PIAA District 3 Playoff Preview
Tagged under: District 3, News, pfn, Playoffs
Billy Splain | November 2, 2023
District 3 Class A
Steelton-Highspire vs Halifax
The winner will get Belmont Charter out of Philadelphia. The winner of that game gets the winner of the D5 bracket. So here’s the skinny. We all know the Rollers are a perennial powerhouse, returning state champs, have record breaker Alex Erby at qb, brother Andrew on the line. This Roller team is as good, if not better, than last years edition. Durrell Ceasar is a very dangerous receiver as is Jaeion Perry. The defense does have a few holes and can be exposed, however, Halifax probably isn’t the team to do so. Teegan Carroll around 175 passing yards per game, Isaac Miller carries the load on the ground, but the Wildcats just don’t match up well with the Rollers on either side of the ball.
District 3 Class 2A
Annville-Cleona v Camp Hill
Gotta hand it to the Dutchmen. They put together a nice regular season. They hold a quality win over 9-1 Lancaster Catholic and were a point away from taking down 3A Schuylkill Valley. They average 330 yards a game, and almost all of that yardage comes on the ground. Quarterback Cam Connelly and running backs Bryce Keller and Cael Harter lead the way for Annville-Cleona on the ground. Camp Hill has also put together a nice but at times disappointing season. They cam up one point short against Trinity, a td short against Middletown and lost a OT heartbreaker to Big Spring. Their other losses came to Steel-High and West Perry, both top teams in 3A. Not a high scoring offense, but quarterback Drew Branstetter can sling the rock. He’s thrown for over 2100 and his targets of choice are Noah Doi and Alex Long. Defensively, both teams have the ability to make the stop. This should be a competitive game.
Trinity v Delone Catholic
If the Shamrocks can get Messiah Mickens rolling, it’ll be a long day for Delone Catholic. Trinity (7-3) is in search of that “significant win” and they came close two weeks ago against Steel-High. The 6-4 Squires do have that, a 14-6 win over Littlestown. Gage Zimmerman and Brady Dettinburn have combined for nearly 2,000 yards on the ground for the Squires. Mickens and Christian Joy have covered over 1,700 for the ‘Rocks. The quarterbacks battle goes to Caleb Wray with nearly 1,300 yards in the air and 20 tds. Denver Ostrum has almost exactly half that stat line. Both teams are near 30 points per game. This looks like a great matchup on paper. Looking forward to seeing what the live version brings.
District 3 Class 3A
Schuylkill Valley v Littlestown
With powerhouse Wyomissing waiting in the wings, the 8-2 Panthers and 8-2 Bolts would be best served with a big lead early to get their starters a little rest at the end of the game. For Littlestown, it’s Colby Hahn running the ball with Quarterback Alex Popoff running the air show. Respectively they’ve helped lead Littlestown to 1,924 passing yards and 1,498 rushing yards. Dylan Herr also totes the rock. The Panthers will counter with Logan Nawrocki behind center. He’s thrown for over 1,700 yards and 19 tds. Dominic Giuffre missed 5 games with a broken arm, but he’s back and ready to go. His first game back he rolled for 188 yards. Cooper Hohenadel will also help carry the load for the Panthers. Overall, this looks to be one of the better games of the weekend.
West Perry and Bermudian Springs
West Perry and Bermudian Springs will battle it out for the right to face Lancaster Catholic. 9-1 West Perry is led by quarterback Marcus Quaker who’s thrown for 1,500+ and rushed for over 950, scoring 27 times. Quakers main target is Ian Goodling. Goodling has hauled in 43 passes for over 700 yards. Brad Hockenberry has run for 800 yards. This is an offense that can light up the field on any given day. For the 6-4 Eagles, they’ll need to keep pace on offence. Tyson Carpenter has thrown for just over 1,000 yards and junior Eddie Seabright had covered over 700 stripes.
