QUARRYVILLE — If you’re a Lampeter-Strasburg sports fan, surely you remember Nate Shank.
A standout on the football field and on the baseball diamond, he was a four-year starter who helped the football team win a pair of Section 2 crowns and advance to the District 3 Class AAA championship game, and who helped the baseball team reach the PIAA Class AAA state championship game in his senior season.
Nate is now playing baseball for St. Joe’s.
His little brother, Collin Shank, earned the starting QB job in his freshman season last fall (just like his big brother did in 9th grade). And after an offseason that included stops at QB camps aplenty, he’s playing better than ever.
Shank — who goes by “Bear” — had a solid game Saturday, completing 13-of-21 passes for 236 yards with two TD passes and a TD run in the Pioneers’ 37-21 Section 2 win at Solanco in the Milk Jug game.
Chatted with L-S coach John Manion several times this summer and he was quick to always give me an update about Shank’s progression and how excited he was for “Bear” to run the Pioneers’ spread Wing-T attack.
Not a great start for L-S this season; the Pioneers fell to Section 1 heavyweights Hempfield (40-7) and Penn Manor (28-14) out of the chute, before getting on track with wins over Red Lion and Solanco the last two weeks.
A lot of that has had to do with Shank, who is super comfy in the pocket, completing a great percentage (19-for-34 in L-S’s two wins), and he’s piloted the Pioneers to two wins in a row, gathering some steam as the Section 2 slate settles in.
Caught up with Shank on Saturday after L-S’s win at Solanco and chatted nicknames, big brothers and playing QB. Take a look.
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