Hittin’ The Road With Travelin’ Matt – Week One (Blue Streaks, Indians, Cougars & Trojans)
Tagged under: District 3, District 4, News, pfn
Matt Herring | September 2, 2024
Each week Travelin’ Matt traverses Pennsylvania attending the hottest high school football games and best match ups in the Commonwealth. Follow his exploits each week as he documents his journey from Week Zero to the Pennsylvania State Football Finals!
Wednesday, August 28
The STATE of PA Football: The Battle For The Rock
Thursday, August 29
5A #6 Manheim Township (1-0) vs. 6A #3 Central York (1-0)
Friday, August 30
4A #9 Twin Valley (1-0) vs. 4A HM Selinsgrove (1-0)
Saturday, August 31
5A #7 Bishop McDevitt (1-0) vs. 6A HM Harrisburg (0-1)
2A #1 Troy (1-0) vs. Dover – Delaware (1-0)
ROUNDTRIP – 580 MILES
Wednesday, August 28
My week began in Marietta, PA as a guest on The State of PA Football show to preview The Battle For The Rock rivalry matchup between 4A Donegal and 2A Columbia both of the Lancaster-Lebanon League. The District 3 schools presented tremendous energy on the night as Donegal brought their coaches, players and cheerleaders while Columbia had their coaches and players present for the show.
The show was easily one of the most interesting formats I’ve participated in as the night featured a panel of Donegal and Columbia alumni discussing the history of the rivalry, interviews with current players and coaches and unforgettably a spirited lineman pie eating competition also took place between the two schools. What struck me most during the night was the comradery between the two schools players despite the fiery rivalry that exists for programs separated by just five miles. It was clearly evident the coaches and players of both programs have a high level of respect for their opponents and it was refreshing to see the friendly intreaction amongst the student/athletes throughout the night.
If you missed the Battle For The Rock Show last week click the video below to get caught up on The State of PA Football…
Thursday, August 29
The first game I attended this week featured a Top 10 6A matchup with #3 Central York visiting #6 Manheim Township at Kruis Field in Lancaster. These two large-school powerhouses both were victorious in their opening week contests and were searching for an early season non-conference victory to continue their winning ways. Manheim Township raced out to an early lead with their passing game led by quarterback Carson Weisser who connected with Charlie Hill for the games first score. The Blue Streak ground attack accounted for the rest of their scoring on the night as senior running back Declan Clancy added two tallies to lead Manheim Township to a convincing 28-10 win.
Notable throughout the night was Manheim Township’s “Salute to Service” celebration to honor our nations military members. The Blue Streak players were donned in camoflague uniforms for the contest and several times during breaks during the game military members were honored by the attending crowd. Most striking, was a moment just after halftime when the son of Manheim Township Head Coach Mark Evans was brought on the field with his father to be recognized for his military service. The entire night was a proper honoring for our military and Manheim Township should be commended for their efforts.
Check out some highlights from the game at Manheim Township…
Friday, August 30
My Friday matchup took me to Elverson (just south of Reading) for the first time to witness a 4A matchup featuring #9 state ranked District 3 Twin Valley of the Lancaster-Lebanon League and District 4 Selinsgrove of the Heartland Athletic Conference.
Elverson is a wonderfully welcoming rural community and just steps inside the stadium it was discernible parents and boosters alike were heavily invested in the success of the school and football program. Locals were buzzing around the stadium preparing for the evenings big contest but were also taking time to commune with each other to catch up on their latest happenings. I witnessed numerous instances of community pride in both word and deed throughout the night and it was refreshing to see a community rally around their school at their football game.
As for on the field action Twin Valley was impressive in a 40-10 romp over visiting Selinsgrove. Twin Valley quarterback Evan Myers was elusive and effective the entire game rushing for four touchdowns including some highlight reel plays against a capable Selinsgrove defense.
Click the link below to watch one of Evan Myers’ TD runs from the game vs. Selinsgrove…
https://x.com/CCHastings1863/status/1829678547264311634?t=GmPrAx0C0dRS8EmTLorlfA&s=09
Saturday, August 31
The anticipation for my Saturday doubleheader was high beginning with 5A #7 Bishop McDevitt hosting 6A Harrisburg for the “Battle For The Burg” and unofficial City Championship. This storied rivalry had been put on hold in recent years as the two programs participated in different Mid-Penn Conference Divisions but realignment brought them back together again for a clash for the first time since 2017.
The forecast for a jam-packed stadium came to fruition as fans turned out in droves to witness the 37th installment in this super-charged rivalry. An estimated gathering of 4,000-5,000 attendees were treated to another barn-burner matchup as Harrisburg outlasted Bishop McDevitt 35-33 in overtime. McDevitt held the lead for most of the game until Harrisbug evened the score at 27-27 with just over one minute remaining before proving victorius in the overtime period.
Read all about the game and highlights in the PA Football News article below…
My quadruple-header week wrapped up one state away in Delaware at the Mid-Atlantic Pigskin Classic in Wilmington. The District 4 2A #1 state ranked Troy Trojans traveled five hours to tackle the two-time Delaware State Champion Dover Senators at beautiful Abessinio Stadium. This contest was the final game of a slate of six being held over three days in Wilmington featuring five teams from Delaware, three from Pennsylvania, one from New York and one from Maryland. As I mentioned in last weeks article I highly recommend attending this format of events as you can watch numerous games at the same venue while seeing highly competitive teams from several states.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown and Troy ventured into this game ranked #1 in their classification for the first time in program history. The Trojans have high expectations for their 2024 squad and this trip to Delaware to challenge a much larger school was an excellent early season primer for bigger tests down the road. More than 1700 students attend Dover High School in comparison to the roughly 400 who attend Troy High School and that in addition to the lengthy travel for the Trojans presented a difficult task for the visitors to emerge victorious.
While offense was at a premium throughout the contest both defenses shined all night with jarring hits and highlight plays to snuff out drives and force punts and turnovers on downs. Troy would outlast their Blue Hen State foes by a score of 8-3 in a tightly-contested game.
Check out some highlights from the Troy vs. Dover battle…
A full weekend of PA high school football games complete and nearly 600 miles driven I wrapped up my second week and headed home to plan for next weeks schedule of contests.
Follow along next week as Travelin’ Matt takes you on another PA High School Football journey.
Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews
