HERSHEY, Pa. — With just two weeks left in the regular season, many teams across Central Pennsylvania are battling for position in the District 3 power rankings, which are used to seed the brackets in the district's six classifications.
One of those teams trying to fight its way into the postseason is Lower Dauphin (5-3), which would be on the outside looking in if the Class 5A playoffs began this week.
Fortunately for the Falcons, they don't.
Lower Dauphin has two more weeks to rack up enough points in the power rankings to grab one of the 10 available berths in Class 5A. Which leads us to Friday night, when they face neighborhood rival Hershey at 7 p.m. in Hersheypark Stadium in the FOX43 High School Football Frenzy Game of the Week.
The Trojans (6-2) are currently sitting pretty at No. 6 in the Class 5A power rankings. A win this week would go a long way toward ensuring they'll be one of the 10 teams to make the playoffs.
Lower Dauphin, on the other hand, is currently on the outside at No. 11 and cannot afford to drop back any further in the rankings.
That's what's at stake on Friday when the teams meet on their shared home field. The FOX43 Frenzy Team will be there at 6 p.m. to preview all the action and back at 11 p.m. for all the of Friday's highlights.
Here's a look at Friday night's matchup.
ABOUT LOWER DAUPHIN: The Falcons are trying to snap a two-game losing streak after starting the season 5-1. They dropped a heartbreaking 47-44 decision to Milton Hershey last week, surrendering the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds left in regulation. Prior to that, Lower Dauphin rallied from a 17-point deficit to take the lead with 1:41 left, but their defense could hold the advantage in a wild, exciting shootout.
Gerald Sanders rushed for 181 yards on 24 carries in a losing effort for the Falcons, while junior quarterback Carter Burton rushed for two touchdowns and threw for a third.
LD's other losses came to Cedar Cliff (21-16) in Week 7 and to Twin Valley 24-21 in Week 2. Do that math, and you see the Falcons are 11 points short of an undefeated record.
Sanders, Burton and senior RB Dakota Sary are the three main cogs of LD's offense. Burton has rushed for 612 yards and 10 touchdowns on 88 carries and completed 54 of 97 passes for 710 yards and four scores. Sanders has 586 yards and six TDs on 83 carries, while Sary has a team-high 685 yards and five scores on 102 rush attempts.
Lower Dauphin averages 337.4 yards per game on offense.
ABOUT HERSHEY: The Trojans rebounded from a 42-7 loss to Keystone Division leader Bishop McDevitt in Week 7 with a 24-14 triumph over Mifflin County last week. Hershey's other loss came against second-place Cedar Cliff in Week 4 (41-21).
Hershey's offensive approach is fairly simple: Get the ball to Angel Cabrera. The senior running back has rushed for 1,143 yards and 16 touchdowns on a whopping 178 carries, accounting for more than half of the Trojans' total rushing yards this season.
Sophomore quarterback Cameron Sweeney has completed 35 of 59 passes for 648 yards and eight touchdowns. His top target is Derek Guzman, who has 21 catches for 468 yards and eight scores.
Hershey and LD are tied for third in the Keystone Division race, with identical 3-2 records. Both teams lost to perennial front-runner Bishop McDevitt and runner-up Cedar Cliff.