The Game: District 3 “AAAA” Championship game
Where: Hersheypark Stadium
When: Saturday, Nov. 29th, 2008, kickoff @ 6 p.m.
When you think of District 3 “AAAA” football, you probably think of Bishop McDevitt and Harrisburg. It’s only fair – those two schools have combined to win the last four District 3 “AAAA” titles, but before McDevitt and Harrisburg, there was Cumberland Valley.
District 3 launched the “AAAA” classification back in 1985. CV, which had already won two “AAA” titles at that point, had to wait a few years as Cedar Cliff (1987-’88) and Wilson (1989-’90) ran rampant.
Then, the Eagles took over, and put a stranglehold on the “AAAA” title.
From 1991-’98, CV won five D3 crowns, including four in a row from 1991-’94. In that four-year stretch, the Eagles appeared in two Eastern Finals (’92 & ’94), and won the 1992 PIAA championship over Jim Render and Upper St. Clair, 28-12. The leader of that ’92 CV team – former Philadelphia Eagle fullback John Ritchie.
CV then went on another spurt between 2000-’03, winning three more D3 crowns and appearing in one more Eastern Final, losing to Neshaminy in 2001 by a mere six points. Had CV defeated Neshaminy, the Eagles would have played Woodland Hills, which was 13-0 and ranked #3 in the nation at the time by the USA-Today.
In all, Cumberland Valley has won 10 District 3 titles, second to Manheim Central’s 15. But the Eagles have had a longer title drought than the maroon and grey – they haven’t won a championship since 2003.
Will that change? Cumberland Valley is matching wits with Wilson-West Lawn, a 13-0 team whose defense has allowed a grand total of 92 points and posted four shutouts. CV enters the Saturday night tussle having outscored its playoff opposition (Warwick, Penn Manor, and Governor Mifflin) by a combined 135-23.
Offensively, the philosophy is simple for the Eagles. Run, run, run, and for good measure, run some more. CV is led by Mike Frenette, who has tallied close to 1,600 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. Frenette is also the Eagles’ second-leading receiver, with 21 catches for 377 yards and two more scores.
In addition to Frenette, Travis Friend (143 rush, 663 yards, 12 TD), Kyle Jones (37, 198, 1), Nate Rhoads (56, 179, 4), and Chris Conway (24, 160, 5) all contribute to the ground game, which averages over 200 yards per game.
Rhoads is also the Eagles’ signal caller, and he directs an offense which averages 35 points per game. Rhoads has thrown for 1,450 yards and 14 touchdowns. His favorite targets, on top of Frenette, are Matt Lengel (18 rec., 379 yards, 3 TD) and Landon Van Dell (12, 228, 3).
Defensively, Jared Mizak and Travis Friend each have over 120 tackles, and the Eagles have forced 35 turnovers, including 24 interceptions. CV allows an average of 11.5 points per game.
Cumberland Valley coach Tim Rimpfel is a 200-game winner. He’s the owner of an impressive career record of 264-87-1.
Cumberland Valley stats are from Maxpreps.com & the Pennsylvania Football News’ Resource Guide.
