No. 100 is wild – Chambersburg plays Carlisle for 100th time over 100 years

It's conceivable, but not very likely, that there is a living human being in either Chambersburg or Carlisle who was around the first time these two high schools played each other in football.

If there is, they had to be very young at the time, and I seriously doubt they knew what a single-wing formation was then any more than they'd recognize a zone-read option today.

The year was 1915 when the Trojans and Thundering Herd first clashed on a football field.

Tonight, 100 years later, the teams meet again, this time at Trojan Stadium at 7 p.m. in a Mid Penn Commonwealth Division contest.

It is also the 100th meeting between the teams – although not in consecutive years – with the Herd holding a 54-44-1 advantage.

"I have to say, that's pretty special," Trojan interim head coach Scott Mitchell said.

CASHS athletic director Jeremy Flores said, "It's pretty amazing that they've been playing that long. We've made up a sticker that players on both teams will put on the back of their helmet to commemorate the game."

The first game ended with a 12-6 victory for Chambersburg.

Expect some much higher numbers tonight.

Carlisle (3-4, 1-3 MPC) has scored 34.4 points per game, but has allowed 37.3 per game. The Trojans (1-6, 1-3 MPC) have given up 32.1 points and scored 14.

This year, the Thundering Herd more closely resembles a Flying Horse. Carlisle coach Josh Oswalt put in a spread offense last year for veteran quarterback Billy Burger. He's now gone, but his replacement, Eric Davis, is lighting up the sky with footballs.

Davis has attempted 269 passes (38 per game) and completed 70 percent of them (189). He's piled up 2,481 yards already, with 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He has 59 more completions than Chambersburg has attempts.

Oswalt said, "I didn't use the spread when I came here, but that's what we've transformed to. You need a smart quarterback and Eric has handled it well. He didn't even play football last year, but we knew he was capable, so we kept talking to him and he came back.

"The spread seems to be working out. Eric's playing great, we have some talented receivers and we do everything based on our offensive line – we're really excited they're on our side."

Any fantasy mogul would love to have the Herd's stable of receivers – Gavin Barnes (58 catches, 744 yards, 8 TDs), Nate Barnes (39-614, 5), Zion Patterson (36-408, 2) and DeShawn Millington (34-513, 1). Running back Tyler Greene has also scored eight TDs on the ground and has 384 yards.

Mitchell said, "Their quarterback is pretty good, and he has a good understanding of their offense. They have some good athletes and he gets them the ball in open space. They like to spread the field and go where they think they have a mismatch, and they've moved the ball on everybody."

Chambersburg's defense has had its moments this year and has played well for parts of games. For instance, last week's 42-3 score against CD East was a little deceiving in that it was only 7-3 until the Panthers scored right before halftime.

"We had 10 or 11 tackles for a loss last week," Mitchell said. "Myles Braxton and Kelton Chastulik played well on the line. Our line coach, Harvey Staver, who has been here the longest, said that he gave Braxton (37 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss and 9 pressures this year) one of the best grades he's ever given out for a game since he's been coaching.

"The trouble was, we just couldn't get off the field on third down. We'd put ourselves in position, but just couldn't capitalize, and then the wheels came off toward the end."

Oswalt said, "Chambersburg's defense has given everybody fits early in games. They've been right with teams – they're not too far off."

They'll need to be on this week if they want to make No. 100 memorable for something other being just No. 100.

Herd-Trojans at a glance

Game data: Carlisle Thundering Herd at Chambersburg Trojans ... Friday, 7 p.m. at Trojan Stadium ... Mid Penn Commonwealth Division game.

Media: Live stream on www.GameTimePA.com and www.midpennbroadcasting.com ... Live Twitter updates from @EdGotwalsPO.

Teams: Carlisle is 3-4 (1-3 MPC) after a 52-27 loss to Central Dauphin last week ... The Trojans (1-6, 1-3 MPC) are coming off a 42-3 defeat to CD East.

Series: The Herd leads 54-44-1.

P.O. pick: Carlisle by 13. Don't know if the Trojans are capable of outscoring the Herd.

SIDEBAR >>Fun facts from the first 99 times Carlisle and Chambersburg met on the gridiron