West, leaving just 6 teams in the bracket this season. Here’s how the final standings looked:

Danville leads the class, going undefeated in the regular season for the second time in the past three seasons. Lewisburg was right behind them finishing 9-1, their only loss to undefeated Shamokin. Mount Carmel grabbed the third spot with a 7-3 record and Montoursville took the fourth spot with a 5-5 record that included a blowout loss to Mount Carmel earlier this season. Right behind Montoursville is Mifflinburg who won 4 of their final 5 games to make it to the playoffs, while Milton also finished 4-6 taking the final spot.

Class 3A Matchups

(1) Danville – Bye Week

Coming off a season where quarterback Madden Patrick threw a whopping 49 touchdowns, Danville had high hopes coming into this year. Sitting with an undefeated record, the number one seed in District 4’s 3A playoff bracket, and a bye week is exactly what the Ironmen had hoped for. After throwing for 37 touchdowns during the regular season his junior year, Patrick finished the regular season of his senior year with 21 touchdowns and only 1 interception, which is down from his 2023 season. Patrick is also fourth in the district in passing yards with 1,939, which is also down from his last season’s total of 2,339, however still an impressive year nonetheless. Along his side was senior running back Bo Sheptock, who for a second straight year put up incredible rushing stats, this season rushing for 1,446 yards and 27 touchdowns. Sheptock is third in the district in rushing yards, but his touchdown total is the highest among running backs this year. Sheptock and Patrick have been the focal points of this team all year and the stats have shown it. Along with the offense, senior Cameron Kiersch leads the district in total tackles with 116 and junior Landon Kehoe is 10th in the district with 97 tackles on the year. Right now Danville awaits their opponent, which they will face at home next Friday.

(2) Lewisburg – Bye Week

After starting 2-5 in 2023, Lewisburg got it together and won their final three games of the regular season to finish 5-5 and get to the playoffs. This year the Green Dragons hoped to pick up where they left off, and that’s exactly what they did. Lewisburg wasn’t handed their first loss of the year til October 11th, where they entered the game 7-0 and lost to another undefeated District 4 squad, the Shamokin Indians. That 17-12 loss was Lewisburg’s only loss on the year and their 9-1 record is the best regular season record the Green Dragons have had since 2010 where they went 10-0. This year the team is led by senior running back Jeremiah Davis who had his best season by far this year, finishing second in the district in rushing yards with 1,641 and 21 rushing touchdowns. The Green Dragons haven’t made it to the district championship game since 2010 where they beat Danville 18-13, and this year seems like Lewisburg’s best chance to make it back. In fact, we could see a rematch of that 2010 championship game if everything goes according to plan for Lewisburg and Danville. Lewisburg sits at the two spot in the bracket and currently awaits their opponent for next Friday’s game which will be at home.

(3) Mount Carmel vs (6) Milton – Saturday 11/2 @ 7:00 PM

A huge milestone was achieved for the Red Tornadoes this year, and that was becoming the first school ever to reach 900 wins. Now, Mount Carmel has a different goal in mind as they enter the 2024 playoffs, winning their fifth state title, which is a feat they haven’t achieved since 2002. That 2002 season was also the last time Mount Carmel reached the state title game, nonetheless the goal for them remains the same. This season the Red Tornadoes were led by junior Gavin Marshalek, this year being his first season as the starting quarterback as he filled in the role of Cole Spears who graduated last season. Marshalek finished seventh in the district in passing yards with 1,668 along with 14 passing touchdowns. Marshalek’s favorite target this season was sophomore wideout Jaylen Delaney who also finished seventh in the district, racking up 768 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. Heading into 2024, Milton was coming of back-to-back 9-2 seasons, however this year they would be operating under first year head coach Matt Wilson. They didn’t come close to the mark they reached the past two years but they still made it to the playoffs with a record of 4-6. The Black Panthers were led this year by senior quarterback Izayah Minium who finished with 826 yards and 10 touchdowns. Despite going 9-1 in back-to-back years, Milton is only 1-3 in their last 4 playoff games, 2 of which were home losses. This is the second time this year that Milton and Mount Carmel will face each other, their first matchup being only two weeks ago. Mount Carmel cruised past Milton on the road in that matchup 48-28, however this time around the Red Tornadoes will have the home field.

