Reviewing preseason picks: How the Capital Division selections turned out
In late July and early August, I began my preseason coverage by providing team-by-team breakdowns, complete with my record predictions for every single football team in the Mid-Penn Conference, a group of 38 teams across Central Pennsylvania and beyond.
Now, the regular season is over and 380 games were played. It’s time for me to review the things that I nailed on the head, the things I completely missed on, and everything in between the two, starting with the Mid-Penn Capital.
Capital Division
1. Steel-High (8-2 actual record) (3-7 predicted record)
This is probably my worst pick from the preseason. I’ll say it before someone else does; I was completely misguided when picking a state powerhouse to win three football games the year after winning a state title. Now, in all fairness, I did this after talking to head coach Andrew Erby on a Linglestown Gazette Sports coaches’ show, an interview that revealed the team would pass the ball significantly less, and we’d be seeing a completely different Roller team than years prior. Also, it was well-known that the team would be without many seniors, including now Navy QB Alex Erby, Ohio OL Andrew Erby Jr., and many other high contributing seniors. Above all, though, Steel-High is Steel-High, and Andrew Erby always has a plan.
2. Juniata (7-3) (9-1)
I predicted Juniata to lose to powerhouse Selinsgrove in week one and win their entire Mid-Penn slate. They lost to a tough Line Mountain squad in week three, then took a tough loss against Greencastle in week seven, an ugly spot on their playoff resume.
3. Line Mountain (7-3) (7-3)
I had one of their three losses coming against Juniata, rather than Steel High. They beat the Indians, lost to the Rollers, and stayed 7-3. They gave Camp Hill a lot of fight in week nine, but ultimately lost that game, but easily could’ve bumped themselves to 8-2.
4. Camp Hill (6-4) (8-2)
A strange loss to Upper Dauphin tabs the Lions at 6-4 after ten games. Remember, this is a team that made it to the state quarterfinals and a District III title in the process, after going 5-5 in the regular season last year. I had Camp Hill’s second half as a beauty, a perfect 5-0 finish, which was plagued by a loss to UDA, then Steel-High in weeks seven and eight, but they finished strong with wins over Line Mountain and James Buchanan.
5. Upper Dauphin (5-5) (5-5)
Not to discredit myself, but some of these (5-5) (5-5) numbers in the heading look really good on me, looking like I guessed every game correctly. Not always the case, as I only picked six games right for this team. In terms of wins, I had them beating Halifax, James Buchanan and Newport, which were all true. They also beat Camp Hill and Susquenita, which I did not have. For losses, they lost to Williams Valley, West Perry, and Juniata, all forecasted in the preseason. I also had them winning upset games over Steel-High and Line Mountain, which were a bit off.
6. James Buchanan (4-6) (0-10)
I hate picking teams to go 0-10, because that’s a lot of losses. And, more importantly, losing ten games is not fun for players, coaches or anyone involved in a program. But, I simply did not see the Rockets putting together a four win season like they did. They started 3-0 with wins over York County Tech, Susquenita and Newport, then assembled another win over Halifax in week five.
7. Newport (2-8) (1-9)
Newport got wins over Milton Hershey and Halifax, instead of beating James Buchanan as I initially predicted.
8. Susquenita (2-8) (5-5)
The Blackhawks have had some pretty solid bunches in recent years. They’re under the direction of a new head coach, Joe Chrismer IV, their third head coach in as many years. Without the sons of last year’s head coach, Drew and Derek Gibney, who played their senior season under their dad, Rick Gibney, ‘Nita struggled. Their wins came over Newport and Halifax, which I both predicted. I also took them to beat James Buchanan, Upper Dauphin and Steel-High, which did not pan out.
9. Halifax (0-10) (3-7)
Unlike Newport, I did see three wins out of this year’s Wildcats. I took them to beat Newport, James Buchanan, and upset Steel-High. I am not doing myself any favors with the Roller community.
Overall, I predicted 59 games correctly out of 90 total, a success rate of 65.5%. I “nailed” down my picks for Line Mountain and Juniata, picking eight correct games for both teams. I completely flopped on my picks for Steel-High, only totaling four correct picks.
Luke Brown is a 2024 graduate of Camp Hill high school and first-year student at Rowan University, studying Sports Communication. With bylines in PennLive, NJ.com and various media outlets, this is his forum to create sports content on the side. Subscribe today!