DILLSBURG, Pa. — As the regular season enters its home stretch, this week's FOX43 High School Football Frenzy Game of the Week features a Mid-Penn Keystone clash between Mechanicsburg and Northern York.
The game kicks off at 7 p.m. in Dillsburg, but the FOX43 Frenzy Team will get you ready for all the action with a live pre-game show at 6, followed by highlights and scores from across Central PA at 11.
Mechanicsburg is one of nine remaining undefeated teams in Central Pennsylvania, and is tied for first place in the Keystone race with Shippensburg, another of the unbeatens. They won't meet until the final Friday of the regular season, so right now the Wildcats are doing everything in their power to maintain their unblemished record ahead of that potential showdown.
But Northern York won't be a pushover. The Polar Bears have won two in a row after stumbling to a 1-3 start, and are currently on the bubble in the push for a District 3 Class 5A playoff berth. They need a win here.
Let's take a closer look at the matchup.
ABOUT MECHANICSBURG: The Wildcats rolled to their sixth straight victory last week with a 35-7 rout of Red Land. Running back Isaac Dollman had a huge night for Mechanicsburg, rushing for 144 yards and a pair of touchdowns on just seven carries as the Wildcats roared to a 28-0 lead at halftime. Dollman's scoring runs covered distances of 43 and 71 yards.
Meanwhile, QB Eli Reider threw for 163 yards and two touchdowns, including a 44-yard TD strike to wideout Josh Smith. Reider added 53 yards on the ground for Mechanicsburg, which limited Red Land to just 176 total yards.
It's been that kind of season for the Wildcats, who have been held to under 30 points just once all year. Mechanicsburg averages 317.5 yards per game on offense, and is scoring an average of 36.8 points per game. The Wildcat defense has allowed double-digit points just twice all season; no one has scored more than 20 points against them.
Reider has thrown for 1,119 yards and 19 touchdowns in six games, while Dollman has rushed for 642 yards and nine scores. Smith, who has been getting some college looks, has 28 catches for 623 yards and 12 touchdowns, and has a 91-yard kickoff return for a TD to his credit.
Mechanicsburg is part of a logjam at the top of the District 3 Class 5A power rankings, which feature six of Central PA's nine remaining undefeated teams. The Wildcats are currently ranked third behind New Oxford and Shippensburg, with Conestoga Valley and Conrad Weiser close behind. Bishop McDevitt (4-1) is currently ranked sixth, just ahead of unbeaten Exeter Township.
The top 12 teams in the Class 5A rankings at the end of the regular season earn district playoff berths.
ABOUT NORTHERN YORK: The Polar Bears held off Waynesboro 30-27 last week to earn their second straight victory. Anna Lehman booted a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference for Northern, which won its second straight game and evened its record at 3-3.
Gabe Johnson rushed for 138 yards and a pair of TDs for Northern, while quarterback Grady Bonin passed for 160 yards, rushed for 129 yards, and found the end zone twice. Wideout Tristan Wenrich turned his three catches into 102 yards for the Polar Bears.
Northern stumbled to a 1-3 start to open the season, dropping games to Spring Grove (31-14), Lower Dauphin (35-14), and Gettysburg (25-22). Their only victory over that stretch was a 41-34 shootout over Mifflin County.
But since the Gettysburg loss, Northern turned things around a bit with a 34-14 rout of Red Land and its victory over Waynesboro last week.
Bonin, a 5-10, 180-pound junior, is the primary weapon for Northern. Through six games, he's completed 47 of 79 passes for 660 yards and six scores, and has a team-high 358 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
Northern is currently on the wrong side of the District 3 Class 5A power ranking bubble, sitting at No. 13. Only 12 teams make the playoffs, so the Bears need the points an upset over Mechanicsburg would bring. There are currently four other 3-3 teams sitting right behind Northern in the rankings, so the Bears can't afford to stumble.