FOOTBALL: Friday Night Leftovers from Week 3
Heading into Week 3 of the local high school football season, three Lebanon County teams — Northern Lebanon, Annville-Cleona and Palmyra — were sporting unblemished 2-0 records.
That led to a debate on the LDN sports department's All Sorts of Sports podcast this week as to which of the three would stay unbeaten the longest.
Given a number of factors, including upcoming strength of schedule, the general consensus was that either Northern Lebanon or Annville-Cleona would be the last county unbeaten left standing.
That still may happen, since all three are now 3-0 after emerging victorious again on Friday night. But while A-C and Northern Lebanon performed unevenly in wins over Schuylkill Valley and Hamburg, respectively, Palmyra was busy impressively blanking Donegal 31-0.
A tough test awaits against Trinity next week in the opening of Mid-Penn Capital Division play, but the way it's performed thus far, it's starting to look like it will be no easy chore to knock Palmyra from the ranks of the unbeaten.
"I think we feel really good with where we are (now)," Palmyra coach Chris Pope said on Friday night. "Two years ago (beating Donegal) was our first win in a while. It was a great feeling, but this is a great feeling, too. It's really nice starting 3-0."
HORST A BRIGHT SPOT IN ELCO LOSS >> Elco let one get away in Friday night's come-from-ahead 20-19 loss to Lebanon that dropped it to 0-3. But it wasn't all doom and gloom for the Raiders, who found a shining bright spot in junior running back Tyler Horst, who rumbled for 177 yards on 27 carries and scored two touchdowns while producing the game's best individual performance.
The non-league schedule didn't quite go as hoped for Elco, but with Section Three play beginning next week it should still be a force to be reckoned with as Horst and quarterback Jeff Martin lead a potentially balanced and formidable offense through the rest of the schedule.
Don't sleep on the Raiders just yet, no matter what their record shows right now.
BROTHERS IN HELMETS>> Evan Horn said everything hurt, but by the smile on his face would've had you believing otherwise. Not 10 minutes after suffering a 30-14 home loss to Manheim Central, the Cedar Crest star was answering a question Friday night about the debut of his freshman brother, Logan, at quarterback.
"I'm so proud of that kid," he said.
Logan later needed even fewer words to describe his favorite part of the memorable evening:
"Just throwing to Evan," the younger Horn said before expounding. "He's always open so I know I can just throw it up to him."
There were only four Horn-to-Horn passing connections against the Barons, but each came at a crucial time to either extend the life of a drive or put the Falcons on the board via a 77-yard catch-and-run. In fact, through three quarters, more than 96 percent of Logan's passing yards were a result of Evan's receiving work. Though when his brother was covered late, the young signal caller kept his poise and adjusted, twice connecting with another senior, Raymie Ferreira, for gains of more than 20 yards in the fourth quarter.
Calm, cool, collected and success from the start. Now doesn't that story sound familiar?