District 3 Class 3A preview: Schuylkill Valley vs. Littlestown
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District 3 Class 3A quarterfinal
No. 5 Littlestown (8-2) vs. No. 4 Schuylkill Valley (8-2)
Kick: Friday, 7, at Leesport.
Series: First meeting.
Common opponent: Littlestown beat Annville-Cleona 33-21 in Week 3. . . Schuylkill Valley won 14-13 at Annville-Cleona in Week 9.
Home field advantage? The Panthers are 5-0 at home this season. . . the Thunderbolts are 5-0 on the road.
Fast fact: Schuylkill Valley’s lone district playoff victory came in 2012, 42-21 over Berks Catholic. The Panthers are 1-7 overall in district play.
Thunderbolts update: Finished season with five straight wins to earn a share of York-Adams Division 3, tying with Bermudian Springs and Delone Catholic. . . Knocked off Bermudian 35-32 last week to earn share of title. . . Rallied from 17-point, third-quarter deficit to beat Bermudian. . . Scored game-winner with 1:50 left with nine-play touchdown drive. . . QB Alex Popoff completed 16-of-25 passes for season-high 253 yards, with 7 completions for 126 yards to WR Nate Albert. . . Popoff has thrown for 1,366 yards and 11 TDs with 5 INTs. . . RB Dylan Herr is averaging 7.2 yards per carry and has scored team-high 16 TDs. . . Team averaging 192 yards per game through the air, 150 on the ground. . . Strength is tough pass defense, which is allowing just 64 yards per game. . . Defense has 17 takeaways. . . Losses came in Week 2 to Susquehannock, in triple-overtime, and to Delone Catholic in Week 5. . . First-year head coach Corey Bittle was an assistant in the program for 20 seasons, most recently as offensive coordinator . . . First district appearance since 2019. . . Have lost five straight postseason games. . . Last playoff win came in 2013, over Wyomissing. . . Overall, 12-22 in districts and 2-7 in quarterfinals.
Did you know? Longtime Littlestown coach Mike Lippy retired following last season, his 20th as head coach. He won 142 games and made 14 playoff appearances, including a 2004 championship over Lancaster Catholic, at the time coached by Bruce Harbach, the current Schuylkill Valley coach.
Panthers update: Matched program record for wins with Week 9 victory at Annville-Cleona before 35-14 loss at Lancaster Catholic last week. . . That snapped eight-game winning streak, longest in program history. . . Shared Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 title with Catholic, the first football championship of any kind for the program. . . All-State running back Dominic Giuffre returned in Week 9 after missing 4 weeks with broken arm. He leads team with 545 rushing yards. . . His 2,387 career yards are third-most in program history. . . QB Logan Nawrocki has thrown for 1,741 yards, seventh-most in league. . . Junior is ninth passer in program history to top 2,000 career yards and has a chance next season to top program record of 3,749 yards, by Kyle Beissel. . . Nawrocki’s 19 TD passes are third-most in program history and three away from the record. . . Eleven of those scoring throws have gone to Kowen Gerner, who last week broke the program record of 10 TD catches, set in 2019 by Michael Knowles. . . Gerner is second in the league with 883 receiving yards and in range to become just the second 1,000-yard receiver in program history. . . Team allowing 18.3 points per game, down more than a touchdown from last season. . . Have lost four straight district games, most recently 45-21 last season at West Perry.
Fast fact: Littlestown has won three District 3 championships and appeared in six title games. It’s championships came in 1984, 1989 and 2004. It beat Wyomissing 25-19 in three overtimes for the second of those titles.
Up next: Winner plays at No. 1 Wyomissing in a semifinal Nov. 11.
