Sending you off into the summer with a pile of L-L League football notables …
* L-L League media day is set for Friday, Aug. 4. That same morning, I’ll start my daily “3 facts” posts, which will run through the very last day of the season — whenever that turns out to be. Last year it was Dec. 3, after Cocalico reached the PIAA-5A state semifinals, capping off an excellent postseason journey by the Eagles.
* L-L League heat acclimatization practices — always tricky the first time I have to type “acclimatization” every year; thank you, spell-checker — begin Monday, Aug. 7. Training camps begin one week later, on Monday, Aug. 14. Stay hydrated, gentlemen.
* L-L League scrimmages are the weekend of Aug. 18-19. Haven’t sorted those out quite yet, but most teams usually play on that Friday — the 18th — now. Stay tuned for a scrimmage schedule post at some point this summer.
* Week 1 — and it is Week 1; don’t let anyone tell you differently — games are Friday, Aug. 25. That will be here before you know it.
* A trio of new coaches will guide their teams through summer drills: Say hello to Ed Smith at Octorara, Anthony Sottasante at Donegal and J.D. Okuniewski at Daniel Boone. … Smith succeeds Jed King, who was the only coach in the history of Octorara’s football program. … Okuniewski, a former Daniel Boone QB during his prep playing days in Birdsboro, replaces Rob Flowers. … Sottasante is back for his second head-coaching gig in the L-L League; he previously skippered Columbia. Now he’s guiding his alma mater in Mount Joy.
* There are six (6) Thursday games on the 2023 schedule — four in Week 2, leading into Labor Day Weekend.
Week 2: Thursday, Aug. 31
Cedar Crest at CD East
Garden Spot at Lebanon
Annville-Cleona at Elco
Upper Perkiomen at Schuylkill Valley
Week 9: Thursday, Oct. 19
Central York at Reading
Week 10: Thursday, Oct. 26
Lebanon at Cedar Crest (Cedar Bowl in the regular-season finale)
* Wyomissing will play its customary five Saturday afternoon home games — against Berks Catholic, Elco, Donegal, Conrad Weiser and Octorara — and there are three other Saturday games on the slate:
Week 2: Saturday, Sept. 2
Pequea Valley at Octorara, 11 a.m. (Brave Bowl!)
Week 3: Saturday, Sept. 9
Northern Lebanon at York Tech, 1 p.m.
Week 7: Saturday, Oct. 7
Ephrata at Fleetwood, 7 p.m.
FYI: Wyomissing won’t open its home schedule until after a 3-game road trip to get the season started. The Spartans — who will open defense of their four straight D3 championships — open up at Kennard-Dale, at Pottsville and at Trinity before returning to their friendly confines in Week 4 to host backyard bitter rival Berks Catholic in the Holy War. That will be the first of three straight home games for Wyo to even out its home-away slate.
* Hempfield also faces a 3-game road trip; the Black Knights are at York, at Central York and at McCaskey in Weeks 2-3-4. … Penn Manor is also staring at a 3-game road trip; the Comets are at Solanco, at Cedar Crest and at Reading in Weeks 3-4-5, before coming home to Millersville to host Hempfield in the Battle of 462 trophy game. … Conestoga Valley has a 3-game homestand on its docket; the Buckskins will welcome Garden Spot, Warwick and Solanco in Weeks 3-4-5 for a little home cooking in Witmer. … Manheim Central is facing a 3-game road trip, including an out-of-state bus ride. The Barons will play Smyrna (Del.) in Delaware, before local road trips to Cocalico and Susquehannock in Weeks 2-3-4. More on that Smyrna game in a bit. Keep reading. … Longest road trips of the season? That goes to Muhlenberg and Annville-Cleona, which are both facing four straight games away from home base. The Muhls are at Reading, at Daniel Boone, at Lebanon and at Governor Mifflin in Weeks 2-3-4-5; the Little Dutchmen are at Elco, at Littlestown, at Hamburg and at Columbia, also in Weeks 2-3-4-5, as A-C starts it trek to get back to the D3-2A title game. … Warwick, which played eight away game last fall because of construction in and around Grosh Field, gets a whopping seven home dates this season, including games with Cocalico, Ephrata and Cedar Crest in Lititz right out of the chute, and then a 4-game homestand later, with Exeter, Souderton, Muhlenberg and Lebanon coming to Warwick in Weeks 6-7-8-9. … Was keeping my fingers crossed for a Solanco home Saturday date on Quarryville Fair weekend, but alas, it didn’t happen: The Golden Mules will host Ephrata on Friday, Sept. 15 in a Week 4 Section 3 opener, as Solanco opens defense of its section title. … A 3-game homestand for Elco; the Raiders will host Annville-Cleona, Columbia and Conrad Weiser in Weeks 2-3-4. Three of Elco’s final four games will be away from Myerstown: At Octorara, at Lampeter-Strasburg and at Berks Catholic down the stretch. … An early 3-game homestand in Atglen for Octorara, with Pequea Valley, Lancaster Catholic and Cocalico coming to town in Weeks 2-3-4.
