How the Lancaster-Lebanon League avoided switch from five sections to four
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
If you spoke to coaches from the bigger schools around the Lancaster-Lebanon League during the offseason the consensus was that the league would be switching from its current five-section set-up to four for the 2026 season.
Schools in Sections 1, 2, and 3 – the largest in the league – have been faced with scheduling issues since the league expanded to 37 teams and five sections for the 2022 season. Having just seven schools in each of those sections means each team is faced with filling four non-league games: Three at the front of the schedule and one in Weeks 4-10.
Those first three aren’t so tough to fill; finding a non-league opponent in Week 7, or 8, or 9? That can be a bear.
Muhlenberg of Section 2 picked up Academy Park, a 90-minute trip, to fill its Week 9 schedule. Class 6A Penn Manor of Section 1 played Class 3A Littlestown in Week 7, not ideal for either side.
Governor Mifflin, from Section 2, and Wilson, from Section 1, played in Week 6, not Week 1 where that game belongs (and where it may soon return).
Hence the widespread grumbling.
Tommy Long, the league’s football chairman, has heard the complaints for years. He was ready to consider a switch to four sections before a phone call from Red Lion athletic director Kyle Masser opened a new door.
Masser, the football chairman for the York Area Interscholastic Athletic Association, was facing the same kind of scheduling problem. Its largest section, which includes Central York and York High, is composed of seven schools. They, too, found themselves looking for mid- and late-season opponents to fill their schedules.
Central York went to Akron, Ohio for a Week 9 game against Archbishop Hoban – in part to be tested against a top program, in part because it couldn’t find any attractive local offerings.
Masser’s idea was for the leagues to form a scheduling partnership: Pair teams from Section 1 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League against those from the YAIAA, based on recent success.
That provided Wilson, Reading and the other schools from Section 1 with a fixed opponent without the need to search for one.
“The marriage was a perfect fit,” Masser said.
With that deal in place Long was able to pair the seven Section 2 schools with like Section 3 schools, pairing them based on wins over the last four seasons.
Each of the 21 teams from Sections 1, 2, and 3 will have a fixed midseason, non-league game in place for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
The pairings will look like this for the Section 1 teams:
- Wilson vs. Central York
- Manheim Township vs. York High
- Cedar Crest vs. Dallastown
- Hempfield vs. Spring Grove
- Penn Manor vs. New Oxford
- Reading vs. South Western
- McCaskey vs. Red Lion
Wilson and Central York have had the best overall records from their respective sections over the last several seasons, so they were paired. Manheim Township and York High were second.
The pairings weren’t completely based on recent records because New Oxford, which has dominated YAIAA Section 2 in recent years, is returning to Section 1 for the next cycle. Masser placed New Oxford as his league’s No. 5 team (though its record would suggest a higher placement).
South Western, which had made district four straight years before missing this season, ended up No. 6 on Masser’s list; that gives a rebuilding Reading program a tough foe.
Exeter and Twin Valley, two of Berks’ most dominant programs in recent seasons, have avoided each other so far. Now, with the Raiders moving to Section 3, fate has brought them together. Exeter will play Twin Valley in Week 9 for the next two seasons.
That’s one of the highlights of the new mandatory non-league scheduling, and it’ll be one of the top games across the league next season.
Here’s how the Section 2 vs. Section 3 pairings worked out:
- Exeter vs. Twin Valley
- Conestoga Valley vs. Cocalico
- Ephrata vs. Manheim Central
- Governor Mifflin vs. Garden Spot
- Warwick vs. Elizabethtown
- Muhlenberg vs. Solanco
- Lebanon vs. Fleetwood
The Lancaster-Lebanon League’s biennial realignment, based strictly on enrollment, saw only two teams switch sections: Conrad Weiser moves from Section 3 to Section 4 and Twin Valley moves from Section 4 to Section 3.
Long said only one school requested to move up: Wyomissing. That request was granted, and Wyomissing will remain in Section 4. By enrollment, it falls into the middle of Section 5. Kutztown, the smallest school in Section 4, happily agreed to remain in Section 5.
Had the league gone to four sections, Lebanon and Governor Mifflin would have been pushed up to Section 1. Warwick, Solanco, Cocalico, and Garden Spot would have been elevated to Section 2. Seven current Section 4 teams would have moved up to join Manheim Central and Fleetwood in Section 3. And the eight current Section 5 teams would join Northern Lebanon in the new Section 4.
