When the Wu-Tang Clan released its seminal album 36 Chambers in 1993, it contained an interlude where the RZA talked about killer bees on a swarm.
He was rapping about Method Man, Ghost Face and the rest of the group, and they all did some stinging on a landmark album that set the tone for the New York hip-hop scene in the 90s.
Three decades later, some new killer B’s are preparing to swarm the Laurel Highlands Conference East Division, only these groups won’t be hitting with sampled beats and complex rhymes.
They will actually be hitting.
As the season prepares to unfold, Bishop Guilfoyle, Bellwood-Antis, and Bellefonte appear to have the goods where high school football in central Pennsylvania is concerned. And like Wu-Tang 30 years ago, they’ve all got depth, versatility, and stars in the making.
Odds are good the East Division title will reside in one of those schools by the time November rolls around, and as early frontrunners go, it’s tough to bet against defending champion BG.
Last season, the Marauders were probably about a year or two away from where they wanted to be and where they believed they could get.
But there are levels to the game of football, and BG happens to be on a different one than most teams, so the result of their rebuilding season was a District 6 1A championship and a spot in the PIAA title game.
Although they lost to a highly motivated team out of Clairton, the Marauders reestablished that they are alpha dogs, only now they’re hungry ones, too.
BG reloaded last season, earned an extra six games in the District and state playoffs, and return this year with a roster just as talented, a little deeper, and much more seasoned. So there’s every reason to believe the Marauders will repeat as Laurel Highlands East Division champions.
The battle won’t be an easy one because there are certainly contenders to the throne, none more threatening than Bellwood-Antis. But until a team emerges from that side of the conference to defeat the Marauders, the title is theirs, and everyone else is chasing.
EAST CONTENDERS
Jake Kissell was the driving force behind the Marauders’ efficient offense a season ago, and losing him to graduation presents no small challenge. He passed for more than 500 yards, ran for 1,600, and had more than 400 receiving yards. He was their Mr. Everything, and when a play needed to be made, he was involved.
At the same time, sophomore Justin Wheeler was emerging as a player cut from the same mold as Kissell. Completing 68% of his passes, he threw for more than 1,400 yards and ran for just shy of 800. So while BG will begin 2026 without a significant contributor to their past offensive success, the Marauders are still in good shape, with a kid running the show who simply knows how to produce yards and big plays.
The same can be said for the Mrauders’ running backs and receivers. The loss of Kissell as a primary ball-carrier will be felt, but sophomore Keegan Hewitt is ready to pick up those yards left by Kissell’s absence. As a freshman, Hewitt carried 81 times for 473 yards and scored five touchdowns. A bruising-type runner who gets tough yards, Hewitt stands to gain the most from Kissell’s graduation and should have a big season.
On the outside, the Marauders are well-equipped to move forward despite losing top receiver Tyson Lestochi with returning pass-catchers like Even Schimminger and Jack Gioiosa.
BG is in even better shape defensively, with two big-time defensive linemen returning in Rocco Cacciotti and Declan Peterson. The duo combined for more than 250 tackles in 2025, and Cacciotti, in particular, was well adept at causing havoc in the backfield, alone accounting for 27 tackles for loss and 11 sacks.
From a team that allowed just over 12 points per game, the Marauders also return linebacker Connor Okanak and two starters in the secondary in Schimminger and Wheeler.
That’s quite the roster, but if there’s a team in the East with the personnel to take a run at the Marauders, it’s Bellwood-Antis. The Blue Devils have been gearing 2026 as a landmark season for quite some time, and with good reason.
B-A will be led by senior Alex McCartney, a bruising 6-foot-1 tailback who plays at over 200 pounds. After missing 2024 with a torn ACL, McCartney returned in 2025 to run for more than 1,300 yards – his second 1,000-yard season – and was the team’s touchdown leader with 22. He is primed to have another big season, but his job is made all the easier because of the Blue Devils’ depth in the skill positions. Classmate Chase Plummer, who similarly was absent in 2024 with a torn ACL, ran for 836 yards as a junior.
