SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — The final week of the regular season is upon us, and the Mid-Penn Conference's Keystone Division title will be on the line Friday night when Shippensburg and Mechanicsburg square off in a battle of unbeatens.
The game will kick off at 7 p.m. from Shippensburg High School. The FOX43 Frenzy Team will be there to set the scene and preview all the action live at 6 p.m.
Here's a preview of Friday night's titanic matchup.
ABOUT MECHANICSBURG: The Wildcats did their part to set up this week's showdown by handling Hershey 42-21 last Friday for their ninth straight victory. Mechanicsburg raced to a 35-0 lead at halftime and cruised to victory from there in a game shortened in the second half by the Mercy Rule.
QB Eli Reader threw for 230 yards and four touchdowns to lead Mechanicsburg, while Josh Smith had 115 receiving yards and a score.
It was an emotional win for Mechanicsburg. The team learned Friday morning of the sudden passing of senior running back Isaac Dollman's father, Andrew. After the game, the team's two buses reportedly made a detour to the Dollman family's home to deliver the game ball to their grieving teammate, according to Pennlive.
No matter the outcome Friday night, this has already been a memorable season for Mechanicsburg. The Wildcats haven't put together a 10-0 regular season campaign since 2008, when they reached the District 3 Class 3A semifinals before falling 26-21 to Manheim Central to finish 11-1.
Their only other one-loss season came in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when they went 8-1 and lost to Governor Mifflin in the district semifinals.
The program has gone through some lean years here and there, but this team appears special. Mechanicsburg has yet to be seriously challenged, winning its nine games by an average margin of 26.5 points per game. The Wildcats have one of Central Pennsylvania's most potent offenses, averaging 391.6 yards per game.
Reader, a senior, has completed 106 of 151 pass attempts for 1,756 yards and 26 touchdowns. Smith, his top target, has caught 45 passes for 925 yards and 14 scores, which ranks him among the top receivers in the Mid-Penn.
And Dollman is the team's top rusher, with 911 yards and 11 TDs on 77 carries -- an impressive average of 11.8 yards per carry.
Mechanicsburg's spot in the District 3 Class 5A playoffs is secure. The Wildcats are No. 3 in the District 3 Class 5A power rankings, one spot below Shippensburg. The top 12 teams in the power rankings make the Class 5A field.
But a loss on Friday could cost the Cats a first-round bye in the playoffs, since only the top four teams in the rankings earn a week off. Mechanicsburg has No. 4 Bishop McDevitt (7-1) breathing down its neck, and undefeated Conestoga Valley and Conrad Weiser are in striking distance as well. Depending on how those other teams fare in Week 10, the Wildcats could lose their bye week should they fall the Shippensburg.
ABOUT SHIPPENSBURG: The Greyhounds dusted Northern York 28-14 last Friday to earn their ninth straight win and set up this week's division title showdown. It was a somewhat frustrating night for Shippensburg, which had its hands full with the upset-minded Polar Bears for much of the night.
Were the Greyhounds looking ahead to this week? Possibly. But in the end they did enough to get the job done. Junior quarterback Brady Maciejewski scored on a pair of short TD runs and found Jaden Hines for a 39-yard TD strike.
Shippensburg is coming off a 4-6 season last year. The Greyhounds went 8-4 and made the district playoffs in 2022, and had its last perfect regular season in 2021, when they fell to Cedar Cliff in the District 3 Class 5A quarterfinals to finish 11-1.
This year, Shippensburg has already locked up a district playoff berth for the 16th time in program history. Like Mechanicsburg, the Greyhounds are playing for Keystone bragging rights while keeping one eye on their playoff seeding. Top-seeded New Oxford has a showdown of its own this week against Eastern York (8-1). If Shippensburg wins and the Colonials lose, the door opens for the Greyhounds to claim the No. 1 seed, which is accompanied by a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the district semifinals, should they get that far.
To get that win, Shippensburg will have to hope last week's sputtering offensive performance was an anomaly. The Greyhounds average 358 yards per game on offense, relying heavily on a ground game powered by the duo of senior Ja’nye Statum (193-1,121, 16 TDs) and sophomore Mark Carothers (126-707, 8 TDs). Shippensburg averages 280.6 yards per game on the ground.
