Central Pa. High School Football Notebook: Harrisburg hits the road and more from area teams

It’s “go time” for Pennsylvania’s high school football teams because the games start to count this week.

But it’s really been “go time” for the Harrisburg Cougars for a couple weeks now.

Few teams in the state have comparable schedules.

Harrisburg will spend the first month of the season on the road.

And the matchups are far from easy.

“We kind of joke about it,” senior receiver Donte Kent said. “Like, ‘Did you see the schedule?’ But, at the same time, we are not worrying about it. We are just taking it one game at a time.”

The Cougars, who are ranked 96th in the country in High School Football America’s preseason national poll, travel to Coatesville at 7 p.m. Friday to get things going.

Coatesville is ranked 83rd in the nation in the High School Football America poll.

And the teams know each other well.

The Red Raiders, who are led by a pair of Villanova commits — quarterback Ricky Ortega and receiver Dapree Bryant — opened last season with an impressive, 37-6, win against Harrisburg in Harrisburg.

But the Cougars knocked them off, 27-24, in the 6A title game.

So, it goes without saying, that the Red Raiders might have revenge on their minds.

“We’ve been practicing hard,” Kent said. “I expect them to bring their ‘A’ game.

“And it is a big game for us,” he added. “But we are just going to take it one game at a time.”

Things don’t get any easier for the Cougars.

They’ll travel to Ohio to take on Akron’s Archbishop Hoban for their second game at noon on Aug. 31.

Hoban is ranked 19th in USA Today’s Super 25 preseason national poll, and is 49th in the High School Football America poll.

That’s followed by dates at Cedar Cliff (9/7) and CD Eats (9/13) before its first home game against Cumberland Valley (9/21).

Harrisburg has been practicing with the tough slate in mind, and got off to a nice start in its scrimmage against Williamsport Saturday.

It’ll hope some of that momentum carries into the early season.

The following is a look at others notes and storylines for central Pennsylvania teams heading into their openers. Full schedules for this week’s Mid-Penn, Lancaster-Lebanon and Tri-Valley League games are also listed below:

From left, Cumberland Valley coach Michael Whitehead, Max Dell'Anno, Logan Ramper and Chase Myers will lead their team against Bishop McDevitt Friday. Sean Simmers | ssimmers@pennlive.com

CV on the rebound?

Coatesville won’t be the only revenge minded team Friday.

Cumberland Valley heads to Bishop McDevitt with a lot to prove.

The Eagles hosted the Crusaders last season, and took a 48-21 beating.

It was, mostly, downhill from there as CV limped to a 3-7 finish.

Credit the Eagles with showing grit down the stretch, last season, however, and the team says that helped fuel it through the offseason.

Running back Max Dell’Anno, who could be in for a big final season at CV, said this is a game the team has had circled.

The Eagles feel like a big win over the Crusaders would show they’re back.

About McDevitt

If there was ever a time to beat Bishop McDevitt, this might be it.

The Crusaders do have a bunch of talent with guys like Devyn Clair, Mario Easterly, Sawyer Morgan, Ben Marsico and Julian Jordan on the roster.

But they also might be tasked with replacing more than any other Mid-Penn team.

When quarterback Chase Diehl, receivers Nazier Burnett and T’nyis Becker and tailback CJ Reyes-Diggs graduated, McDevitt lost 8,922 yards and 106 touchdowns.

That’s a lot of offense, and it’d be ultra-impressive if the Crusaders are able to perform, at least on that side the ball, at anything close to a comparable clip early.

Blue Raiders are back

Middletown has played for three straight state titles and is 42-4 during the stretch.

But it has zero rings.

And if you talk to its players, most will swear playing for a fourth and winning their first isn’t even on their minds right now.

The Blue Raiders host Lower Dauphin Friday to open their season.

The big name is Jose Lopez, who ran for more than 2,000 yards last season and enters his senior year as the school’s all-time leading rusher.

But this is a younger Blue Raiders’ team that will need some new guys to step up.

They say that — bringing those young players along — is the focus right now.

Keep an eye on Tajae Broadie, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound sophomore that coaches and players believe is ready for a breakout.

Lower Dauphin, on the other hand, welcomes Rob Klock back as its coach and is looking to turn things around after a rough 2018.

Keep an eye on Mifflin County

The Huskies have a tough ticket in their opener Friday with State College coming to town.

But it’s a good thing in that they get to find out just how good they might be early.

More High School Football News
Complete Mid-Penn Football Schedules
Complete Lancaster-Lebanon League Football Schedules
Complete Tri-Valley League Football Schedules

State College should be good again with guys like Dresyn Green, Isaiah Edwards, Brady Dorner, Addison Darcy and Sammy Knipe on the roster.

Mifflin has some optimism though.

