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Families nervous, excited for Ship's district championship


The feeling around the Thanksgiving tables in Shippensburg was one of nervous excitement.

With the Greyhounds' District 3 Class 4A Championship bout looming, it was all family members could do to not add pressure to their football-playing Hounds.

"I think I am way more nervous than he is," said Miranda Heberlig, sister of junior Christian Boarts. "I could hardly eat all morning. It's been exciting as a family; everyone has been nervous. It's all everyone talked about at Thanksgiving, so it's been the highlight of our family lately."

Heberlig is one of many former students who made the trek to Hersheypark Stadium for today's 1 p.m. kickoff.

One such student was former Greyhound starter Spencer Van Scyoc, brother of star quarterback Carter.

"There's a lot of pressure, but he's pretty calm, cool and collected," Spencer said. "We expect big things from him, but he doesn't get nervous like his older brothers, so we'll think he'll be all right. I probably lost more sleep this week than he did."

There's reason to be nervous - Shippensburg is facing off against top-ranked Berks Catholic.

"I think they're going to have to get off to a great start and know they can play with these guys, just like last week vs. McDevitt," Spencer Van Scyoc said. "Berks Catholic's only loss this year is when they went down 20-0. They don't want to pass. They want to run, run, run, so we'll try to take them out of their comfort zone, but we have to get off to a good start."

Regardless of the outcome, the community won't soon forget today's game.

"(This game) is about community," said Michael Gearhart, a father of four future Greyhound hopefuls. "There's a bunch of people ready to come up here and cheer the team on. I'm hoping maybe this continues for my sons to be able to make it to this point in the playoffs."