Given Lebanon High’s long-term struggles in football, it seems a little odd that the Cedars will stay in Section Two when they were given a chance to drop to Section Three next season.
Lebanon has never won a section championship since the Lancaster-Lebanon League was formed in the mid 1970s and the Cedars have rarely risen above the middle of the pack. Lebanon hasn’t won eight games in a season since Fred Murren was coaching in the 1970s.
The Cedars have had just one winning season in the past eight years and that year (2008) Lebanon won seven games overall. Lebanon qualified for district playoffs — the Cedars were then in Class AAA — for the only time in school history. District playoffs began in 1982. Even in that high-water-mark season of 2008, Lebanon finished fourth in Section Two.
Before the L-L League was formed, Lebanon was a member of the Central Penn League. Only once in that league’s history did the Cedars win a title, and that year (1947) they actually finished in a three-way tie.
The L-L League, like other leagues, realigns its sections in all sports every two years based on enrollment. A team can obtain an exception to that rule if it finds a partner with which to switch. Lebanon did just that about eight years ago when the Cedars avoided a drop to Section Three in basketball by swapping places with Cocalico. Oh, the irony.
Lebanon Athletic Director Sam Elias chose not to return that favor this year when Cocalico was looking for help in avoiding a mandated drop to Section Three in football in 2014. It should be noted that Cocalico has been very strong in football the past several years and has become perennial power Manheim Central’s top rival.
As one might expect, the powers that be at Cocalico are not happy about leaving Section Two, and neither are the teams in Section Three that are not thrilled with having to butt heads with a very strong program.
So we asked Elias via email what his reasons were for keeping the Cedars in Section Two. He responded quickly and cordially, as he always does. Those reasons follow:
1. Lebanon is Quad-A in football and “that size does not belong in Section 3.”
2. “What if we don’t win in Section 3? We already last year went 0-2 against (Section 3) teams.” Lebanon lost to Northern Lebanon and Elco in 2012. The Cedars beat the Vikings 40-39 in overtime last Friday and will play at Elco this Friday.
3. “If we don’t win in Section 3, where do we go?”
4. “We belong in Section 2 and I have challenged everyone to play up to the competition, not down to it.”
5. “Behind the scenes, things have improved. I have put a lot of demands on the varsity and junior high staffs.”
6. “I believe we will be competitive in the future and I don’t want us to accept failure. Going in Section 3 is not the fix to match our Quad-A enrollment.”
Elias has taken ownership of this decision. “If we don’t get to the level I expect in the near future, it is my fault,” he wrote.
He also acknowledged that he didn’t make any friends at other L-L schools.
“This is a situation that I was looking out for the best interest and future of Lebanon, not Cocalico,” Elias wrote. “You may not agree to my thinking but I won’t give up hope of where football belongs. Other sports belong in various sections but not football or basketball.”
One other football note: Lebanon County’s six high school teams managed 13 combined victories last year, six of which were intra-county games. So far this season, the record is 2-10, with both wins being intra-county games.
But there is good news — basketball season is three months away. This will be a good winter, likely a very good winter, for most of Lebanon County’s boys’ and girls’ teams.
And speaking of hoops, the 10th annual Randy Stetler Memorial Classic Basketball Tournament is coming Sept. 28 at Springettsbury Township Park, 1501 Mount Zion Road, just off Route 30 east of York.
This three-on-three event benefits two high school scholarship funds, Olivia’s House (a charity for grieving children) and the Make A Wish Foundation.
Stetler was a star player at York Suburban High School and Shippensburg University and was this writer’s high school friend and college roommate. When he passed away from a rare form of cancer at 43, he left behind four children.
One of Stetler’s friends was Paul Kuhn, a top player at Lebanon Catholic and Bloomsburg University. Paul has helped out with the tournament since its inception.
Last year, Cedar Crest’s Clay Penchard and Killian Klopp, Lebanon Catholic’s Timmy Orr and Lancaster’s Devon Pinkard teamed to win the high school division (there are also youth, junior high and two adult divisions).
For more information, call 717-505-0406 or visit www.springettsbury.com. The deadline to register is Sept. 13.
As always, follow along on Twitter @sesnyderleb.
