Major realignment shift could give Lancaster-Lebanon football much different look
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Four years after opting to go with a five-section format for its newly expanded 37-team league, Lancaster-Lebanon League football coaches and athletic directors are considering a switch to four sections for the 2026 season, and beyond.
The reason?
Scheduling.
Putting together a 10-game schedule which includes the mandatory league games plus some outside competition has always been a difficult task for football, much more so than for basketball, soccer, or baseball. In other sports you can play two, three, or four times a week.
“Football’s a little different,” concedes Lancaster-Lebanon League executive director Todd Reitnouer.
In the current L-L format, teams in Sections 1, 2, and 3 – each of which has seven schools — play six league games and four non-league games. In Sections 4 and 5 – which have eight teams — they play seven league games and three non-leaguers.
Finding those non-league games up front, in Weeks 1, 2, and 3, isn’t so difficult. But filling a hole in Weeks 4, 5, and beyond is very difficult since most potential opponents are locked into league play and unavailable.
Filling the front end of the schedule has become increasingly difficult in recent years, in part because of the 38-team Mid-Penn Conference’s decision to move from five sections to four. That means fewer non-league games for their teams – and far fewer chances for L-L teams to fill their non-league schedules.
That has particularly affected Section 1 schools such as Wilson and Manheim Township, which have often tested themselves with challenging early games against top big-school programs such as Central Dauphin, Harrisburg, and Cumberland Valley. Those opportunities against Mid-Penn powers have dried up.
The formation of the 28-team Schuylkill/Colonial League in 2021 added to that problem, as schools such as Pottsville and Blue Mountain — frequent opponents for Berks schools — saw their number of non-league games cut in half.
That affected Wyomissing, which saw its lively series against Pottsville shelved after the 2022 season. The Spartans, who have traditionally had trouble finding opponents (other teams get tired of losing to them) were forced to fill their 2024 and 2025 slate with early games vs. Haverford School and Academy of the New Church – hardly ideal.
Muhlenberg regularly played both Pottsville and Blue Mountain; it hasn’t been able to in recent years.
(That league, however, is breaking up following the 2025 season.)
A move to four sections for the 2026 season by the Lancaster-Lebanon League will help ease some scheduling concerns, though it would not be a cure-all. There will still be issues.
A four-section format will likely see nine schools in Sections 1, 2, and 3 and the 10 smallest schools in Section 4, based on enrollment.
Schools in the three nine-team sections will need to find only two non-league games, rather than four. Schools in the 10-team section will need only one non-league game, down from three.
“That’s a big difference when you’re only playing 10 games,” Reitnouer said.
Some schools may balk because they won’t have many – or as many – chances to play outside competition, and against a local rival not in their section. Many will still need to fill mid-season slots; that problem won’t go away completely, even for some of the teams in Section 4.
“You never please everybody,” Reitnouer reasoned. “Some (schools) are gonna think (four sections) is not so good for them. We try to look at what’s best for most schools.”
The league won’t make any realignment decisions until October, when schools turn in their official enrollment numbers to the PIAA. After that it’ll be a mad scramble.
League football chairman Tommy Long, the Annville-Cleona athletic director, will look at the enrollment numbers and determine how a four-section alignment might shake down. He’ll likely also piece together a five-section format and send both proposals to the league directors for a final decision.
It might not all come together until November, which will give schools very little time to schedule for the following season.
Adding a 38th school – which would lead to three 10-team sections and one eight-team section – would help ease scheduling concerns. That’s unlikely to happen; Reitnouer said there are just no schools in the region looking to join the L-L at this point.
Here’s a look at what a four-section alignment might look like; enrollment numbers are for the current cycle. Those numbers are certain to change for many schools.
Section 1
| Reading | 2273 |
| McCaskey | 1361 |
| Hempfield | 910 |
| Wilson | 894 |
| Manheim Twp. | 766 |
| Penn Manor | 727 |
| Cedar Crest | 706 |
| Lebanon | 675 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 643 |
The seven current Section 1 teams – the largest, by enrollment, in the league – will end up here, along with two current Section 2 teams.
