It's only five and a half weeks before high school football season kicks off and there's really not much more for your reliable YDR/SN prep sports reporter to think about other than the fast approaching Friday night action. After spending some time pouring over the schedules of the 22 YAIAA football teams, I've come up with these six contests over the season's first seven weeks that should be pivotal for one reason or another.

See the full list after the jump. Utilize the comments section to critique my choices and/or add another game you deem worthy for the list.

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon YAIAA football

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The Susquehannock softball team has been to something very close to softball hell and back, surviving a 17-inning marathon in one game and staging an unlikely two-out comeback in the seventh inning in another to keep their hopes of repeating as PIAA Class AAA champions alive.

And with an undefeated Milton team that beat the two teams that finished ahead of Susquehannock in the District 3 tournament up next, the Warriors may have their toughest still to come. Right?

During the Warriors final practice before Friday's noon title contest against the Black Panthers at Shippensburg, Megan Sheaf said she doesn't think so.

"I mean, it'll probably be close," Sheaf said. "But we know the pain of extra innings. We'll probably jump on them quicker and get it over with."

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon

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Battling Penn Hills for the second-place spot in Pool A, the Panthers took down the Indians 25-21 in a one-game tiebreaker to advance to Saturday's semifinals at 11 a.m., when they will play Pool B winner Hempfield.

Check Saturday's print edition for more details from Friday's action.

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon

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A victory in the third pool play match against Emmaus, which is scheduled for 4:50 p.m., still might not be enough to secure a spot in the semifinals. Since Penn Hills beat Emmaus in the other early afternoon match in Pool A, the path to Saturday for Central York becomes a little more complicated.

If Central wins and Penn Hills beats Cumberland Valley, the Panthers are definitely in. That scenario is simple enough.

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon

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The Golden Knights will take on the Spartans to determine the Pool A champion. The first-place finisher will play the second place team from Pool B in Saturday's 9 a.m. semifinal round, while the secondplace squad will take on the Pool B champion.

The semifinal berth is just one of several firsts for a program that did not begin varsity competition until 2001.

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon

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The absurdity of national high school volleyball rankings notwithstanding, the expectations were high for Central this season. But after a 24-26, 25-22, 25-23 loss to Penn Hills (the third place team from District 7), the Panthers are on the brink of elimination from the PIAA Class AAA tournament.

Next up for Central is Cumberland Valley at 1:50 this afternoon. CV took down Central in the District 3 semifinals last week and went on to win the District title. If the Panthers lose to CV again and Penn Hills beats District 11's Emmaus, Central's season is over.

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon

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"The warm-up didn't go so well in terms of the hitting," Thompson said. "But it turned out I think that was just the depth perception. Once they settled down after the warm-up, they were ready to play."

Indeed. To the tune of a 25-20, 25-10, 25-19 sweep of District 7 second-place finisher Greater Latrobe to climb to the top of Pool A of Class AA after one of three matches along with Wyomissing, which took down Northern York in its first match.

The top two teams from each of the two pools advance to Saturday's semifinals and the 3-0 sweep puts Eastern in a strong position with two more three-game matches left to play.

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon

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The Eastern York boys' volleyball team hasn't earned much statewide recognition this year. At least two of the teams' players said that could work to the team's advantage at the PIAA tournament in State College this weekend.

In the most recent poll of the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association, the recently-crowned District 3 champion Golden Knights are ranked sixth in the state, behind four teams from District 10 as well as top-ranked Ambridge, the District 7 champion. The week before the Knights were in the No. 8 spot after spending the entire season until that point out of the rankings.

Senior starters Eric Chronister and Mike Kraft both said they were unaware of and unconcerned with the latest rankings.

"It's not a bad thing not to be ranked," Kraft said. "You don't need to be noticed and you don't want to be noticed. You want to be under the radar and come in and surprise a bunch of teams. That plays a big part in the game. The below-the-radar team has got the advantage."

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon

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Spring Grove boys' volleyball coach Bill Hahn knows how much of an asset height can be in his sport. He also knows how much his club is lacking in that area and the disparity was obvious during the Rockets' District 3 Class AA quarterfinal loss to Wyomissing on Wednesday.

"You look at the two teams out there and we're the smurfs and obviously they have a little more height than us," Hahn said.

The Spartans featured four players in their starting lineup standing at least 6-foot-3, including 6-foot-6 senior Doug Weidman. Spring Grove does not list players' heights on its roster, but it was clear that the Rockets were much more vertically challenged than the Spartans.

Even so, the Rockets managed to take a game off of Wyomissing thanks to strong defense and steady play. And with their success this year, it seems like Spring Grove is the best small team in the district.

But will that be enough to earn a PIAA tournament berth?

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon

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William Penn junior fullback/linebacker Brandon Walker is getting some attention from Division I football programs, along with his wide receiver teammate Malik Generett. Both are helping their own prospects with their performance in the classroom.

Walker is taking it a step further -- he has already mapped out his academic journey as well as an initial career plan.

Schools like Vanderbilt and Harvard are giving Walker a hard look and the William Penn junior said academics is going to play a major role in his school choice. But no matter where he goes, Walker knows he wants to major in political science. And once he graduates, he want to get involved in community activism.

"I just want to be involved and give faith to young black males," said Walker, who sports a 3.97 GPA. "I want them to know that our voice counts and we can be a part of stuff from a political standpoint instead of just being professional athletes or just having a success in music or something. We can have an impact in something that really counts and better our nation."

Posted in Prep sports Sean McLernon YAIAA football

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