Previewing Slate at York Rose Bowl Kickoff Classic

YORK TECH (0-0) VS JAMES BUCHANAN (0-0)   York County Tech ended their 2022 Fall campaign losing eight straight games, finishing with a 1-9 record on the year. Obviously a tough go last year, the program will do what it can to turn things around as soon as possible. Their first loss of the 2022 season came to none other than James Buchanan, a close 22-20 Week Zero Final. They will match up again this Friday.   James Buchanan had an equally rough 2022 season, although they can build some kind of momentum if they look back at their 3-1 start heading into the backend of their 2022 September schedule. Buchanan lost the last six games on schedule, finishing with a 3-7 record that had to disappoint the coaching staff.   Matchups/Prospects I'm looking forward to...    No tape out of James Buchanan prospects. All will be a surprise to me.   YORK SUBURBAN (0-0) VS EAST PENNSBORO (0-0)   The Trojans of York Suburban are coming off a winning 2022 season, a season where they won 7 out of 12 games, doing so after starting the Fall campaign with a 2-4 record. I've been a fan of many YS prospects throughout the past years. Sadly, I won't be able to see studs like Mikey Bentivegna work in person, with Bentivegna committing to Duquesne back in February. The Trojan's primary weapon is no longer in the building, the program will have to fill huge shoes left behind by one of the best athletes in the state. Although Suburban ended the season in better shape than their Week Zero counterpart, it was East Pennsboro who took the win this time last year, in decided fashion I might add.   The Panthers of East Pennsboro saw a 2022 season opposite that of York Suburban's. A 4-1 start with wins over Milton Hershey and Greencastle-Antrim, the Panthers were on a fast track to winning more games than the previous year, all for them to lose seven of their last nine. Three of those seven losses were decided by one score or less.   Matchups/Prospects I'm looking forward to...       Very excited to see [player_tooltip player_id='307558' first='Rylan' last='Bratton'] for the first time in pads. I have flirted with the idea of placing the young man anywhere from the 12 spot at his position, down to 25. This is a prime opportunity to impress me, more importantly, a prime opportunity to give his Trojans a 1-0 start to the season. 6'2, 160, good locater. I'm interested to see how he's matured into the position more so any flash in production. Now an upperclassman, Bratton's voice will need to be heard. I'm excited to see this offensive line group as well. Lee, Hopwood, Gonzalez, Cashour all look the part in terms of height/weight. Couldn't dig up much tape but I'll have my eye on possible standouts all night. I'll have my eye on unranked Jonathon Glennon when the Trojans are on defense too, like what I saw from his most recent scrimmage against Spring Grove.        Many Panthers have made their way through our Prospect Camps, I can now return the favor and pay a visit to the camp alumni. All too familiar with all things [player_tooltip player_id='256005' first='Josh' last='Angelo'], not so much Aaron Angelo, however. The young man's got production to his name with dual-Hudl tape showcasing what he can on both sides of the ball. Expecting to see Aaron provide quality reps at OLB, both defending the run as well as providing some passing defense from the slot if need be. Aaron also led the team in total touchdowns last Fall as a sophomore. We need to get him ranked. [player_tooltip player_id='377505' first='Keith' last='Oates'] will be back to provide similar two-way prowess, doing so from the quarterback position for another year, I presume. 13 touchdowns to his name, 900 total yards of offense. [player_tooltip player_id='281275' first='Trey' last='Good'] and [player_tooltip player_id='558408' first='Ahmar' last='Lumbard'] are solid pieces that help Oates produce at the level he's capable of.   IMHOTEP (0-0) VS LIFE CHRISTIAN (0-0)   Ignore Life Christian's 2022 record, take a look at some of the competition they had on schedule and you'll soon realize that not all 3-6 records are looked at the same way. What's more important to mention is the exodus of great talent headed to play Power Five football. Gone are names like Antonio Cotman, Joshua Miller and Kaleb Spencer. Let's not get it twisted, Imhotep will still have to handle Antonio Rivera, a Piscataway transfer. Andre Williams and JMU-commit Marcellus Nash will likely test the 'Tep tackles, yet they get to sharpen their iron every week against their own teammates, so handling this group should be within Tep's capabilities. I'm not an expert in Virginia football, but it feels like Imhotep is all-around too balanced for me to favor LCA much. Imhotep hasn't played a padded football game since their crushing defeat to Pine-Richland in the 5A State Championship this past December. They are ready, stacked at every position, hungrier than ever to achieve what they have been dreaming of. I am not going to bet against the 2023 Imhotep Panthers.   