Week 1 Lightning Round
It's about 24 hours until the football season begins. Here are some quick takes to keep in mind before the first whistle is blown:
Best game: West York at Central York. These schools are two of the strongest in the area, bringing back a ton of talent from squads that made the playoffs last year. But there is more to this contest than just a couple of skilled squads battling in the season opener. These guys have built up a bit of a rivalry over the last few seasons and will almost certainly battle to the finish again this year. In 2006, West York picked up a 20-14 victory. Last year, Central battled back from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to win 23-19, but the Bulldogs reeled off 10 straight victories and advanced further in the Class AAA playoffs than Central did in Class AAAA. The game clearly means a lot and these two teams will certainly put on a show.
Most at stake: Dallastown. The Wildcats started 0-3 last season and still managed to make the playoffs by winning six of its last seven games, making a strong argument that early-season play doesn't necessarily make or break a team's season. The thing is, one of those five late-season wins was a 14-7 victory over York Suburban. If the Wildcats can't beat the Trojans again this year, their chances of keeping the "legacy living" with a return to the playoffs and a spot near the top of the Division I standings won't look nearly as good.
Earliest effect of YAIAA realignment: York Catholic's road trip. After being dropped down to Division III, the Fighting Irish were left scrambling for a season-opening opponent. They ended up getting a game with Pius X up in Bangor, forcing the Irish to travel more than 250 miles round trip. York Catholic officials have been resistant to the realignment from the start and have expressed concerns about rising travel costs.
Best way to guarantee a season-opening win: Schedule Carson Long. Hanover is coming off a 1-9 season and have a new coach implementing a new system -- wins are going to be hard to come by in 2008. Well, wins are going to be hard to come by after Week 1. The Nighthawks take on a Carson Long team on Saturday that not only lost all 12 of its games last season, but failed to even score in eight of them.
YAIAA school most likely to beat a Mid-Penn team: Delone Catholic. There are six games this week where a YAIAA team takes on a squad from the Mid-Penn (Cumberland Valley at Red Lion, Millersburg at Delone Catholic, Bermudian Springs at Northern York, Biglerville at Camp Hill, Gettysburg at South Western and New Oxford at Waynesboro). If the YAIAA can pick up three wins against what is considered the area's premier league, it can boost its reputation. But three or more wins seem less than likely with these matchups. The Mustangs have a decent shot against Gettysburg at home, but I feel most confident about the Squires taking care of business.
EDIT: As pointed out below by commenter Stroupy2, Millersburg is a Twin Valley team and does not play in the Mid-Penn. So there may be no victories at all for the YAIAA. I imagine that would be somewhat disappointing for the league.
Most historic moment: Northeastern-East Juniata kickoff. I know that the Bobcats have already had freshman and junior varsity seasons and have been practicing and scrimmaging at the varsity level all month. But football doesn't officially arrive until the first game begins.
For the only time this season, everybody is undefeated going into this week's games. Hope and optimism are everywhere. It's kind of nice. Enjoy it while you still can.
Stroupy2 · August 28, 2008 7:29 PM
Millersburg is NOT in the Mid-Penn they are in the Twin-Valley! Therefore you would have to go with either Southwestern or New Oxford.