Extra Points: Trojans branch out on Youth Night
One of Mark Luther's main goals since he was hired as Chambersburg's new football coach was to instill a feeling of a program.
For him, that doesn't just mean the varsity team. That includes the JV squad, the freshman team, the middle schoolers and even right down to the Keystone Youth Football League.
On Friday night, the Gridiron Club helped host Youth Night at Trojan Stadium. Kids who wore their KYFL jerseys got free entrance to the game and were invited down to the field prior to the start of Chambersburg's game against Shippensburg. The Trojans shook hands and high-fived the youngsters on their way back to the locker room following pre-game warmups.
"It was awesome to have the kids out," Luther said. "I tried to get over during pregame to say hello to every kid and the coaches to thank them for coming. The hope is that here in the future, we'll get out there and get involved with the youth programs and make them feel part of the Trojan program."
KYFL cheerleaders were also welcomed to the game, and even had the opportunity to cheer the Trojan varsity squad on the sideline during the game.
Hard-nosed running: For the second week in a row, Shippensburg junior running Philip Torres turned heads.
The Greyhounds had a hard time running the ball against Chambersburg's strong defensive line on Friday night, but the bright spot was Torres. He rushed for 80 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown.
"Philip is the man," Ship coach Eric Foust said. "He's low, and it's kind of good for him to not be very big because you can't find him. He's even tough to tackle in practice because he's just so low to the ground."
Greyhound center Nick Kubala said, "I'm so impressed with his running. For him to come in and do all that as a junior who didn't even play varsity last year, it's very impressive. Philip's a very strong runner."
Wake-up call: It's not every day that a football player shows up to a game in his pajamas, but that's just what one of James Buchanan's captains did for his game this weekend.
You can't really blame him, though - the Rockets had to report to school at 7 a.m. Saturday morning for a game versus Fairfield, which had been postponed Friday night in the first quarter due to light failure.
"It was definitely a lot different playing in the daytime when you're used to having the lights coming down on you and the crowd," JB junior Clay Sanders said. "The atmosphere was definitely different on Saturday morning than it was Friday night, but the guys were still hyped, and we went out and performed as such for the first half."
JB ended up suffering a 57-10 loss. Cormac Houpt scored the Rockets' lone touchdown of the game on a 70-yard run in the third quarter. Oscar Erkes also booted a 31-yard field goal.
Century Club: Only two skill players this week surpassed the 100-yard mark.
Waynesboro's Brady Beckner led the way with 106 rushing yards, while Shippensburg's Cody Gustason had 103 yards on a mere five catches.
Editor's note: The Century Club does not include James Buchanan's stats, as they were not received at the time of publication.