District 3 Playoffs Preview

The regular season is in the books and the playoffs get underway this week! Five Berks County football teams qualified for the District 3 tournament. Meanwhile, Berks Catholic, Hamburg, Fleetwood, and Gov. Mifflin are headed to Eastern Conference championship games. The (4-6) Saints will travel up Route 61 to Hawk Hill on Friday for the 3A final. Hamburg is (6-4). Fleetwood visits Shamokin in the 4A championship. The Tigers can finish above the .500 mark with a victory. Gov. Mifflin meets Pleasant Valley in Shillington for the 5A/6A final. The Mustangs are an even (5-5). Now let’s take a look at the District 3 brackets.

Class 6A-All eight teams have a bye this week. #5 seed Wilson is on the road against #4 Cumberland Valley on Friday, November 10th. The (7-3) Bulldogs and (6-4) Eagles are no strangers to the postseason. Wilson and CV are making their 31st appearances in the District 3 playoffs. The Eagles have won 13 championships while the Bulldogs have claimed seven trophies. Wilson has an all-time record of (42-23). CV is (50-17). Unbeaten Manheim Township is the top seed in the 6A field. The Blue Streaks fell to Harrisburg 44-6 in last year’s championship game. The second-seeded Cougars are hunting a three-peat.

Class 5A-Exeter makes a trip to Chocolatetown this Friday. The ninth-seeded Eagles battle #8 Hershey at 7pm at Hersheypark Stadium. Exeter qualified for District’s for the 14th time. The (8-2) Eagles lost to Cocalico 34-14 in the final a season ago. Exeter is (10-12) all-time in the District 3 tournament. Hershey is (6-11). The Trojans are making their first appearance in a decade. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2010. The winner draws #1 seed New Oxford in the quarterfinals. Defending champion Cocalico is seeded third this year. The (9-1) Eagles are making their 24th appearance with a record of (30-19). They won it all in 2022 as a #12 seed which had never been done before.

Class 4A-Twin Valley is the lone representative from Berks County. The (9-1) Raiders have reached the District 3 tournament for the third consecutive season. They lost to Bishop McDevitt 47-3 in the semifinals last year. #2 seed Twin Valley has an opening round bye. The Raiders will host either #7 ELCO or #10 Big Spring on November 10th. Bishop McDevitt is at the top of the bracket. The Crusaders are searching for their 17th championship and third in a row. They hold the record for wins in the District 3 playoffs with 62, one more than Manheim Central. The (9-1) Barons are seeded third and making their record 35th appearance. They have the most all-time titles with 18 including ten straight from 1992-2001!

Class 3A-Wyomissing is once again the team to beat. The (9-1) Spartans have brought home four trophies in a row and eleven overall. They thumped West Perry 63-7 a season ago in the final. That tied the largest margin of victory ever in a District 3 championship. This year marks the 30th appearance for the top-seeded Spartans. They’re (40-18) entering the tournament. Wyomissing will entertain either #4 Schuylkill Valley or #5 Littlestown in the semifinals on Saturday, November 11th at 1pm. The Panthers are making their eighth appearance. They’ll try to shake off last week’s 35-14 loss at Lancaster Catholic. The Crusaders are seeded second in this bracket. Schuylkill Valley faces Littlestown at 7pm on Friday in Leesport. Both squads are (8-2).

Class 2A-The semifinals on Friday feature #4 Camp Hill vs. #1 Annville-Cleona and #3 Delone Catholic at #2 Trinity. The Shamrocks beat Annville-Cleona 58-27 in the championship last year. Camp Hill (10) and Delone Catholic (8) have combined for 18 District 3 titles.

Class A-#1 Steel-High hosts #2 Halifax on Saturday at 1pm in the final. The Rollers are looking for a four-peat. They’re (32-9) overall in the District 3 playoffs with 15 championships.