(4) Montoursville vs (5) Mifflinburg – Saturday 11/2 @ 7:00 PM

Montoursville is back in the playoffs this year after they missed them last season which broke a streak of 5 straight playoff berths. This season they enter with a 5-5 record, however after starting 5-2 this year they lost their final 3 games including 2 straight home losses to close out the year. This year the Warriors’ season was highlighted by junior running back Christian Banks and by senior quarterback Jimmy Mussina. Banks continued to build off of his productive sophomore year, finishing seventh in the district with 1,188 yards and 13 touchdowns. While Montoursville had a late season skid, Mifflinburg surged in the second half of the year, winning 4 of their final 5 games to get to 4-6. The stats didn’t tell the whole story for the Wildcats in the first half of the year. Even though they started 0-5, 4 of their first 5 games were one score games including 1 point losses to Loyalsock and Mount Carmel. After the 0-5 start, Mifflinburg racked up wins over Milton, Southern Columbia, Central Columbia, and Midd-West to get to 4-6. The story for the Wildcats this year was senior quarterback Chad Martin who finished third in the district in passing yards with 2,043 and 23 touchdowns. Montoursville emerged victorious 27-20 on the road in the first meeting between these two sides this year, however this time Montoursville will have the home field advantage.

District 4 – Class 4A

The 4A class contains 6 schools, and the top 4 qualify for the playoffs. With Columbia Montour Area Vo-Tech opting out of the playoffs, that left 5 teams fighting for 4 playoff spots,and this is how the final standings turned out:

Shamokin came out of nowhere to finish with an undefeated regular season and take the top spot in the class, while Jersey Shore had yet another impressive regular season going 7-3 and taking the second spot. Selinsgrove and Athens both finished 5-5 however Selinsgrove had a much higher rating than Athens, giving them the third spot an the edge over Athens.

Class 4A Matchups

(1) Shamokin vs (4) Athens – Friday 11/1 @ 7:00 PM

Shamokin came out of absolutely nowhere this year, finishing with a perfect 10-0 regular season record for this first time since 1990. Offensively, sophomore quarterback Logan Steele led the charge, finishing 10th in the district with 1,260 passing yards and 18 touchdowns. The Indians also had a strong rushing attack that featured junior running backs Jayce Ginck and Za’Kem Clinton that combined for more than 1,900 yards on the ground. Steele’s favorite target, senior wideout Chase Pensyl, also had an impressive year as he finished 13th in the district with 635 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment for the Indians so far this season was closing out the season with a road win over Mount Carmel and winning the Coal Bucket game for the first time in 29 years. Now, the Indians look to keep their incredible season going and possibly make it to district championship and beyond. Meanwhile, Athens enters the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season this year. The Wildcats put together a 5-5 record this season, improving on their 3-8 record from last season. Leading the way for the Wildcats this year is sophomore quarterback Connor Davidson who led his squad in both passing and rushing yards. Davidson threw for 900 yards and 7 touchdowns this year, while his rushing stats consisted of 945 yards and 14 touchdowns. This is the first matchup between Shamokin and Athens since 1996 where they also met in the playoffs and Shamokin won by a score of 48-18.

(2) Jersey Shore vs (3) Selinsgrove – Friday 11/1 @ 7:00 PM

2024 marked Tom Gravish’s 13th season as Jersey Shore’s head coach and unsurprisingly, Jersey Shore put together another great regular season finishing 7-3 and grabbing the second spot in the bracket. This year was the first time since 2019 where the Bulldogs lost a regular season game, the past 4 years Jersey Shore had gone 35-0-1 in the regular season. This doesn’t take anything away from the Bulldogs’ season though, their only 3 losses this year came to undefeated Shamokin, and two 9-1 squads in Scranton Prep and Hollidaysburg. Senior quarterback Elijah Jordan’s remarkable season was the highlight for the Bulldogs this year, as he finished second in the district with 2,052 passing yards and 24 touchdowns. Jordan also had an amazing year rushing, leading the team with 619 yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground. Selinsgrove, just like Jersey Shore, is also coming off a 9-0-1 regular season finish from last year. In fact, that tie that both teams had in their record was a 21-21 tie against each other. The Seals’ 5-5 record is their worst regular season record since they went 4-3 in 2020, however this season had first year head coach Matt Wenrich at the wheel. Sophomore quarterback Rocco Amato was the leader on offense for the Seals, throwing for 912 yards and 6 touchdowns. All 6 of those touchdowns went to senior wide receiver Gavin Bastian, who also had 609 receiving yards, by far the most on the team. Selinsgrove’s leading rusher was senior fullback Ethan Miller, who ran for 581 yards and 7 touchdowns on the year. This is the second meeting between these two teams, Jersey Shore picking up a 55-21 win earlier this year, and this marks the fourth consecutive season where Jersey Shore and Selinsgrove matched up both in the regular season and the playoffs.

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