Capital Division: Preseason Records, Breakdowns, MVP and More
The Mid-Penn Conference slimmed the number of divisions from five to four this season, making this division preview the final before the 2024 season kicks off. Don’t worry, there is still plenty of previews to come, including ten players to watch and the preseason top ten in boys soccer, girls soccer, and field hockey. Feature stories, and plenty of other HS Sports preview content is coming your way.
To stay updated, save this masterlist link that contains all of my fall sports previews.
The Capital division was by far hit the most by the division realignment. They only kept Camp Hill and Steel-High from last year’s division, and added the entire Mid-Penn Liberty division which is no more. The teams added include Halifax, Susquenita, Line Mountain, Newport, James Buchanan, Upper Dauphin and Juniata. The division still brings three PIAA playoff teams in two quarterfinals, Camp Hill and Juniata, and PIAA 1A champ Steel-High.
Preseason Capital MVP: Drew Branstetter, Camp Hill
By the stats, Branstetter was a top five quarterback in the conference last season, and he comes in as the second top passer returning in the Mid-Penn, trailing only McDevitt’s Stone Saunders. He’s been starting since midway through his freshman season, and hasn’t surrendered the starting role since then, besides a 2023 week four injury that sidelined him for the majority of a game against Big Spring and all of CH’s Middletown loss in week five. Along with plenty of key pieces, he led Camp Hill to an unlikely District III 2A championship against Trinity, a four-seed over two-seed upset win, followed by a trip to the state quarterfinal. He returns for a big senior season in 2024.
1. Juniata Indians (9-1)
Juniata started last season with an 0-3 record, with losses to Troy, Selinsgrove, and West Perry. The Indians went on to win four in a row before finishing the season 1-2. A roller coaster to say the least, but the team finished strong, They went on to win the PIAA District 6 final and work themselves into the PIAA playoffs, where they paid a visit to Meadville and handed the hosts a 21-7 loss, moving on to face a rival in Selinsgrove. The Indians had already lost to the Seals, 38-8, in week one of the regular season. The Seals were too much again in state playoff play, handing Juniata a season-ending 44-14 loss. Juniata opens up with Selinsgrove yet again in week one, another really tough test. This is the only loss I seem coming Juniata’s way, as they have more than enough returning talent to cruise through their division schedule. Part of that talent include Wyatt Ehrenzeller, the talented QB who comes in as the Mid-Penn’s fifth top returning passer after a junior season that held 124 completions, 2,171 yards and 25 TD’s. Ehrenzeller also carried it himself on 118 carries for 450 yards and 7 TD’s. Javier Lopez is the team’s top rusher, though. He had three less carries than Ehrenzeller, but made 717 yards out of it and three trips to the end zone. To make matters better, the Indians get back Jasper Shepps, the Mid-Penn’s top returning receiver who gathered four more receptions and 264 yards than South Carolina commit Lex Cyrus. Some close games against Camp Hill and Line Mountain may lie ahead, but I see nothing but division wins for Juniata.
2. Camp Hill Lions (8-2)
After a 5-5 regular season, the Lions were seeded fourth in the PIAA District III 2A playoffs, and visited top seed Annville-Cleona to win 35-14 against the Dutchmen for a four seed over one playoff upset that some people smelled brewing before the game. They went on to pay their second season visit to arch rival Trinity, where the Lions turned out a historical 20-13 District title win. Hours after their boys soccer team won the state title, Camp Hill hosted West Catholic to win 32-26 against the Burrs, and ultimately visited Dunmore in the PIAA quarterfinals, and lost 41-25 on Black Friday. It takes pieces to make a run like that, especially after a 5-5 regular season. My preseason Capital MVP, Drew Branstetter, has been huge in his years as the Lions starter, using top targets and fellow incoming seniors Noah Doi and Alex Long, who will be huge again in 2024. Also on that list is AJ Serdar, who had his breakthrough season last year as a sophomore, grabbing 19 receptions for 159 yards. Camp Hill loses a solid array of skill, headlined by Gettysburg College freshman running back and wrestler Kobe Moore, but also includes Tommy Corbin, Luke Becker and Marcus Colson. As mentioned previously, Branstetter went down with a week four injury against Big Spring calling in Kobe Moore to play quarterback for the remainder, and a week five game to Middletown, a loss and Middletown’s only win. This year, the Lions will have backup QB Hayden Ziegler on the roster, who will play receiver but fill in under center if necessary. The Lions schedule gets a lot easier in 2024, and the only predicted losses are their non-conference game against Lancaster Catholic and the abovementioned Juniata.
3. Line Mountain Eagles (7-3)
The Eagles quietly soared in 2023, putting together a 9-3 season that ended with a shutout playoff loss to Troy. Line Mountain was a point-scoring team in 2023, outscoring opponents 349-245. In the PIAA District 4 playoffs, Line Mountain handed Towanda a first round, 46-23 loss. The Eagles went on to lose to Troy, 44-0, in a lopsided, season ending loss. In 2024, Line Mountain returns a lot. Kaiden Maurer was essential to last year’s team at starting QB. He missed two games in week two and three, and that’s where two of three season losses come from, without him on the field. Maurer went 64/112 and 1,053 yards in 2023, finding a receiver in the endzone 18 times, an impactful number considering the most passing attempts he had in a game was just 17 in their 50-14 win over Halifax. The big loss is Nolan Baumert, who totaled 159 carries for 1,094 yards and 11 TD’s. Next in line is Ian Bates, who returns for his senior season after a 79 carry, 566 yard junior year. Maurer also took 55 carries for himself, while Noah Ringes took 47 carries in his freshman season. Line Mountain takes on Lewisburg in their out of division matchup, then they take on an up and down division schedule, beginning with a predicted win against Newport and a predicted loss against Juniata. The other two predicted losses are to Camp Hill in week nine, and that Lewisburg week one game.
