Banquet recap, calling all stars, Cocalico and Wyomissing X-factors: 3 L-L League football facts for Nov. 30
A hodgepodge of news and notables ... A good time was had by all Tuesday night at the annual season-ending banquet at the picturesque Timbers in Mount Gretna. It was like a meat-fest. With a pumpkin, pecan and cherry pie chaser. Anyway ... some thoughts about the all-star stuff, and, oh yeah, Cocalico and Wyomissing are still prepping for state semifinal clashes on Friday ...
. 5-for-5 with my Outstanding Back of the Year predictions. The other day I picked Manheim Township QB Hayden Johnson in Section 1; Manheim Central QB Zac Hahn in Section 2; Garden Spot QB Kye Harting in Section 3; Elco RB Jake Williams in Section 4; and Lancaster Catholic RB Elijah Cunningham in Section 5 and — voila — those players took home top offensive honors Tuesday night. Truly, truly fabulous seasons for that group: Johnson had 49 TD tosses against no picks and walked away as the fourth-leading passer in league history; Hahn had 39 TD tosses, a Barons’ single-season passing-yard record, and he landed in the 5K club; Harting went 1K pass and 1K rush for the second straight year; Williams zoomed for a league-leading 2,300-plus yards; and Cunningham had an 1,800-yard rushing season. Tip of the cap to those gentlemen. We all knew back in August that they would be the faces of the league, and they all delivered. And then some.
. Always enjoy watching the Coach-of-the-Year speeches. And they delivered on Tuesday. Very heartfelt. Very appreciative. Poignant. Very thankful — especially to their trusty assistant coaches. My favorite? Ephrata coach Kris Miller. He took a Mountaineers’ program that was down in the dumps with 52 losses in a row, and turned it into a winner; 12 victories this fall, with a tri-title in Section 3, three postseason wins and a trip to the D3-5A championship. He thanked all the other coaches in the room for having their schedules rearranged while the league let Ephrata dip down a few sections recently, to rebuild the program. Miller has rebuilt the program, all right. It was cool to watch him hoist a trophy. ... Second favorite speech? Bruce Harbach has raised a lot of trophies in his day. Big, gold trophies in Hersheypark Stadium, in fact. But when he came up to gather the Section 5 championship trophy for Schuylkill Valley, which shared the crown with Annville-Cleona and Lancaster Catholic, he raised it high, proudly, calling it the most rewarding trophy he’s ever received. Under Harbach, SV went from 2-9, to 6-5 to this year’s 9-win season, with a tri-crown (the first of any kind in program history) and a D3-3A playoff victory. He said he couldn’t wait to put the first football trophy in SV’s case for all to see. Nice moment.
SIGN UP FOR OUR $4 SPORTS PASS
. X-FACTORS: A Cocalico kid and a Wyomissing kid to keep an eye on Friday ... Cocalico DE Logan Brubaker (65 tackles, 22 TFL, 8.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble) has been an absolute menace off the edge for the Eagles. The more times he can crash Peters Township’s backfield, the better. ... Wyo DB Justice Hardy. Yep, the freshman. What a breakout season for the much ballyhooed ninth-grader, who has hit the field running this fall. He’s been great in the secondary, with a pair of pick-6 plays and any number of pass breakups along the way. Whatever he gives you out the backfield is gravy, and he’ll only get better running the all over the next three seasons. Friday vs. Northwestern Lehigh, the Spartans will need him to step it up on D — Wyo’s calling card since that mid-season loss at Cocalico. They’ve tightened things up ever since. And it’ll be all-hands-on-deck on the defensive side Friday.
More LNP L-L League football coverage
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
