September 21-24

The latter part of the week was relatively quiet except for a noteworthy Friday evening, I was at Lancaster Catholic for the start of my 22nd year on the mic (when available) and the first football game at brand-new Crusader Stadium. The school's soccer and field hockey teams play there as well but this was the first "high-profile" event in the new facility. The venerable Rossmere Stadium had been around since the early 1960s, in the off-season it was razed completely and the new stadium was built on the same spot. The only feature of the old yard that remains is the field house where the team locker rooms are located. The playing field was reoriented to run north-south instead of east-west, the field house formerly sat behind the east end zone but it is now behind the bleachers on the visiting side of the stadium. The old press box was two stories with the PA booth on the second floor, the new box is one floor with my spot in the middle and it's noticeably smaller than its predecessor. It's a whole new experience but it's one that was needed and it won't take long for it to be completely accepted. The debut of the stadium was unfortunately the highlight of the evening as LCHS lost to Berks Catholic (from Reading) 38-8. The Crusaders struggled offensively all night long amassing only 88 total yards from scrimmage. The lone score came in the third quarter when defensive back Nate Bryson picked up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown, Phillip Bomberger added the two-point conversion on a quarterback keeper. They play at home again on the 29th but I am absent for the game at McCaskey, I'm not back at LCHS until November 3. The Atlantic League division playoffs ended on the weekend, the York Revs ousted Southern Maryland in four games and Long Island defeated Somerset in four as well. The championship series is a rematch of the 2011 finals which the Revs won, they also won the league title in 2010. Long Island was in the finals in 2016, they last won the gold in 2013. The series starts on the Island on Wednesday the 27th. Take care, thanks for reading.