4. Steel-High Rollers (6-4)
This is not the Steel-High team we’re used to seeing. The Rollers are fresh off another state championship win in 2023 against Fort Cherry, their third PIAA win since 2020. Many of that is thanks to the class of 2024, headlined by now Navy freshman QB Alex Erby and his twin brother Andrew Erby Jr., now a freshman lineman at Ohio University. Also part of the senior class last season is Kam Chisholm, Eugene Green, Jaieon Perry, Durrell Ceasar Jr., and Ronald Burnette. Now, it’s time to replace for the Rollers, looking to mold the next group of champions, now in PIAA class 2A, which was a controversial debate as Steel-High argued health and safety concerns for their move up to play bigger schools in 2A. For reference, Steel High has been able to cruise through a lot of playoff games in 1A, whereas now a state championship is much tougher with PIAA juggernaut Southern Columbia in the field. Yahmir Ceasar is the next in line for the Rollers at QB, filling some tough shoes in one of PA’s most accomplished passers in state history. Yahmir is the younger brother of now freshman at Lock Haven, Durrell Ceasar. As a lockdown cornerback, Yahmir answers the question of “Who’s Next?” for the championship caliber program, who begins the season with Fairfield on August 23rd, a predicted win for the Rollers. The predicted losses come against Juniata, Susquehanna Township, Line Mountain and Camp Hill. A 6-4 regular season should be enough to make it into a four team playoff field in 2A, it would be pretty difficult to see a playoff football season without Steel-High in it.
5. Upper Dauphin Trojans (5-5)
Upper Dauphin has many similarities to Susquenita. Besides their similar orange and black shades, the teams will have relatively the same competitiveness, and their matchup against each other is sure to come down to the wire. Aidan Bingaman returns for senior season at QB, but this is a UDA team that continuously runs the ball, and they return plenty of rushers as well. Caleb Snyder, Tyler Erdley, and Carter Dreibelbis all got over 40 carries in 2023, all led the team in rushing, and all return for the 2024 season. The trio combined for 1,529 yards and 17 TD’s and will be huge difference makers for the Trojans this season. UDA was shut out, 28-0, by eastern neighbor Williams Valley in last season’s opener. Now, they open the season with the Vikings again before getting into Capital division play. It’s a predicted conference loss before they are predicted to beat Halifax, and lose another out-of-division spar with West Perry, another predicted loss to start the year 1-2. The other losses cine against Camp Hill, Susquenita, Juniata.
6. Susquenita Blackhawks (4-6)
The Blackhawks are going on their third coach in three years after Augie Glass finished his stint as the head coach after the 2022 season. Then came Rick Gibney, coaching the team along with his two senior sons, Derek and Drew Gibney. Now comes in Joe Chrismer IV, who was absolutely a do-it-all guy in previous seasons. He’s served as QB’s, WR’s, DB’s, and Special Teams coach at Susquenita, as well as JV head coach. The Blackhawks went 5-5 last season, and are now replacing the above-mentioned Derek Gibney, who passed for over 2,000 yards in his senior season last year. Only two others, Rex Wilson and Andy Herrera attempted a pass last season. Even then, the pair combined for just five passes and 13 yards, so it’s a question going into the year who is next in line at QB. Blaise Swancer returns for Nita in 2024, after receiving 50 balls for 693 yards and 10 TD’s last year. Athan Robinson also put up 34 receptions and returns for his final season. Susquenita visits a tough West Perry team in week one, a predicted loss before they dive into divisional play, where the predicted losses come to Camp Hill, Trinity in an upset, Steel High and Line Mountain. The Blackhawks losing as much as they did, including QB, is a tough break but could certainly flip some of the predicted L’s into W’s. I particularly look at Trinity and Upper Dauphin for some wins if Susquenita has a good week.
7. Halifax Wildcats (2-8)
Halifax’s 4-7 season was up and down last year. They began with a road loss, 49-19, at Hamburg then returned with a 40-0 shutout victory against Midd-West. They beat Maryland’s Hancock, James Buchanan, and Newport before finishing the year in a playoff loss in the 1A District III playoffs against Steel-High, en route to Steel High’s state final. Teegan Karrol will suit up as the Wildcats QB, a class of 2026 player that has the proper size and strength of a passer. Teegan also plays like a veteran, perhaps the values that were instilled in him by Gaston Carroll, his dad that doubles as Halifax’s head coach. In my book, Halifax doesn’t grab a win until week five with James Buchanan, and then they get another against Newport in week eight to finish the year 2-8.
8. Newport Buffaloes (1-9)
Newport is led by veteran head coach Todd Rothermel, who took the team up to camp at Lycoming to get ready for the 2024 season. The team earned just one win last season to James Buchanan in week ten on the road. This year, the Buffaloes get a visit from the Rockets in week three, where I see the one win coming in.
9. James Buchanan Rockets (0-10)
The Rockets went 1-9 with a close win over Biglerville, 21-19, in overtime of their week three game. James Buchanan now has York Tech for out-of-division play, a game they lost last year, 14-7. While the Rockets could put some close games together against Newport and Halifax, there are no predicted wins.