Colonial Division: Preseason Records, Breakdowns, MVP and More
The Colonial division is certainly interesting as lots of teams lost their quarterbacks at the conclusion of last season. The division is also no stranger to the Mid-Penn Conference realignments, as they added six new teams to the division in 2024.
Preseason Colonial MVP: Lex Cyrus, Susquehanna Township
Cyrus got a big announcement off his shoulders this summer, when he committed to South Carolina on July 11. Cyrus enters his senior season as the Mid-Penn’s number two receiver, after hauling in 67 receptions for 1,115 yards and 13 touchdowns, an average of 16.6 yards per reception. Essentially, it’s throw the ball to Cyrus, and you’re probably moving the chains.
Team by Team Record Predictions
1. Susquehanna Township Indians (10-0)
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, it’s a year in the Colonial that a lot of teams are using to replace their starting quarterback. That’s not an issue that Susquehanna Township needs to worry about, as the Indians keep Torin Evans on their roster for the 2024 season. Evans enters the season as the Mid-Penn’s 7th top returning passer, after going 150/214 for 2,058 yards and 22 touchdowns last season. It’s fitting, since Evans’ nickname is “TD”. While Susquehanna Township isn’t losing their QB or star wideout, they will feel the loss of Dorian Smith, a senior running back who ended up with a bid to the Big 33 Football Classic in the fall. They’ll also be without Aubrey Carter on the line, but they will have Mason Lubold, a 6-1, 280 pound menace up front who claimed an offer from Gettysburg College earlier this summer. On the defensive side, Isaiah Riley will be a difference maker as a linebacker, committed to play next level at Millersville. In no shape or form will an undefeated regular season be easy for Susquehanna Township. They’ll have to go through some tough teams, starting with their out of conference opponent, Penn Hills in week one. It’s a Penn Hills team that went 9-3 in 2023, beating 2022 5A PIAA Champ Pine-Richland, consistent contender Woodland Hills and seven more wins. East Penn will also be a tall task for the Indians, as they have that game on the road this season. Township finished their season in the District III 4A quarterfinals in 2023, losing 45-34 to #3 seed Manheim Central. The Barons went on to their second straight District III final against McDevitt, where McDevitt won another District III gold. It was a 7-4 finish for Susquehanna after the playoff loss. Despite the big matchups against competitive, in-division squads, if you ask Township’s players, they’ll tell you they’re most looking forward to playing Steel-High.
2. East Penn Panthers (9-1)
If it wasn’t for the blatant talent of Cyrus, JJ Gossard would be first in line to be named the preseason MVP of this division. Gossard put up a stunning 169 attempts rushing last season, and made 776 yards out of it with six trips to the end zone. East Penn is one of many teams in the division who are replacing their starting quarterback, Keith Oates, who finished a long career with the Panthers. If anything, this likely means just the same, if not more touches for Gossard in the run game, where many think the Panthers are their best. East Penn had to wait until week four for their home opener in 2023, but that didn’t seem to impact the squad, going 6-0 before a loss came in week seven, 28-21, to Northern. The Panthers bounced right back with wins against Shippensburg, Susquehanna Township and Waynesboro to finish the regular season. The 9-1 regular season earned East Penn a home playoff game as the #4 seed, and it was a heartbreaking loss in double overtime. The Panthers were down 14-0 at the half against the Pioneers, but a gritty second half included an East Penn comeback that forced overtime, where the teams went back and forth before the devastating loss. This year, the Panthers open the season at home with Bethlehem Catholic, a game that could very well go back and forth like last year’s season ender. The loss, in my eyes, comes to Susquehanna Township in week seven. Perhaps this year’s 9-1 regular season record may lead to a deeper postseason run, especially without McDevitt in their District III classification anymore.