* Plenty of Philly flavor on random L-L League schedules: Cedar Crest will welcome Northeast Philly to South Lebanon Township for a Week 1 season lid-lifter. Note the 6 p.m. kick-time for that game. … McCaskey will host Bartram in Week 1; the Red Tornado won at Bartram in Philly in OT last year. McCaskey will gas up the bus and go to Plymouth-Whitemarsh for a Week 5 nonleague tussle. … Not one, but a pair of Philly trips for Wilson; the Bulldogs are at Roman Catholic in Week 1, and will visit Martin Luther King for a 6:30 p.m. kick in Week 3. … Warwick will welcome Souderton for a 6:30 p.m. nonleague start in Week 7. … Twin Valley will host Hatboro-Horsham in the Raiders’ Week 10 regular-season finale.
* Other District 1 teams on L-L League schedules: Spring-Ford at Manheim Township in Week 4 … Exeter at Boyertown in Week 2 … Governor Mifflin at Spring-Ford in Week 1 … Boyertown at Governor Mifflin in Week 3 … West Chester East at Manheim Central in Week 1 … Fleetwood at Upper Perkiomen in Week 3 … Pope John Paul II at Berks Catholic in Week 3.
* As mentioned, Manheim Central — fresh off a trip to the D3-4A championship game last fall — will take on Smyrna (Del.) in the Maxwell Club showcase event in Week 2 on Friday, Sept. 1 at Salesianum (Del.) High School. Note the very funky 3:30 p.m. kick time. And yes, I’m digging that for deadline purposes. … Smyrna is 38-7 in its last 45 games, and the Eagles are the reigning Delaware Class 3A state champs; Smyrna axed Dover 52-7 in last year’s title game, capping a 12-1 season in which the Eagles outscored their foes by a whopping 508-121 with five shutout victories. … Smyrna also appeared in the 2021 state-title game, falling to Middletown 28-22. … Should be an intriguing matchup for the Barons, who are set to return some major offensive firepower, including QB Zac Hahn and 2,000-yard rusher Brycen Armold. After the trip to Delaware, Central gets uber rival Cocalico — in Denver — the next week, to take on an Eagles’ squad coming off the D3-5A championship.
* Some coaching milestones on the horizon: Cedar Crest’s Rob Wildasin needs four wins for 50 … Hempfield’s George Eager needs five wins for 25 … Penn Manor’s John Brubaker needs four wins for 25 … Governor Mifflin’s Jeff Lang needs four wins for 50 … Warwick’s Bob Locker needs seven wins for 125 … Garden Spot’s Matt Zamperini needs five wins for 75 … Cocalico’s Bryan Strohl needs five wins for 25 … Lampeter-Strasburg’s Victor Ridenour needs five wins for 25 … Annville-Cleona’s Matt Gingrich — fresh off his appearance as the victorious East coach in the small-school PSFCA East-West game earlier this spring — needs three wins for 50 … Pequea Valley’s Mike Choi needs five wins for 25.
* I could list dozens and dozens of games here, but at first glimpse, go ahead and circle these: Lebanon at Cedar Crest in Week 10 (Cedar Bowl) … Manheim Township at Hempfield in Week 5 (Joseph F. Kurjiaka trophy game) … Wilson at Hempfield in Week 7 … Cumberland Valley at Manheim Township in Week 1 … Harrisburg at Manheim Township in Week 3 (rematch of last year’s D3-6A finale, won by the Cougars) … Manheim Township at Wilson in Week 10 (be there) … Central Dauphin at Wilson in Week 2 … Governor Mifflin at Wilson in Week 6 (Gurski-Linn trophy game) … Hempfield at Exeter in Week 8 … Manheim Central at Exeter in Week 10 (do not miss) … If you can make the drive, Manheim Central vs. Smyrna (Del.) in Week 2 … Ephrata at Warwick in Week 2 (Mountaineers pried the George Male trophy away from the Warriors last fall) … E-town at Donegal in Week 1 (love this backyard rivalry; get a trophy already!) … Solanco at Garden Spot in Week 10 … Garden Spot at Twin Valley in Week 7 … Berks Catholic at Wyo in Week 4 … Manheim Central at Cocalico in Week 3 (dig it) … Wyo at Cocalico in Week 7 … L-S at Solanco in Week 1 (Milk Jug) … Pequea Valley at Octorara in Week 2 (Brave Bowl with a Saturday, 11 a.m. kick, don’t forget) … Wyo at Trinity in Week 2 (Shamrocks won D3-2A last fall) … Columbia at Eastern York in Week 1 (River Rivalry; never any love lost there) … Lancaster Catholic at Hamburg in Week 6 … Hamburg at Schuylkill Valley in Week 8 (Frost Bowl) … Schuylkill Valley at Lancaster Catholic in Week 10 (homecoming for SV skipper Bruce Harbach). … Funkiest games of the year: Central Mountain at Garden Spot in Week 8 (enjoy that 162-mile bus ride from Mill Hall, fellas) … Hamburg at Warrior Run in Week 2 (a 90-mile, 1-way trek for the Hawks).
Stay tuned for the scrimmage schedules and other random preview posts leading up to media day on Aug. 4.
TWITTER: @JeffReinhart77
More LNP L-L League football coverage