Projecting the finish in Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
The 2024 season kicks off in just a couple days and competition will be better than ever in Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League. With Berks Catholic sliding down, there are now four Berks County teams in eight-team section.
Every team has holes to plug after graduation losses, transfers, and offseason injuries.
Here’s a breakdown of the teams in Section 5 of the Lancaster Lebanon League and how they might finish.
| Team | 2023 | Outlook | Opener | ||||
| 1 | Schuylkill Valley | 9-3 | One year after earning a piece of their first title Panthers are well-stocked and in position to claim their first outright football championship. Senior-laden squad will challenge for district crown in Season Four under Bruce Harbach. | @ Muhlenberg | |||
| 2 | Lancaster Catholic | 9-2 | Crusaders are coming off 2 straight section titles and have lost just once in league play in that span. They remain the hurdle that Schuylkill Valley must clear. Return QB David Stefanow will be counted on to throw more now that bruising RB Elijah Cunningham is gone. | Camp Hill | |||
| 3 | Hamburg | 6-5 | Record-setting QB Tyler Shuey is back and he has enough weapons around him to continue assaulting the scoreboard. Need to tighten up on D if they want to challenge the top teams in this section. | Octorara | |||
| 4 | Berks Catholic | 5-6 | Lots of holes to fill throughout the lineup in what shapes up as a transition year for the Saints and first-year head coach Dave Stahler. Move to Section 5 will help their record but a stacked non-league schedule will make it a challenge to get to districts. | Twin Valley | |||
| 5 | Annville-Cleona | 7-4 | Dutchmen took one of the heaviest graduation hits in the section with loss of 8 all-league players, including their QB, top RB and top lineman. The good news? The roster is up to 45 and AC has dropped to Class 2A where they could do some damage in postseason. | @ Biglerville | |||
| 6 | Kutztown | 3-7 | Cougars are a tough out. They don’t play a lot of D but they keep your defense on the field a long time with their pounding ground game and they have potential to take out one of the contenders. Postseason is not out of the question. | Fleetwood | |||
| 7 | Columbia | 2-8 | Tide saw huge graduation purge, with loss of 6 all-league selections. They finished with season with just 16 players, so they don’t have much back. They do have QB Cameron McClair, who passed for 1,700 yards and 17 TDs. That’s a good place to start. | Eastern York | |||
| 8 | Pequea Valley | 2-8 | Braves head coach Mike Choi, a former Wyomissing assistant, has adopted the Wing-T and taken his staff to watch Bob Wolfrum go to work. Imitating the Spartans is a smart way to rebuild your program, but with only 29 players its tough to compete with the top-level teams in this section. | @ Renaissance Academy |
