No. 1 It's been a long and injury-filled road for Garry Gilliam, since he left Milton Hershey High School for Penn State four years ago. The one-time 265-pound tight end with good hands and speed is now a 303-pound offensive tackle. When Penn State coach Bill O'Brien found other tight ends he liked better, Gilliam elected to add some bulk and join the offensive line.
Gilliam closed out his high school career in the 2009 Big 33 game, in which he caught a pass from Curtis Drake for the tying touchdown with two minutes left, before Ohio went the length of the field to win.
No. 2 Fast forward to Aug. 31 before 61,202 in New York's MetLife Stadium. Gilliam flashed his tight end speed when he ran down Syracuse defensive back Brandon Reddish after a 46-yard fumble return. Reddish would have scored and PSU might not have won, 23-17, had Gilliam not caught Reddish.
No. 3 Gilliam has returned often to support his former Spartan teammates at Milton Hershey. Coach Jeff Boger's Spartans took the lead from Hershey in the 71st Cocoa Bean Bowl on Aug. 30 in the fourth quarter 15-14 on Tre Brown's 85-yard pass from Shamon Walker and two-point conversion. Hershey QB Jesse Campbell, son of former NFL and Purdue QB Scott Campbell, however, had other ideas. Campbell broke loose on a 40-yard run to set up the game-winning 10-yard run in Hershey's 20-15 win.
No. 4 On hand for the Cocoa Bean game was former Hershey QB Zack Drayer, who motored to Hersheypark Stadium after practice at St. Francis University that afternoon. Drayer said he's the starting punter for coach Chris Villareal's Red Flash and will be involved perhaps in some short-yardage plays. "I'm like the Tim Tebow at St. Francis," he said. Drayer said offensive lineman Jimmy Marks of Lower Dauphin will likely red-shirt this season, unless somebody gets hurt and he is needed.
No. 5 Injuries, of course, play a big part for any team. One of the biggest suffered Aug. 31 was a knee injury to Harrisburg's Rutgers-bound running back Robert Martin. After running for 43 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown in the Cougars' 35-14 loss to Bishop McDevitt, Martin went down in the third quarter and did not return.
No. 6 Some big performances were turned in on opening night of the football season, not the least of which was the 166 yards rushing on 23 carries by CD East's Chase Edmonds in a 23-7 win over Shippensburg. Bishop McDevitt's Andre Robinson had 129 yards rushing on 18 carries against the Cougars and Steel-High's Zedaah Moffitt needed just six carries to amass 151 yards in a 63-0 trouncing of Halifax.
No. 7 The only team possibly more impressive on opening day of the fall sports' season than Lower Dauphin field hockey was possibly Palmyra field hockey. The reigning PIAA-AAA champion Falcons of coach Linda Kreiser had everything under control in a 3-0 win at home Aug. 30 over Lancaster-Lebanon League power Hempfield. Scoring goals for LD were Aliza Mizak, Anna Smuda and Devyn Barry. Hempfield, with Stanford-bound Sarah Helgelson, visited Palmyra the next day and lost 4-0.
No. 8 In Mid-Penn girls' tennis action Aug. 30, Hershey kept its record perfect with a routine 5-0 win at CD East. Hershey's Christina Kreamer handled Lindsay Brossman of the Panthers in No. 1 singles, with other Trojans' singles victories going to Mackenzie Klinger, Saira Kothari and freshman Megan Lewis.
No. 9 In the 12th annual Hershey Boys/Girls Soccer Tournament on Aug. 31, coach Les Heggan's Hershey boys won their own tournament with a 1-0 overtime win over Manheim Township and a 2-1 win over Chambersburg in the title game. Ben Haines and Art Cronin scored goals in the title clash, while senior sweeper Dalton Awde was named MVP.
No. 10 Having a breakout game in Mid-Penn Keystone girls' soccer action Sept. 3 was Lower Dauphin junior midfielder Maddie Light, who scored three goals in a 7-3 win over Bishop McDevitt in the Falcons' Stadium. Senior Taryn Messick also had three goals as coach Nic Amici's club rolled to a 6-0 lead with 20 minutes left. Bianca Gillman also scored on a restart for LD, while the Crusaders answered with late goals from Anna Bailey, Lauren Purcell and Makenna Brezitski.