Keep an eye on big offensive lineman Brosnon Smith-Price, and running back Gage Schaeffer is a speedster, who nearly hit 1,000 yards last season.

What’s West Perry got?

When Kenyon Johnson stopped by PennLive’s Media Day back on July 31 he talked about looking around the offensive huddle and seeing a lot of new faces.

“It’s just me and our tight end back,” he said.

The Mustangs were once a struggling program, but after a playoff run a season ago, they’re trying to keep it going.

And having Johnson back is a good start.

He went over 2,000 yards and accounted for 28 touchdowns last season.

But a lot of production walked out the door last year.

Luke Shaffer, the tight end, had only five catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns a season ago.

Johnson will produce.

He’ll be back at quarterback, and will touch the rock on every play.

But the Mustangs’ season could be decided by how the other guys step up around him.

Cedar Cliff on the road

Cedar Cliff hopes to win the Mid-Penn Keystone this season.

Friday could tell a lot about just how good their chances of accomplishing that feat are.

The Colts will head to Governor Mifflin for their opener.

That’s a team they beat last season.

But Bobby Whalen, Donovon Ball, Chris Dare and a handful of other really good players are gone from that team.

And Mifflin returns some really exciting young players led by sophomore tailback Nicholas Singleton, who ran for more than 1,200 yards last season.

If the Colts hope to win that one, they’ll need to have all of their biggest questions answered by kick.

Luckily, things are a little simpler because of the return of 1,900-yard back Jaheim Morris, who figures to see plenty of work.

Indians say ‘run it back’

Susquehanna Township hosted Manheim Central last season hoping to show they were ready for a breakout season.

The Barons hammered them 44-0 and went on to play for a state title.

Time for a do-over.

The Indians head to Manheim Central Friday with a veteran-laden team which features some big names and high expectations.

The biggest is Penn State commit Fatorma Mulbah.

But the key to it all could be quarterback Rashaan Carlton, who’ll get one final chance to go against Central QB and Rutgers commit, Evan Simon.

Manheim Central lost some talent from its title run last season, but it didn’t build its tradition not being able to reload.

The Barons will be good.

So, this is a tough one for the Indians, and making up 44 points in a year can be a tough task.

They’d love to win, but while coach Joe Headen probably isn’t too big into moral victories, if Township can just hang with the Barons and compete, he’d probably be pleased.

Manheim Township’s turn?

One central Pennsylvania team that stick out, on paper, is Manheim Township.

The Blue Streaks are loaded with talent.

Quarterback Harry Kirk is a Colgate commit, who returns after passing for more than 2,000 yards a season ago.

And there’s plenty of playmakers around him.

The best, perhaps in all of central Pennsylvania, is a guy who didn’t do much last season.

Sophomore receiver Anthony Ivey already has a couple of college offers, and he looks the part.

Kirk and tight end Ben Mann, a Yale commit, promised at L-L media day that Ivey is the real deal.

He may end up being the star of the team, but there’s a long list of names — guys like Josh and Sam Emge, Jon Engel, Matt Mikulka and Jaden Floyd — who should be really good.

It could make for a special season for the Blue Streaks.

But they can’t overlook CD East in the opener.

The Panthers might not be getting a bunch of buzz this preseason, but Aaron Blanding’s bunch has one thing you can’t teach — speed.

Athlete Shawn Brown and tailback Bryce Baker are two of the fastest guys in central Pennsylvania, so this should be an interesting one.

Some guys to watch

Here are three more guys to keep an eye on in the openers:

Cole Wagner, FB, Red Land — Wagner is a baseball star. Legit. He’s headed to Georgia. He’s also 6-1, 210 pounds and the fastest guy on the Patriots with a 4.6, 40. He’s going to get some touches, and it should be fun to watch.

Macklin Ayers, ATH, Upper Dauphin — Ayers has been trying to convince colleges he’s a fit for them. At 6-foot-3, 210 the size and production — he accounted for more than 2,000 yards on offense and had more than 50 tackles a season ago — is there. He’s been working hard and is looking to put an exclamation point on things this season.

Danny Scott, QB, Trinity — Scott threw for more than 1,000 yards last season, but he also tossed more interceptions than touchdowns. He’s a good athlete, who said at PennLive’s Media Day that he was really excited about his team’s offensive changes. He could be in for a nice season, and he’ll need to get going early if Trinity is to have hope against a Delone team that roughed it up last season.

Below is a look at this week’s games by conference:

Mid-Penn Conference

Big Spring vs. Biglerville

Bishop McDevitt vs. Cumberland Valley

Boiling Springs vs. Littlestown

Carlisle vs. Mechanicsburg

Chambersburg vs. Greencastle-Antrim

East Pennsboro vs. Northern

Hershey vs. Palmyra

Middletown vs. Lower Dauphin

Mifflin County vs. State College

Milton Hershey vs. Annville-Cleona