They likely would be joined by the two largest schools currently in Section 2, Lebanon and Gov. Mifflin – giving the section nine Class 6A schools. It’s possible Muhlenberg, a rapidly growing district, could take one of those spots.
The move up won’t be a problem for Mifflin, which will be competitive and regularly plays Hempfield and Wilson and, until 2019, Reading High. The switch will give the Mustangs and Red Knights a chance to renew their series.
This move will be a problem for Lebanon, which is riding a 42-game losing streak and hasn’t won a game since 2020. The Cedars won’t be able to compete here; they weren’t able to compete in Section 2, either.
No matter how you slice it Wilson and Manheim Township will remain the teams to beat. One, or both, have finished first 20 times in the last 21 years. The lone exception was in 2022 when Hempfield beat both to claim the title.
Section 2
| Muhlenberg | 606 |
| Ephrata | 593 |
| Elizabethtown | 592 |
| Con. Valley | 561 |
| Warwick | 557 |
| Exeter | 534 |
| Conrad Weiser | 497 |
| Solanco | 466 |
| Cocalico | 459 |
Exeter, Muhlenberg, Conestoga Valley, Ephrata, and Elizabethtown would be expected to remain in Section 2 and be joined by four schools moving up from Section 3 or 4: Conrad Weiser, Daniel Boone, Fleetwood, Cocalico, Warwick, and Solanco are all potential candidates.
The enrollment numbers are very tightly bunched in the middle of the league.
No matter how it shakes down, the section will include nine Class 5A schools.
Exeter won the Section 2 title in 2022, should’ve won it last year (we won’t get into that here), and figures to remain a top contender.
Cocalico, the District 3 Class 5A champ in 2022 and 2023 (it beat Exeter for the second of those titles) would be a top contender.
With Conestoga Valley, Ephrata, and Warwick – each a section champ within the last several years — there will be no shortage of top contenders.
Section 3
| Fleetwood | 456 |
| Garden Spot | 455 |
| Daniel Boone | 448 |
| Man. Central | 428 |
| Twin Valley | 419 |
| Lamp.-Stras. | 413 |
| Donegal | 402 |
| Elco | 381 |
| Wyomissing | 243 |
This could quickly become one of the most interesting sections in the state should Twin Valley, Wyomissing, Lampeter-Strasburg, Cocalico, and Manheim Central end up together here, which easily could happen.
That’s four recent District 3 champs plus an emerging Twin Valley program.
They could be joined by Donegal and Elco and some combination of Daniel Boone, Fleetwood, Garden Spot, or Solanco.
There would be a mix of Class 5A and 4A schools.
By the numbers Wyomissing falls into the middle of the Section 4 pack but Spartans coach Bob Wolfrum will again want to play up against better competition.
(The league considers requests to move up but not to move down.)
The Spartans, moved to Class 4A by the PIAA last season, proved they can handle the higher altitude just fine.
Section 4
| Octorara | 335 |
| N. Lebanon | 304 |
| Hamburg | 298 |
| Kutztown | 277 |
| Sch. Valley | 261 |
| Ann.-Cleona | 253 |
| Berks Cath. | 246 |
| Pequea Valley | 219 |
| Lanc. Cath. | 191 |
| Columbia | 188 |
Octorara and Northern Lebanon will be the biggest winners should the league moves to four sections as each figures to escape the current Section 4 slaughterhouse.
They’ll become the largest schools in the league’s smallest section and join the eight current Section 5 teams to form a 10-team section.
This would continue to be the most evenly balanced section, top to bottom, in the league. You might see half-a-dozen different champs over the next 10 seasons.
Most of the programs here have shown the ability to win it. Schuylkill Valley, Annville-Cleona, and Lancaster Catholic have each won or shared a title in the three seasons since the league expanded to five sections. There was a three-way tie in 2023.
Immediately before that Columbia won the Section 4 championship, then the smallest in the league.
Berks Catholic figures to be right in the mix every year, and Hamburg is enjoying the most consistent run of success in program history.
The section would include a mix of Class 4A, 3A and 2A schools.
