HARRISBURG, Pa. — Editor's Note: This story has been updated from an earlier version.
The final numbers in, the ones have been carried, and the calculations double-checked. The District 3 high school football playoff fields are set in all six classifications.
The district's final playoff announcements are never without controversy; there are always a few teams that feel unfairly excluded once the postseason participants are announced.
But this year has had more drama than any season in recent memory, thanks to COVID-19. The pandemic's fingerprints are all over these playoffs, with more drama unfolding Tuesday afternoon -- just hours after the official brackets were released.
In Class 6A, Harrisburg's mad scramble to find a fourth opponent ahead of Monday night's deadline was successful at the 11th hour, when State College consented to face the Cougars on Monday night.
That allowed to Cougars to play a fourth game, which was the minimum number to qualify for Districts, by Monday's cutoff date. Harrisburg went on to defeat State College 41-6, which appeared to qualify them for the playoffs at the expense of Wilson, which dropped from fourth to fifth in the power rankings.
But hours after the official brackets were announced, Harrisburg acting superintendent Chris Celmer announced that the team would not be able to participate in the playoffs after a player tested positive for COVID-19. The Cougars are forced to go into strict quarantine through Nov. 5, which means their game against York High on Saturday is off.
As a result, District 3 announced the Cougars had pulled out of the playoffs. But because the official brackets had already been announced -- just hours earlier -- the district said they would not be altered.
So instead of replacing Harrisburg with Wilson, the district said Harrisburg's scheduled semifinal opponent, York High, would receive a bye to the title game.
"As per PIAA District III policy, once the seedings and brackets were confirmed this morning, no substitutions were permissible," the district said on its website. "Therefore, York High will win by forfeit over Harrisburg and advance to the Class 6A Championship game on either Friday, Nov. 6 or Saturday, Nov. 7."
The news was the latest turn in a season full of drama for the Cougars. Harrisburg's season got off to a late start. The rest of the district's teams had at least two games under their belts by the time Harrisburg's school board voted to opt back in to athletics this fall after initially deciding to cancel the fall sports season.
That belated decision the Cougars scrambling to find enough opponents to qualify for the playoffs. Monday's triumph at State College was Harrisburg's third win in a nine-day span.
So York advances, and will await the winner of the other semifinal clash between Central York and Central Dauphin.
That wasn't the only controversy the District 3 playoff committee was forced to address. Several other schools -- most notably Bishop McDevitt in Class 4A and Hershey in Class 5A -- were left out of the four-team brackets despite undefeated records.
Here's how the rest of the District 3 playoff fields look in each class, with a few comments about those schools that were left on the wrong side of the bubble.
CLASS A
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
No. 2 Steelton-Highspire (5-0) at No. 1 Delone Catholic (6-0)
Friday, 7 p.m. at John Flaherty Stadium, Delone Catholic HS
This championship matchup is without controversy; there are four Class 1A teams in the district, and the two left out of the playoffs (Fairfield and Halifax) had sub-.500 records.
The top-ranked Squires defeated York Catholic 28-10 to capture the YAIAA Division III title last week. It was their sixth straight victory. Delone leads the conference in team defense, allowing 132.8 yards per game. The Squires are also third in scoring defense, yielding just 8.7 points per game. On offense, Delone averages 362 yards per game, which is fourth in the league. Tate Neiderer (107-798, league-high 16 TDs) is the Squires' top weapon.
Steel-High roared through the regular season, averaging 52 points per game. The Rollers have the Mid-Penn's leading rusher in Odell Greene (100-872, 9 TDs), its top passer in Alex Erby (82-124, 1,411, 19 TDs), and its No. 1 receiver in Mekhi Flowers (35-595, 11 TDs).
CLASS AA
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
No. 2 Camp Hill (2-2) at No. 1 York Catholic (5-1)
Friday, 7 p.m. at York Catholic
On the outside: Columbia (4-2)
The Crimson Tide's fans are miffed at their exclusion, given that second-seeded Camp Hill reportedly elected not to make up a postponed game with Middletown. A loss there would have likely knocked the Lions out and allowed Columbia to get in.
At any rate, Camp Hill now gets a date with perennial contender York Catholic, which finished behind Delone Catholic in the YAIAA Division III race but still earned the No. 1 seed.
The Fighting Irish are led on offense by one of York County's top rushers in De'Kzeon Wyche, who has racked up 776 yards and 16 scores on 117 attempts.
Camp Hill enters the title game on a two-game losing streak, dropping decisions to Steel-High (36-26) and Boiling Springs (35-0) in consecutive weeks. The Lions are led by senior QB Daniel Shuster, who has completed 48 of 91 passes for 984 yards and 11 TDs this season.
CLASS AAA
SEMIFINALS
No. 4 Bermudian Springs (4-2) at No. 1 Middletown (3-1)
Friday, 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Middletown
No. 3 Boiling Springs (4-1) at No. 2 Wyomissing (5-0)
Saturday, 1 p.m. at Wyomissing
No controversy in this bracket, as the four 3A teams with winning records all got in. The top-seeded Blue Raiders host Berm Springs, who finished third behind Delone and York Catholic in the YAIAA Division III race, in one semifinal, while Berks League Section 2 runner-up Wyomissing takes on the third-ranked Bubblers in the other semifinal clash.