3. West Perry Mustangs (8-2)
West Perry is a new addition to the Mid-Penn Colonial this year, and it should provide a few interesting matchups for the Mustangs this season. They’ll be without Marcus Quaker, their starting quarterback who’s now at Mansfield University. Quaker now holds plenty of passing records at West Perry, including career and single season passing yards, completions, passing attempts, and yes, interceptions (it’s bound to happen with 602 career attempts). The Mustangs didn’t have quite enough helmets for tryouts last year, after approximately 60 students expressed interest in playing for Bob Boden’s team on Friday nights. This year, the team received even more interest in the summer, making it even more difficult for Boden to slim down the number for a final squad to play the season. West Perry comes from the Capital division, which was tough enough with Trinity, Camp Hill and Steel-High as opponents. Now, they’ll start the year with an intense Perry County rivalry against Susquenita in week one, who, like many Colonial division teams, is replacing their starting quarterback, Derek Gibney. After Derek and his brother Drew Gibney graduated, their dad, Rick Gibney, ended his one year stint as the head coach of the Blackhawks. When the Mustangs finish with the new-look Nita team, they jump into Colonial division play with Boiling Springs. With nine teams in the division, it allows West Perry to play another non-conference team in Upper Dauphin, who I also see a win against. The two losses come against Township and East Penn. Past the regular season, it should be a successful postseason for the Mustangs. They’ve reached the District III 3A title game twice, and lost to Wyomissing twice. Now, both teams are moving up to class 4A after recent success and other factors are grounds for a promotion under the PIAA competitive balance formula, even though Wyomissing filed an appeal that landed in a hearing at the PIAA offices.
4. Big Spring Bulldogs (7-3)
Big Spring is sort of losing their quarterback this season, but also not at the same time. Last year at this time, the Bulldogs were gearing up to replace Ethan Eisenberg, who’s now a QB at Juniata College. Four players ended up taking at least one snap under center for the team, mainly Chase Hope and Chase Fry. Hope took 42 attempts at QB, completing 20 passes for 191 yards and four touchdowns. Hope graduated in 2024. Chase Fry, on the other hand, is entering his junior season and took 102 attempts, with 41 completions and 687 yards, six touchdown passes. Hope now enters the year as the full time starter, and the team returns Grant Hall, a menacing rusher who enters the year as the Mid-Penn’s 6th top returning rusher. The accolade comes after 124 carries for 1,039 yards and ten touchdowns. Big Spring finished 6-5 last season, with three losses of six points or less that came against Trinity, West Perry and Greencastle. In a division where returning starters are harder to come by, it opens the door for the Bulldogs to be successful against younger competition. They’ll start with a huge rivalry game against Shippensburg called the “Little Brown Jug”, which is often later in the season, but will now be out of the way early. Camp Hill is their other non-conference on August 30, week two. The in-division game against the Lions went into overtime after Big Spring’s Landon Maher missed the last second kick that would have won the game for the Bulldogs in regulation. In overtime, Big Spring handed it off to Grant Hall for a run to the left side to win the game, and while the ball appeared to pop out of Hall’s hands before crossing the goal line, the arms went up for a score from the referees, and Big Spring escaped with a controversial win in week four. Big Spring’s toughest tests will come in week eight and ten with Susquehanna Township and East Penn. While it’s not predicted, if they can pull off wins in those two games, or at least one, they could propel themselves to a top spot in the District III playoffs.
5. Milton Hershey Spartans (4-6)
The Little Brown Jug between Big Spring and Shippensburg isn’t the only big time rivalry game in week one that is made of the Mid-Penn realignment. Milton Hershey takes on Hershey in Cocoa Bean Bowl in week one this season, a game that has gone back and forth for ages, and I think they win in a close game this year. Milton Hershey is without Jason Burney and Angel Roberts, the QB-WR duo that guided the Spartan offense to success in recent years. Milton Hershey snuck into the District III playoffs last season as an eight seed that takes ten to the playoffs after a 5-5 campaign in the regular season. Their tough schedule gave them the one seed edge over ninth seeded Eastern York, despite their 7-3 record. Milton Hershey’s tough schedule proved to be effective in the game, too, as they beat Eastern York 29-23. It earned them a spot to play top seeded Bishop McDevitt in the quarterfinals. It was the second meeting between Crusaders and Spartans, and a 54-14 win for McDevitt. Similar to East Penn and Susquehanna Township in this bracket as well, the chance for Milton Hershey is key without McDevitt in their playoff bracket.
