Can Schuylkill Valley close season with its first football championship?

Bruce Harbach admits he’ll be emotional when his Schuylkill Valley football team takes the field Friday night against Lancaster Catholic.

Harbach coached the Crusaders for 16 seasons, won a pair of state championships and eight Lancaster-Lebanon League section titles. He hired their current head coach, Chris Maiorino, as his offensive line coach.

How could he not feel a connection?

“I’ll always have a special spot for my days at Catholic,” he said.

Here’s one more certainty: If the Panthers knock off the unbeaten, state-ranked Crusaders Harbach will be even more emotional. It’ll mean the first football champiohship of any kind in Schuylkill Valley’s 50-year football history.

The Panthers (6-1, 6-3) lost their chance for an outright Section 5 title last week with a 42-10 loss to Annville-Cleona but they can still share the title by beating the Crusaders (7-0, 9-0).

Plus, with a head-to-head victory they can claim bragging rights over them.

Just getting to this point — having a chance for a champiohship going into the regular season finale — is a major step for Harbach, in just his second season as Panthers head coach.

“When’s the last time this program has been in a situation like this?” Harbach said. “That’s what we’re trying to impress on these kids. There’s a lot on the line.”

The answer to Harbach’s question: Essentially, never.

Schuylkill Valley had a chance to tie for the Berks Football League Section 2 title in 2003 when it went into the season-ending Frost Bowl with a 3-1 league record, a game back of Wyomissing. Had the Spartans lost their finale to Conrad Weiser the Panthers would’ve shared the title. The Spartans didn’t.

As far as a head-to-head chance to win a true champiohship game, Schuylkill Valley’s never been part of anything like that. It has only finished with a winning record in league play a handful of times.

The Panthers’ emergence this season was not unforseen. They had a young team last season and finished 2-9. Fifteen starters returned. They were picked in the preseason as a contender for the top spot along with Hamburg, Lancaster Catholic and Annville-Cleona.

It’s played out that way. Yes, Catholic is unbeaten but it’s had some close calls.

It held off Hamburg 38-35 in a wild late-September shootout. The Hawks, playing without the league’s touchdown leader, Pierce Mason, were driving for the go-ahead score in the final minute before fumbling it away. A photo indicated the ballcarrier’s knee hit the ground before the fumble. So, who knows what could’ve happened with a different call?

A week later Catholic squeaked by Annville-Cleona 14-13 when a two-point conversion pass failed with 1:53 remaining.

The Frost Bowl was a shootout, too, the Panthers winning 41-34 as Dominic Giuffre ran for a program-record 302 yards and four touchdowns.

The Panthers fell victim to the classic “trap” game last week, losing to Annville-Cleona a week after an emotional win over rival Hamburg and a week before what loomed as a champiohship game.

“I knew they weren’t ready to play, just by the look in their eyes,” Harbach said. “Annville came to play, we didn’t.”

This battle for the section title could be evolve into another shootout — it looks like that’s going to be the M.O. of Section 5.

“It’s the fun section,” Harbach joked.

The Crusaders have all kinds of offensive weapons.

Will Cranford is one of the top passers in the league. He’s third overall in passing efficiency, has completed nearly 65 percent of his passes, has 20 touchdowns and just three interceptions.

His top weapon and a key to this game is Jaevon Parker, a former McCaskey quarterback who converted to wide receiver when he joined Catholic last season. He’s dangerous any time he touches the ball: Offense, defense or special teams. He’s averaging 21 yards on his team-leading 40 receptions, with 13 TDs.

Giuffre is the Panthers’ top threat. He’s third in the league with 1,321 rushing yards and third with 20 rushing TDs; he’s averaging 8.2 yards per carry. With at least one district playoff game assured he has a chance for the program single-season rushing record (Nick Scheidt, 1,618 yards in 2013). With another season to go he can take aim at Derek Gaul’s program career record (3,289, set in 2010).

The Crusaders are averaging 34.2 points, the Panthers 30.2. Schuylkill Valley is averaging more total yards (355) then Catholic (333).

We’re probably not looking at a 7-6 final.

“We have to keep their offense off the field; our offense has to move the chains,” Harbach said. “Whoever plays better defense will win the football game.”