This feature recaps last weekend’s action from the youth football organizations that chose to partner with LebCoSports.com. Much of the reporting below is written by the dedicated volunteers within these organizations.
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Falcon Youth Football
Red Rose Midget Football League Age group information
v Manheim Central
B (4-4) Cedar Crest over Manheim Central
C (8-0) Cedar Crest 13, Manheim Central 12
D (3-5) Manheim Central over Cedar Crest
The Falcon “B” Team showed their hunger from the onset of the season, but in recent weeks that momentum has shifted towards rewarding them for the hard work they have been putting into becoming better football players. In this week’s contest against Manheim Central, it was Rory Smyth who found the end zone first for the Falcons. Central responded to tie the game. However, the Falcons were able to rely on their run game and Jewelz Hernandez found the end zone. A strong defensive effort kept the Barons in check. Notably, Grey Shaffer and Urijah Gibble have made the defensive line into a dominate force, causing many turnovers and getting their share of sacks. It was that pressure on the quarterback that led to a Smyth interception late in the game, giving the Falcons a chance to go into victory formation.
The Falcon “C” Team approached their game with rival Manheim Central as a rivalry match-up. The strong winds changed the game plan, but the Falcon rushing attack compensated for the inability to throw the ball. Jaden Rosenthal got the party started with an 18-yard rushing touchdown. Manheim Central then scored two straight times to take a 12-6 lead. Midway through the 4th quarter, Rosenthal took it up the middle and found his way into the end zone. A successful conversion made it 13-12. The Falcon Defense held the Barons for the rest of the game, giving the Falcons the victory. The Offensive Line was once again dominant throughout the game, carving out huge running lanes for the squad of talented running backs. With that, the Falcons moved to 8-0 on the season.
The Falcon “D” Team had a tough battle against Manheim Central on Saturday night. Unfortunately, Manheim Central’s defense was able to shut down the Falcon offensive efforts. The one bright spot was Boston Speece’s huge run with Cash Shaffer leading the way providing a big downfield block to secure the D Team’s only touchdown. The Falcons are hungry to get back on the field and end the season on a high note. They will leave it all on the field in search of a win in their final game of the season against Garden Spot!
Up Next: In the final week of the regular season, the Falcons will host Garden Spot in a game that will be played on the turf at Earl Boltz Stadium.
Lebanon Friendship Cedars
Red Rose Midget Football League Age group information
v Octorara
B (2-4)
C (3-3)
D (1-4-1)
Scores were not reported this week. We will work to get them and update as soon as possible.
Up Next: Lebanon will play its final round of games against Manheim Township – Blue.
Lebanon Raiders
CFA – Federal Conference Age group information
@ Lower Dauphin
Midgets (1-7) Lower Dauphin 54, Raiders 30
Ponies (2-6) Lower Dauphin 12, Raiders 6
Peewees (1-7) Lower Dauphin 26, Raiders 0
Smurfs Exhibition/Skill Development
Myerstown Panthers
Berks Area Youth Football League Age group information
@ Pequea Valley
Midget (4-2) Myerstown 36, Pequea Valley 0
Mites (1-4) No results reported
Mighty Mites (2-2-1) No results reported
Last Sunday, Myerstown Midgets traveled to Pequea Valley for the season finale against the Braves. Myerstown scored early and often, and the Panthers defense smothered the Braves. Myerstown won the contest 36-0.
Finishing their regular season at 4-2, they are the #3 seed in the playoffs of BAYFL, behind the Oley Valley Lynx and the Schulkyll Valley Panther (both 5-0-1 after playing to an exciting 0-0 tie in Week 1).
Up Next: Myerstown will play Schuylkill Valley this Sunday at Kutztown University at 9am. Myerstown lost the battle of the big cats two weeks ago, 12-6. The decisive play in that game was when Schuylkill Valley returned the 2nd half kickoff for a touchdown. Myerstown then fumbled on the 12-yard line with under 2 minutes to go in the game.