Matchups/Prospects I'm looking forward to...   The Imhotep defensive line vs. the LCA offensive line unit. I'm intrigued by Olof Tillman and James Delva, two large lineman prospects whose names I got off the LCA Hudl. Those two, as well as the rest of the unit, will have to match up against one of the more formidable fronts the entire state of PA has to offer. [player_tooltip player_id='142896' first='Zahir' last='Mathis'], [player_tooltip player_id='119073' first='Jahsear' last='Whittington'], and numerous other studs stationed in the trenches, the Eagles will have to make stopping this front priority number one.   LCA's balanced enough to stop what could be a multi-faceted offensive attack? Imhotep lives on the run game, with the Coleman brothers presumably leading the way behind a line that is advanced at creating running lanes both between the tackles or on the move. They'll have to deal with Army-commit and starting QB [player_tooltip player_id='142816' first='Mikal' last='Davis Jr.'] tucking and running too. To make matters worse for LCA, Davis Jr. will now have [player_tooltip player_id='141010' first='Tyseer' last='Denmark'] to throw to, the Panthers obtaining the top overall prospect in the PA class of 2024. The rich get richer.    STEELTON HIGHSPIRE (0-0) VS IMANI CHRISTIAN (0-0)   8-17 record for the Saints over the past three seasons. We can call last Fall a step in the right direction, however. Although Imani Christian opened up against a non-conference, out-of-state opponent in Linsly, the 43-0 loss on Week Zero led the Ssaints to win back-to-back games against Brentwood and South Allegheny. Later in the year, the Saints won back-to-back games for a second time in a season, defeating Apollo Ridge by a narrow margin before defeating Derry handedly. On track to have a winning season, ICA won't have it easy in Week Zero. Steelton Highspire, coming off yet another State Championship, will pit themselves against a program with top-level talent. [player_tooltip player_id='386032' first='Dayshaun' last='Burnett'] and [player_tooltip player_id='399270' first='David' last='Davis'] are names national recruiters are familiar with. That being said, this isn't anything Steelton hasn't already handled in the past. A 13-1 season, wins over Bishop Canevin, Trinity CH, West Perry, and Union Area, all of which have formidable prospects. I had the chance to see the Rollers work in person twice last Fall, so I can say confidently that the team will be ready for any and all things throw their direction.   Matchups/Prospects I'm looking forward to...       How will Steelton Highspire thwart an attack featuring Burnett, Vandiver, and Davis? Although we like [player_tooltip player_id='386032' first='Dayshaun' last='Burnett'] and David David to work on defense when projecting them to the next level, I can't imagine both won't be used heavily on offense. I feel strongly about the Roller offense churning like it always has, despite missing some prominent names that have moved on from the 2023 class. The Erby twins are still present, along with a familiar system that has one them many games. ICA will hope to catch what's usually a well-oiled machine dried after a long off-season.   YORK HIGH (0-0) VS. HARRISBURG (0-0)   William Penn York, coming off a 6-4 record, opens up against the 6A runner-up in Harrisburg. Looking back at the Bearcats 2022 season, it's tough to not wince at just how close this team was to potentially going undefeated. It leaves the question as to where they could have ended up had they been able to close out late in the fourth quarter of their losses. All four of the Bearcat losses last Fall were decided by seven points or less. The Bearcat C/O 2023 stationed two top 100 prospects in Sam Stoner and Jahiem White, one of the best prospects I've ever scouted at this level. Those two, along with many other studs, are long gone. The same can be said about Harrisburg, they'll be without a memorable 2023 class full of leaders and role players that helped them reach the pinnacle of the 6A playoffs. Both programs have young prospects ready to step up to the plate, hopefully enough to relieve some pressure off of the senior classes.   Matchups/Prospects I'm looking forward to...   Will Harrisburg's youth help the program pick up where they left off?   Will WPY's senior class be too much for Harrisburg too handle?

YORK TECH (0-0) VS JAMES BUCHANAN (0-0)