6. Greencastle-Antrim Blue Devils (4-6)
Greencastle is without their starting quarterback from years past, Logan Alvey, in 2024. The only other person to take any snaps for the Blue Devils was Surzano Soloman, who only took one snap, likely on a flea flicker attempt, which ended in an interception. The team is without their leading rushers as well, one of them being Soloman, but also Xzavier Ramsey, Carter Coons, and Garrett Blubaugh. The Blue Devils will rely a lot on Carter McCauley. With uncertainty at the QB position and the other senior losses, I wouldn’t be surprised if this 3-7 prediction turns into 3-7 or 2-8 throughout the year. What helps matters is their non-conference opponent in week one being Waynesboro, a nearby rival that will likely start Greencastle on the right track. Their other non-conference is Juniata, who reached the state quarterfinal before a tough loss to Selinsgrove. In my book, GC sees wins against Waynesboro, Middletown, Trinity (in an upset) and Boiling Springs.
7. Trinity Shamrocks (3-7)
For the first time since 2021, there is not much buzz about the Trinity Shamrocks team before the season. Jordan Hill, the former Steel-High star turned Penn State all-american and NFL player, took over as head coach ahead of the 2022 season. The team was 3-6 in 2021, and Hill came in with one goal in mind: Turn Trinity into a winning program. Under his era, the team went 8-4 in 2022 with a District III championship and trip to the PIAA semifinal before a meeting with the legendary Southern Columbia team, who handed them a 42-7 loss. It was the best season in program history, and the same was expected in 2023. Crosstown rivals Camp Hill handed the Shamrocks a loss in the District III championship last season, a shocking loss for a Trinity team that had stacked talent from around the area. Messiah Mickens, perhaps the most notable of the stacked talent, dealt with ongoing issues throughout last season, and transferred to Harrisburg shortly after the season. Jordan Hill took a job offer at his alma mater Penn State. He was joined by Michael Mauti at Penn State, who had served as one of Hill’s assistants at Trinity after an NFL career of his own. Not to mention, the Shamrocks are joining a tougher schedule out of the Capital division, and are without Caleb Wray, the team’s longtime quarterback who’s now at Bloomsburg. Under interim head coach Kevin Yarnevich, it’s officially rebuilding time for this Trinity program who went on a heck of a roller coaster ride through the last three years.
8. Boiling Springs Bubblers (2-8)
The Bubblers have had some expectations going into the past couple of seasons, and it just has not clicked with a 4-6 record in 2022, and 2-8 in 2023. They’ve handled some pretty tough losses against Littlestown in recent years, and that’s their week one non-conference opponent again in 2023. They also have Halifax on the schedule in week ten, which is a predicted win for the Bubblers against a Wildcat team that went 4-7 with a pretty light schedule last season. Liam Fisher, who attended an online academy but played for the Bubblers, was the team’s QB last season and graduated. He’s now at Keystone College on their football team. While he was listed as the QB, Fisher will even tell you himself that he was a utility player, playing all over the place when needed. Brad Zell is a veteran head coach, and if there’s anyone that can make something out of nothing this season, it’s him. But for now, it’s a two win predicted season for Boiling Springs with wins over Middletown and Halifax.
9. Middletown Blue Raiders (0-10)
It’s been a long and tough process for Middletown after an off the field incident canceled their season in 2022. Now, Middletown moves to the Mid-Penn Colonial after a few years in the Capital. With Northern on the schedule once again for the scrimmage, it could be a solid tune up for week one, which is against Donegal. It's predicted to be a really close loss for the team. Their other non-conference opponent is Line Mountain in week seven, which isn't exactly a break in any sense. Scott Govern is another veteran coach and college football player, so he has the capability to churn out an extra win or two, but it seems like uphill sledding for Middletown at the moment.
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