Seniors Ethan Shawley and Jeffrey Waite return as B-A’s top two receivers.
Who will be throwing them passes is still up in the air. Senior Brayden Partner was the Devils’ starter for most of last season, but when he missed games early with an ankle injury junior Brendan McNelis stepped in and did a respectable job. While Partner finished the year with 745 passing yards, he’s also a capable runner who adds a lot to B-A’s offense as a multi-tool athlete. For now, both players are in the mix to take snaps as the Devils look for ways to best utilize their talent, which may include using Partner from multiple positions.
Defensively, B-A will be strong, with many key areas nearly intact. In the secondary, Curtis Shedlock returns along with Jackson Dorminy and Waite, and that group accounted for 8 picks in 2025. Shawley is back on the edge, where as a junior he recorded 15 tackles for loss. Both Plummer and McCartney were outstanding at linebacker a season ago, combining for more than 150 tackles.
The key for B-A will be rebuilding offensive and defensive lines that were excellent in 2024 and 2025 but hit hard by graduation. If the Devils can do that, there’s every reason to believe they will be the team to seriously challenge Guilfoyle for the East title.
The teams face each other at Mansion Park in Week 7 on a Saturday night, and it’s a game football fans across the region should pencil into their calendars.
North on I-99 in the Centre County Seat, there’s a final team hoping to crash the party. Bellefonte was young in 2025, and the Raiders will still be young in 2026, but their inexperience didn’t keep them from winning last year’s 4A championship.
Bellefonte ran for more than 2,200 yards last season, and its two top rushers – Alten and Ashten Howell – return after combining for more than 800 yards. The Raiders also return their top two receivers and will get an extra shot in the arm with the return of Brennan Huntsinger, who started the first five games of 2025 at quarterback before an injury cut his season short.
The issue a year ago was getting it done against the league’s top teams. Against LHAC teams who finished with winning records, the Raiders were 1-5, but with an offseason of growth that could change quickly.
POSSIBILITIES
Both Bald Eagle Area and Huntingdon are coming off playoff seasons in 2025, though how each of the teams landed there couldn’t have been more different. Huntingdon got out of the gates early with big wins over teams like Bellwood-Antis and Clearfield and rode that momentum all the way to a spot in the 3A championship game. BEA, meanwhile, clawed its way through the entire season, ultimately winning in the final week to qualify in the 2A bracket, where they lost in the first round to Bishop McCort.
Both lost quite a bit of offense to graduation, but for the Bearcats some star players remain. Reese Hughes will take over for Elliot Guisler at quarterback after earning some tough, big-game experience near the end of last season when Guisler was working through injuries. He passed for 494 yards and 4 touchdowns.
While the heart of Huntingdon’s in-your-face running game has graduated, its top receivers have not. Kobe Cathern and Javaugh Dodsen are back, and that’s good news for Hughes. The ‘Cats will need to rebuild their own offensive and defensive lines following an 8-4 season when they could essentially run at will, and they will need to find a replacements for the potent 1-2 punch of Landon Erdman and Evan Edmiston. But Huntingdon now has expectations, and they should be in the mix.
For BEA, when the Eagles have been at their best under Coach Jesse Nagle they’ve been an offensive force, but they return few players with varsity experience on that side of the ball. Projected quarterback Chase Cane threw one pass last season, while projected running backs Xavier Nagle and Sam Clark had a combined 65 yards between them. The one returning player who made a significant impact in 2025 is receiver Luke Hosband, who caught 28 passes for 306 yards as a junior.
