Annville-Cleona Dutchmen Football – 2026 Season Outlook

A year ago, Annville-Cleona entered the season with a young group looking to take a step forward. By November, the Dutchmen had taken several.

Annville-Cleona improved from 4-6 in 2024 to 8-3, won six straight games during the heart of the season, and found itself playing for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 championship in Week 10. The Dutchmen took Berks Catholic to overtime before falling 14-7, then earned the No. 2 seed in the District 3 Class 3A playoffs and advanced to the semifinals.

It was a breakthrough season, but Head Coach Matt Gingrich isn’t interested in treating 2026 as simply a continuation of it.

Every season is independent of the one before it. For Gingrich, the focus for this year’s group begins with effort and attitude. If the Dutchmen take care of those two things, he believes the rest will follow.

What last season did provide was experience, and A-C returns plenty of it.

Seniors Jaxon Speece and Dan Shuey anchor an experienced group in the trenches, with junior Isaac Morse and Max Ortwein also returning up front. Speece and Shuey are drawing college interest, as is senior receiver/defensive back Logan Radocha.

The Dutchmen also return never say die competitor John Ditzler at quarterback and plenty of options for their Veer attack. Devon Englehart, Yama Navarro, Maddox White, Levi Kreider, Lane Peters, and Dominick Smith are among the experienced players capable of contributing out of the backfield in Annville’s ground attack that racked up over 2,600 yards a season ago. On the outside, Radocha, Jaylynn Moyer, and 6-foot-6 James Garney give A-C several experienced targets.

There are important pieces to replace. Hudson Sellers, Jon Moran, Luke Wentling, and Armani Santos have graduated after filling significant roles on both sides of the football. Moran has moved on to Juniata College, while the entire group leaves behind a leadership void that Gingrich sees as one of the biggest challenges facing this year’s team.

The Dutchmen should have candidates ready to fill it. Much of this group has already experienced close games, a Section championship race, and postseason football together.

Defensively, A-C remains in its 4-3 and brings back experience at all three levels. There is also another group pushing for larger roles, with Cory Weiss, Dominic Nash, Tanner Copenhaver, Bode Garney, and Will Green among those Gingrich expects to make an impact.

The schedule should provide plenty of opportunities to find out just how ready the Dutchmen are. A-C opens with a pair of non-league tests against Hanover and Biglerville before moving into a challenging Section 5 schedule.

The middle portion of that schedule should be particularly revealing, with Lancaster Catholic coming to Annville on September 18 before another major home test against defending Section champion Berks Catholic on October 1. From there, the Dutchmen still have plenty to navigate, including Pequea Valley, Kutztown, Hamburg, and Schuylkill Valley down the stretch.

The expectations surrounding Annville-Cleona may be different following an eight-win season and District semifinal appearance, but the message inside the program remains straightforward.

Play fast. Play physical. Play together.

If the Dutchmen do those things, Gingrich believes the results will take care of themselves.

And if they get it right, it should be “loud and fun.”

Annville-Cleona opens the 2026 season on Friday, August 28, on the road against Hanover.