Middletown has won its last two games, defeating Boiling Springs (20-16) and Trinity (49-14). The Raiders' only loss was a 43-21 setback to Steel-High. After years of depending on all-time leading rusher Jose Lopez, who graduated last year, this season Middletown has chosen a more egalitarian approach to the ground game. In last week's win over Trinity, seven different Raiders found the end zone.
Tymir Jackson (67-546, five TDs) is their top rusher this year.
Bermudian Springs has won two straight since falling to Delone and York Catholic in back-to-back weeks earlier this month. The Eagles are led by RB Savauri Shelton, who has 497 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on 97 attempts.
Boiling Springs bounced back from its loss to Middletown with a 35-0 rout of Camp Hill last week. The Bubblers' top rusher is Joey Menke, 53-483, 7 TDs).
Wyomissing outscored its six opponents 249-9 this season, paced by an offense that averages 320 yards per game and a defense that allows just 87.5. The rushing tandem of Jordan Auman and Evan Niedrowski has combined for 517 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
CLASS AAAA
SEMIFINALS
No. 4 Conrad Weiser (6-0) at No. 1 Lampeter-Strasburg (6-0)
7 p.m. at Pioneer Field on Friday, Nov. 6
No. 3 Northern York (5-0) at No. 2 Elco (6-0)
7 p.m. at Elco HS, Myerstown on Friday, Nov. 6
On the outside: Bishop McDevitt (5-0)
Bishop McDevitt is a glaring omission from the playoff field, given the talent they've got at multiple positions, their average scoring output of 40 points per game, and their No. 4 state ranking. But while the Crusaders can beat just about anybody on the field, they can't beat the mathematics used to determine their power ranking.
Instead, top-seeded Lampeter-Strasburg, the defending district champ, will host Berks League Section 2 front-runner Conrad Weiser in the semifinals next weekend, while second-seeded Elco, the L-L League Section 4 champ, takes on Mid-Penn Colonial co-leader Northern in the other semi.
Three of the four teams in the bracket are scheduled to play this week, even though the results will have no impact on the playoffs.
L-S has a L-L League crossover game with Northern Lebanon on Friday, while Weiser is set to take on Muhlenberg and Northern York has Waynesboro.
Elco was supposed to face Donegal, but the Indians elected to make up a league game with Ephrata on Friday instead. That leaves Elco idle, unless they pick up another dance partner for Friday. If not, the Raiders get a bye week ahead of the playoffs.
CLASS AAAAA
SEMIFINALS
No. 4 Mechanicsburg (5-0) at No. 1 Governor Mifflin (5-0)
7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6 at Governor Mifflin Stadium, Shillington
No. 3 New Oxford (5-0) at No. 2 Warwick (6-0)
7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6 at Joseph Grosh Field, Lititz
On the outside: Red Lion (4-2), Hershey (5-0)
A two-loss team like Red Lion probably doesn't have much of a gripe in the eyes of most neutral observers, but the undefeated Trojans and their followers can't be thrilled. But with only four teams qualifying in the district's most crowded classification, it was inevitable that one or two deserving teams would be left out. All four qualifiers in Class 5A have unblemished records, so it once again comes down to simple mathematics and the power ratings formula, as was the case in Class 4A.
The Class 5A playoffs begin next Friday, with top-seeded Governor Mifflin, the Berks League Section 1 co-leader, hosting Mid-Penn Colonial co-leader Mechanicsburg in one semifinal and L-L League Section 2 champ Warwick taking on YAIAA Division II leader New Oxford in the other.
Interestingly enough, all four teams are scheduled to play regular-season games this week. Governor Mifflin is slated to face Section 1 co-leader Berks Catholic on Friday, while Warwick is set to face Hempfield in a L-L League crossover game. Mechanicsburg is scheduled to face East Pennsboro, while New Oxford has a game against West York. The priority for all four semifinalists would obviously be to get through those games without any significant injuries. The outcomes will not factor into the district playoffs.
CLASS AAAAAA
SEMIFINALS
No. 4 York High (6-0) at No. 1 Harrisburg (4-0) -- FORFEITED
As noted above, Harrisburg will forfeit the game after a player tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the Cougars into quarantine through Nov. 5, according to acting superintendent Chris Celmer.
York gets a free ride to the finals as a result of the forfeit.
News of the Harrisburg player's positive COVID-19 test came out about two hours after the official playoff brackets were announced.
No. 3 Central York (6-0) at No. 2 Central Dauphin (5-0)
Friday, 7 p.m. at George "Speed" Ebersole Stadium
In the only Class 6A playoff game that will be decided on the field, Central York takes its high-octane offense, piloted by Penn State commit Beau Pribula, to Central Dauphin to take on the defending district champs.
Central York obliterated its six York County opponents, outscoring them 354-10. Pribula has completed 78 of 107 passes for 1,170 yards and 24 touchdowns in just six weeks.
CD hasn't broken much of a sweat in its five-game blitz of the Mid-Penn. The Rams have won their games by an average margin of 35.8 points per game. QB Max Mosey (54-84, 857 yards, 12 TDs), RBs Timmy Smith (60-464, 4 TDs) and Shamarr Joppy (24-317, 4 TDs) and WR Malachi Bowman (19-283, 4 TDs) are among CD's top weapons on offense.
This week's winner hosts York in the Class 6A championship, which will be held the weekend of Nov. 6.