Northern Lebanon Vikings
CFA – Federal Conference Age group information
@ Palmyra Cougars – Bologna Bowl
Midgets (6-2) Vikings 20, Cougars 6
Ponies (8-0) Vikings 12, Cougars 7
Peewees (3-5) Cougars 16, Vikings 0
Smurfs Exhibition/Skill Development
This week the Northern Lebanon Vikings traveled to Palmyra to take on the Cougars for the final week of the regular season with the coveted Bologna Bowl on the line.
The Midget Game was a very entertaining game with playoff seeding, the CFA Division 3 title, and 1/3 of the Bologna Bowl trophy at stake. The 1st half was all Palmyra. Penalties and three turnovers gave the Cougars a 6-0 lead at halftime. After some adjustments, the Vikings came out firing on all cylinders in the 2nd half. A Ryan Clemmer interception sparked the Vikings scoring spree. Quarterback Blake Burdick took the 1st touchdown in for the Vikings after the interception. It didn’t take the midgets long to score again as Christian Anspach was able to scoop and score on the ensuing mishandled kickoff by Palmyra. This play gave the Vikings a 12-6 lead. On the following drive, the defensive front of Mason Adams, Landon Graby, Nolan Brubaker, and Kaiden Killian was able to pin the Cougars deep in their own territory. A blocked punt on 4th down spurred the Vikings third score of the quarter via a Christian Spencer touchdown run. The Van Winterstwo-point kick gave the Vikings a 20-6 lead that would become the final score of the game.
The Viking Pony team was able to secure the Bologna Bowl trophy for the NLMFA after defeating the Cougars 12-7. The Pony team did not only walk away with the Bologna Bowl, but they also completed an undefeated regular season, won the CFA division 3 title, and claimed the #1 seed for the playoffs. After a scoreless 1st quarter the Vikings were able to score on a Luke Bennethum touchdown run early in the 2nd quarter. They then scored once again on a Sam Kline touchdown run with :03 remaining in the half. Although the Vikings gave up a touchdown in the 2nd half, the defensive front of Greyson McQuaide, Blayze Kimm, EY Bonilla, Sam Kline, and Ray Hoy for the Pony team was once again a very tough group that gave the Cougars issues when trying to gain yards.
The Northern Lebanon Peewee team battled with the Cougars, but fell short by a score of 16-0. The defense started strong for the Vikings when a goal line stand ended with a fumble recovery by Luke Shireman. On the ensuing drive, the offense had a hard time gaining yards and it ended in a safety on behalf of the Cougars. Led by Isaiah Stokrp, Braiden Harris, and Beckett Wetzel the defense played well, but the Vikings could not muster many yards against the Cougar defense.
The Northern Lebanon Smurfs ended the day of football with a well-played game. Although the Vikings failed to reach the end zone, Brantley Bennethum carried the ball well for the Vikings and the defense showed a lot of improvement.
Up Next: Looking ahead, the Vikings return to Palmyra this weekend for the first round of the CFA Federal Conference playoffs. The #4 seed Viking’s Midget team plays the #5 Northern Polar Bears on Saturday at Noon. The #1 seed Pony team plays #8 Steelton at 1:30PM on Saturday and the #8 seed Peewees play the #1 Swatara Tigers on Saturday at 3:00PM.
The Viking’s Smurf team will end their season at the annual Smurf Bowl on Sunday at Big Spring High School.
In game photos by Susan Dengler
Palmyra Cougars
CFA – Federal Conference Age group information
v Northern Lebanon Vikings – Bologna Bowl
Midgets (5-3) Vikings 20, Cougars 6
Ponies (5-3) Vikings 12, Cougars 7
Peewees (6-2) Cougars 16, Vikings 0
Smurfs Exhibition/Skill Development
A recap was not available this week. However, for some details on the action, check out the Northern Lebanon recap. If we get more information, we will update this article.
Up Next: Palmyra will host the 1st round of Federal Conference Playoffs this Saturday and Sunday. For their part, the Ponies will play Saturday against Red Land. On Sunday, the Midgets will also play Red Land, while the PeeWees will play against Northern York.
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