District 3 Class 4A
Milton Hershey v Eastern York
The 5-5 Spartans and 7-3 Golden Knights will take to the field for the right to face defending champs Bishop McDevitt. The resurgent Knights, led by new head coach Anthony Sottasante, are led by quarterback Quinn Bramble. Bramble has thrown for over 1,300 yards and his receivers have found the endzone 12 times. Jonathan Rose and Quez Robinson lead the way in receptions. On the ground it’s all Nuhsi Valenti who’s run for nearly 800 yards along with Levi Ayala. The Spartans will counter with Jason Burney at qb and Elijah Johnson carrying the ball.
ELCO v Big Spring
Twin Valley awaits the winner of this game. ELCO will run the ball. Make no mistake about it. And it’s all about stopping Jake Williams for the Bulldogs. Many have tried, few have succeeded. Williams is averaging 12.6 yards per carry with nearly 2,000 yards and 26 trips to the endzone. Steven Rosado has the responsibility of handing the ball over to him. As a team, the Raiders have piled up nearly 3,000 yards on the ground. For the Bulldogs, they too have a vaunted rushing attack led by Connor Green and Grant Hall. The duo has combined for over 2,000 yards on the ground.
East Penn and Lampeter-Strasburg have a bye and will meet next week as will Manheim Central and Susquehanna Twp.
District 3 Class 5A
Hershey v Exeter Township
Mark Painter’s Trojans have had and up and down season after starting 3-0. Angel Cabrera is a stud carrying the ball. He’s run for over 1,400 yards this year reaching the pay stripe 20 times. Cameron Sweeney is a solid player behind center and has accounted for nearly 1,000 yards and has scored 10 times. The 9-1 Eagles come at you many ways. Riley Martinez has thrown for over 1,200 yards with 12 td passes, Jayden Zandier has carried the ball for 1,136 yards and Pharrell Caceres has over 500 on the ground as well. Exeter is definitely the favorite here averaging over 35 points per game. The Trojans are managing an average of 24 ppg. The winner gets New Oxford next week.
Ephrata v Lower Dauphin
On paper this game could be over quick if the Falcons don’t get pressure on Sam McCracken. The senior signal caller has thrown for over 1,700 yards and is also a danger to run having compiled over 300 on the ground. Brayden Brown is the main ball carrier for the Mountaineers with over 900 yards. For the Falcons, Dakota Sary and Carter Burton have combined for 1,500 rushing yards. The Falcon Defense has work to do if Lower Dauphin is going to get the win here. Garden Spot is waiting in the wings.
South Western v Greencastle-Antrim
Both teams enter this contest at 7-3, but it’s the Mustangs with the advantage on offense. South Western is averaging a respectable 31 points per game with the Blue Devils skating by with just over 16 points per game. The Mustangs are led by Quarterback Bryce Graham. The senior has nearly 1,300 yard in the air but its the ground game that keeps the Mustangs running. Austin Rollman has 950 yards with 17 trips into the paybox. The Blue Devils hope to get Xzavier Ramsey going on the ground with Carter Coons at his side. Logan Alvey is an accurate thrower, having connected on 63% of his throws. The winner gets Cedar Cliff in the next round.
Conestoga Valley v Dover
An interesting matchup for sure. The 8-2 Buckskins have a quality win over Exeter Twp. while Dover also has a good win over Eastern York. The Buckskins have piled up over 3,000 yards of offense this season scoring an average of 30 points each time out. They’re led by quarterback William Cheek who has thrown for 1,100 + this year. A well balance offense with Jayden Johnson running for over 900 yards and three other backs who have crossed the 200 yard mark carrying the ball. Dover also has a well balanced offense and has piled up nearly 4,000 yards of offense while averaging 29 points per contest. Aric Campbell has thrown for 2,000 yards and 19 td passes. On the ground its a three headed brigade of Campbell with 500, Drew Jones with 400 and Garon Quillens leading the way with 600+ yards. On paper, this looks to be a high scoring game. The winner gets a red hot Cocalico team.
There are no 6A games in district three this week. They’ll begin their Trip to the Chap next week.
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