Football

D6 Class 1A football will have different look

High school football

LOYSBURG -- A year ago, Juniata Valley and Claysburg-Kimmel met in the District 6 Class 1A semifinals with a shot at playing at Mansion Park for a district title on the line.

That won't happen in 2026.

A major shakeup in Class 1A within the district added Bishop McCort Catholic Academy to the field while the Bulldogs opted to leave the classification and move up to Class 4A.

Going into the season, the Crushers and Bishop Guilfoyle Academy will be the favorites to represent the district in this year's final -- and the topic came up among last year's semifinalists at Wednesday's Inter-County Conference Media Day at Northern Bedford County High School.

"We control what we can control," Juniata Valley coach Bill Musser said. "We can't control whether they are or are not in it. We will do the best we can. Last year, we certainly were not satisfied with the results of the championship game playing Bishop Guilfoyle, but I felt we could have been much more competitive. I feel we have a chance this year to be competitive and to play hard. If that's who we end up matching up with, and we get the opportunity to be there again, we'll be excited."

The Marauders won last year's District 6 title game, 62-6, over the Green Hornets. But that hasn't made Juniata Valley think it can't turn that around.

"We want to improve from last year, and our No. 1 goal is to make it back to the District 6 championship," Juniata Valley senior running back Andrew Clark said. "We want a better outcome."

The Green Hornets, unlike many 1A teams in the area, actually have found some success against BG over the years. Juniata Valley beat the Marauders in the 2018 semifinals and had competitive games with them in 2019 and 2021.

Musser was asked if he shows film of those teams to his current team for inspiration.

"It is nice to be able to go back and do that," Musser said. "But we also have to remind the kids that the teams that did that put the time in now, during heat acclimation and during two-a-days, which unfortunately we won't have because school starting too early, but it is nice to be able to go back and share that. And I think BG understands that when they play Juniata Valley, it's not going to be an easy game."

Meanwhile, Claysburg-Kimmel decided to try its hat in a different bracket altogether. The Bulldogs will compete with teams like Johnstown, Central Mountain, Bellefonte, and Forest Hills when the postseason comes around.

"Our roster sizes are very similar," Claysburg-Kimmel coach Chuck Kassick said. "We don't have a boatload of giant kids, but looking at their rosters, they don't have a ton of giant kids either. The fact of the matter is, we still have to take care of business in the regular season and the ICC first. If we can't get through our regular-season schedule, we're not going to be worried about the playoffs at that point. We have to stay healthy, improve every week and let the chips fall where they may in Week 11."

Kassick said BG played a role in the decision, but that his main focus was on what was best for Claysburg-Kimmel.

"Somewhat," Kassick said. "But we didn't know at the time that McCort was going to move down. We didn't know what was going to happen with Bishop Carroll. They had been looking at approval from several schools. Quite frankly, I was worried about Claysburg."