For several years now, the Franklin County football brawls between Waynesboro and Shippensburg have gone a long way in determining the shape and direction of the Mid-Penn Colonial Division.
These teams, both off to unbeaten starts this fall, are slated to meet once again on Friday, but this time as members of the Mid-Penn’s restructured Keystone, a super-division loaded with 10 teams. There’s no doubt about it, the winner of this contest will have an inside track as contenders for the division crown.
For that reason, we’ve selected this crucial contest as our first Game of the Week. Over the course of this season and beyond, we are aiming to shine a weekly spotlight on big games in the Local.News area across multiple sports.
Below is a closer look at what should be a tight battle between the Greyhounds and the Indians in our Game of the Week:
Shippensburg at Waynesboro
Kickoff: 7 p.m. at WASHS Stadium
Records: Shippensburg is 2-0 (1-0 Keystone); Waynesboro is 2-0 (1-0 Keystone)
Last week: The Greyhounds controlled the flow of play in a 28-13 win over Hershey, while Waynesboro hit the ground running in a 33-21 victory over Gettysburg.
Last meeting: Shippensburg handed Waynesboro its only shutout loss of 2023 in Week 9 with a 27-0 victory.
Meet the Greyhounds: Shippensburg made news headlines in Week 1 with the sudden loss of 13-year-old Levi Maciejewski, the son of Shippensburg University Coach Mark Maciejewski and brother of Greyhounds’ QB Brady Maciejewski. The community has rallied around the mourning family, and Brady Maciejewski continues to fight on for his Shippensburg squad, guiding his team to two convincing wins in two games. He leads a Greyhound group that enjoys possessing the ball on long, methodical drives fueled by a stable of RBs that include the likes of Janye Statum (46 carries, 268 yards, 3 TDs), Mark Carothers (25-121-1), and Jaden Hines (13-99-2). Those time-consuming drives put the pressure on the opposition to score points on Shippensburg’s defense, which has only allowed an average of 10 points per game this fall. If the Greyhounds want to win this week, they’ll need to continue chew up clock and keep Waynesboro’s offense off the field.
Meet the Indians: Not many of the “experts” had Mark Saunders’ Waynesboro squad racing off to a 2-0 record, but here the Indians are after surviving a slugfest with backyard rival Greencastle-Antrim before punching above their weight class with a convincing victory over Gettysburg. Junior QB Rayshawn Frazer-Hewitt has been at the center of the action for the upstart Tribe, completing 28 of 41 passes for 331 yards and three TDs. He’s joined in the backfield by the versatile Nathan Nolan, who is averaging 5.5 yards per carry, while also leading Waynesboro in receptions. Defensively, the Indians have been masterful at forcing turnovers, with five different players recording interceptions over the first two games. Waynesboro’s best chance at victory will be getting ahead early and forcing the Greyhounds to play from behind against a ball-hawking defense.
Sandrik’s pick: Greyhounds by 1.
