MANHEIM — And so it begins.
Lancaster-Lebanon League Football 2013 is officially upon us.
The league hosted its annual Media Day festivities Friday morning at Enck’s Catering and Conference Center in Manheim, and it was a packed house.
Many hot dogs, sausages, cookies and iced teas were consumed.
And some real work got done. I promise.
Some notable L-L League football items …
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: Penn Manor senior thumper Charles Bell should make plenty of bone-jarring stops from his LB spot this season for the Comets. The Lancaster Catholic transfer — he helped the Crusaders win the state title in his sophomore season before heading to Penn Manor — is getting plenty of attention from the college ranks. Bell has six scholarship offers in his pocket: Delaware, Villanova, Towson, New Hampshire, Fordham and Robert Morris are all knocking. Bell will also blow stuff up from his RB spot this fall for the Comets, who are expecting to push kingpin Wilson for Section 1 honors.
PODCAST: CHARLES BELL INTERVIEW
SPEAKING OF OFFERS: Hempfield thumper interior lineman Joey Goodhart is going to have a big decision to make in his near future. Also an outstanding upper-weight wrestler, he’ll not only have to pick a college, but pick a sport. And plenty of colleges are knocking at his door. For football, Goodhart has heard from Colgate, Delaware, Fordham, Lafayette, Lehigh, Stonybrook and Temple. And for wrestling, Goodhart has heard from Drexel, Lehigh and Penn. Decisions, decisions. He certainly can’t go wrong with any of those institutions of higher learning.
NOT SPILLING THE BEANS JUST YET: Penn Manor o-tackle Mitchell Sweigart, one of the top trench dudes in the L-L League, said he has made his college decision. But the 6-6, 255-pound specimen said he’s not quite ready to let the cat out of the bag. So stay tuned for Sweigart’s big announcement. He’s been linked to several Ivy League schools during his recruiting process.
WELCOME ABOARD: Lancaster Catholic has landed a couple of transfers that you might recognize. First and foremost, QB C.J. Gantz, who started for McCaskey last year and passed for 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s vying for the starting gig at Catholic, and coach Bruce Harbach said he really likes Gantz’s athleticism and physicality. Hoops fans might know Gantz’s little brother, Kobe, who also shifted over to Catholic from McCaskey, where he ran the point for the Red Tornado's basketball team last winter. He’s a wideout with plenty of speed to burn. Catholic also added QBs Taylor Lentz from Warwick and Jordan Scott from Manheim Township via transfer. Scott’s big brother, Brennan, was a four-year starter at QB for the Blue Streaks and he’s at Old Dominion University.
AND THE WINNER IS: Took a very informal poll during Media Day festivities, and the consensus for section favorites shook down this way …
Section 1 — Wilson, but most folks said this might be the season that someone picks off the Bulldogs for the first time since 2007. Stop me if you've heard that one before. The other favorites: Lancaster Catholic and Penn Manor.
Section 2 — Heard Manheim Central from most coaches, but defending champ Cocalico was usually in the same sentence. Manheim Central at Cocalico is October 4. Go ahead and circle that one now. In ink.
Section 3 — Garden Spot, Garden Spot and Garden Spot. The Spartans ran the table in their Section 3 debut last fall, and they got the nod to repeat in their final season in Section 3 before going back up to Section 2 in 2014.
NOBODY ASKED ME BUT: Haven’t finished off the section prediction column just yet. But I will say this — There should be some pretty exciting races this time around. The only clear-cut favorite I see on paper is Garden Spot in Section 3. But the Section 1 and Section 2 races should be dandies.
HEADING TO HERSHEY: When you think District 3 and you think football stadiums, Hersheypark Stadium — host of the district and PIAA finals — is usually the first venue that jumps to mind. Cedar Crest will play in Hersheypark Stadium two times this season — in back-to-back weeks. The Falcons play Lower Dauphin on September 6 and Hershey on September 13. LD and Hershey use Hersheypark Stadium as their home fields, and Cedar Crest is heading there for a 2-game road trip in September. The Falcons would much rather be going in late November for the district finals. But two games in two weeks in the biggest venue in District 3 is still pretty cool. Enjoy the chocolate.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Here’s a neat story — Senior Mike Marakowski is set to come back from injury and play offensive line and linebacker for Annville-Cleona this season. Meanwhile, across town, Paul Marakowski, Mike’s brother, will suit up for Cedar Crest. Mike is enrolled at Lebanon Catholic and plays football for A-C thanks to a co-op between the schools. He’s one of two Lebanon Catholic students who play football for the Little Dutchmen, along with TE-DE John Groh. Paul, a junior, didn’t play football the last two seasons while he concentrated on swimming and ice hockey. Mike’s and Paul’s little brother, Matt, a sophomore at Cedar Crest, also plays ice hockey and lacrosse for the Falcons. Paul is slated to be a back-up tight end and d-end for Cedar Crest. Mike and Paul and Matt, oh my. That’s a lot of Marakowskis, all playing sports in Lebanon County.
NEW LOOK: Scott Shelley is set to begin his second season as Ephrata’s head coach, and he’s made some changes — cosmetically. The Mountaineers will be breaking in some new uniforms and new helmets this season. So keep an eye out for that. Shelley, his staff — which includes former Ephrata coach Merv Witmer and former Cocalico coach Phil Kauffman — and his players also have bracelets that say "brick by brick", for rebuilding Ephrata's program — one day, one practice and one game at a time. The Mounts are hoping to build on last year's 2-8 campaign.
NEW LOOK II: A new offensive scheme at Conestoga Valley, where first-year coach Mark Pieters has installed the Wing-T. The Buckskins featured a Power-I set under former coach Tom Nichols, who stepped down following last season to take a position at Coatesville. When you think CV over the years, you usually think air-it-out spread attack under Jim Cantafio and Gerad Novak, and then the I-back set in recent vintage. So the Wing-T will take some getting used to in Witmer. But the players seemed exciting about it Friday.
COMING SOON: L-L League football coverage galore. We’ve started posting our Countdown to Camp preview capsules. And I’ll be posting video interviews from Media Day — one from all 23 teams. So stay tuned for that, and plenty more.