After winning back-to-back Section 2 championships — in its first two seasons playing up in Section 2, by the way — Lampeter-Strasburg suffered a pair of league losses and finished in third place last fall. And the Pioneers lost several sluggers and playmakers to graduation. Can this group make another run at a section crown? Below is Lampeter-Strasburg’s Countdown to Camp preview.
SCHOOL NAME: Lampeter-Strasburg Pioneers
COACH: John Manion
LAST YEAR: 6-5 overall, 5-2 in L-L Section 2
LAST 5 YEARS: 41-18
RETURNING STARTERS: 4 on offense; 4 on defense
KEY PLAYERS: K-P Matt Wright; TE-LB Jordan Spahr; FB-LB Dan Lind; OG-DT Michael Warfel; OT-DT Jared Horn; QB-LB Collin Shank; WR-DB Kevin Souders; TE-DE Brett Brooks; RB-DB Austin Landis; C-DT Cory Clites.
MATT WRIGHT IS A NATIONALLY RANKED KICKER
OFFENSIVE OVERVIEW: The more things change, the more they stay the same. That’s what L-S is hoping for this season. The Pioneers lost some slug-it-out trench guys and their top three rushers from last fall, when L-S was denied a third Section 2 crown in a row. But here’s the good news: Soph QB “Bear” Shank returns to pilot the Pioneers’ “Spread Wing-T” attack, and after taking a few lumps in his freshman season, he improved as the season went on and he should be good to go this time around. He’ll have a cavalcade of backs behind him; Lind, Landis, Ross Souders, Kyle Horner and Sean Harris all had touches last season. And Manion is counting on Clites, Warfel and Horn to anchor the line. Kind of a work in process here. But the more Shank improves, the scarier this group will be.
DEFENSIVE OVERVIEW: L-S lost two major players here in hit-men LBs Jeff Pickel (104 tackles) and Jason Lindsley (90 tackles). Those guys also dominated at OG, so they’ll be missed on both sides of the ball. Some names to familiarize yourself with: Warfel, whom Manion called the team’s best d-lineman last season, returns. He had 43 stops and once again should clog the middle. D-ends Spahr (35 tackles, team-high 5 sacks, team-high 4 forced fumbles) and Brooks (23 tackles, 3 sacks) should be plenty busy blitzing from the edges in the Pioneers’ “3-3 Stack” scheme. Souders (31 tackles, 1 pick) moves from free safety to strong safety to sure up the secondary. And Lind (19 tackles) heads up the LB crew — a crew that must replace Pickel and Lindsley. That, Manion says, is priority No. 1 when camp opens for business.
PODCAST: JEFF PICKEL INTERVIEW
PODCAST: JASON LINDSLEY INTERVIEW
BIGGEST GAME: October 11 at Manheim Central. That’s becoming a feisty little section rivalry. And L-S has Cocalico the next week, so it can’t get caught looking ahead.
MORE L-S PIONEERS: 2013 SCHEDULE
L-L LEAGUE SCRIMMAGE SCHEDULES
REINHART’S CRYSTAL BALL: Keep hearing good things about Shank and his progression. L-S threw him in the deep end of the pool as a freshman last fall, where he replaced big brother, and another four-year QB starter, Nate Shank — who ended up having a terrific career for the Pioneers. Little bro passed for 861 yards and five TD last year; expect those numbers to go way up. And expect those 10 picks to come down. Other than Shank’s continued maturation, two things for me here: Trench play; making holes for a new feature back and keeping Shank upright are a must. And finding capable replacements at LB. Do that, and L-S will be a player in the Section 2 race.