But BEA fought its way into the playoffs last year not by outscoring teams but through an outstanding defense. BEA shut out three opponents and limited two others to a single touchdown, and many of the players from that side of the ball are back, none bigger than sophomore Nino Dannecker. As a freshman, Dannecker had 15 tackles for loss and led the team with 4.5 sacks. He’s one of several top defenders who are back, so if BEA is going to need some time to get its offense rolling, it will have a defense better than most to provide ample time for the process to take shape.
QUESTIONS MARKS
Several other teams stand out as enigmas as the season begins, teams with enough potential to make them enticing dark horses along but with plenty of uncertainties.
Tyrone falls into that category. Senior Ben Walk will be the team’s full-time starter at quarterback after coming on to split time at the position with Eli Woomer at the end of his junior season. Walk was good in those circumstances, throwing for more than 400 yards, but he is yet to be tested by a full season behind center.
He will have options to throw to, including Mason Emigh, who had more than 500 receiving yards in 2025 and is one of the top athletes in the entire LHAC. He will also have players like Jon Stroup and Jesse Parks as options. In the backfield, Caleb Whitby is back after running for more than 800 yards his junior season, as is sophomore Reed Starr, who is set to have a breakout season.
In terms of skill, the Golden Eagles will be right there with the best of them, but developing an offensive line will be priority No. 1 for new coach Jason Jones. The same goes for the defensive side of the ball, where Tyrone’s secondary and linebacking groups will be solid. However, only one player returns on the defensive line – senior Kyler Suhoney, who had 8 tackles for loss and 2 sacks as an edge rusher last year.
Another question mark is Central, but only because of the Dragons’ struggles in 2025, when they finished 4-6 and surrendered almost 30 points per game. In terms of skill returning, few teams in the East match what Central brings back, so while the Dragons are ranked among the enigmas, they are a dangerous team that could make a serious run.
At the top, Central returns 1,200-yard passer Jesse Muthler, and he’s got lots of weapons at his disposal. Back for the Dragons are their top two rushers (Semaj Musei and Carter Schenk), as well as their top three receivers (Schenk, Bentley Dickson, and JJ Moushlian).
The Dragons were young up front a season ago, and that accounted for their struggles running the football and stopping teams defensively, but if they can make progress on the lines there’s every reason to believe they can make some noise among the East contenders.
On the flip side, few teams in the LHAC were hit as hard by graduation as Clearfield, which lost its starting quarterback, its top three runners, and five receivers who accounted for more than 1,000 yards. The same is true on defense, where the Bisons lost their top five tacklers.
But few teams rebuild as quickly or as well as Clearfield. The Bisons have a top-tier athlete in Eli Glunt – last year’s second-leading receiver – around whom to build, but there’s no getting around how green they will be when the season begins.
FIGURING IT OUT
Philipsburg-Osceola was a contender for much of 2025, and the Mounties 5-5 split was no small accomplishment after years of struggling to pick up wins.
While P-O took a hit with the graduation of thousand-yard runner Colton Chapman, their offense will be bolstered by the return of quarterback Archer Baughman, who completed 53% of his passes as a junior for almost 800 yards.
If the Mounties can get a healthy Demarcus Law in the mix, there’s a lot of potential for big plays. Law averaged 7.7 yards per carry last year in four games before missing the rest of the season with an injury.
There’s no denying P-O is working with some of its best talent in more than a decade, but it will be on the Mounties to find consistency, make improvements on defense, and find ways to win games against the top teams.
In Spring Mills, Penns Valley will be trying to rebuild an offense that last season was as potent as they come through the air but struggled to gain footing in the running game. Carter Ironside graduated after passing for almost 2,000 yards in just 10 games, but one of his top receivers remains in senior Spencer Althouse, a true speedster who can break plays wide open with his quickness and acceleration.
But besides Althouse, the Rams will need a lot of help, and those players who need to make an impact for Valley will be in the spotlight for the first time.
There was a time when the hallmark of every Penns Valley team was a stingy defense, and that might be the direction the Rams need to go this season to climb from the bottom of the LHAC East.
ORANGE AND BLACK 