Williamsport, Jersey Shore and Warrior Run all had excellent seasons last fall and all three reached the district finals, with Williamsport winning the District 2-4 Class 6A title.
Today, eight of the players who helped their team achieve great things have become teammates.
Seven players from those schools joined North Penn-Mansfield’s Luke Kreger Saturday afternoon and earned all-state honors from the Pennsylvania Sportswriters. Jersey Shore hit a grand slam with Evan Snyder, Elijah Jordan, Slate Sechrist and Bo Sechrist all earning Class AAAA selections. Sam Hall and Eli Butler of Warrior Run joined Kreger on the Class AA team and Jayden Ransom of Williamsport earned a 6A selection.
Ransom burst onto the scene during his senior year and put on a passing clinic while helping the Millionaires win their first district championship since 2016. The outside linebacker played a Lawrence Taylor-like role, collecting sacks in 10 of 13 games, while adding 85 tackles. , one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. Ransom had a good season on a memorable night when he produced seven sacks in a 15-6 district semifinal win over Hazleton.
Ransom is one of the few players who can say he sacked Jordan, who has proven to be one of the state’s most elusive and effective quarterbacks. Jordan earned all-state honors after throwing for 2,401 yards, the most by a District 4 quarterback in 12 weeks, and 28 touchdowns, while rushing for 801 yards and eight touchdowns. Jordan totaled 3,202 yards and 36 touchdowns in his first season as quarterback, helped anchor the secondary and capped his decorated high school career with 6,133 total yards and 70 touchdowns, including a Jersey high Shore in the 2000s of 3,142 rushing yards.
Snyder was Jordan’s favorite target and had one of the best receiving seasons in Jersey Shore history and that’s saying a lot, considering some of the fantastic receivers the school produced. Snyder caught 64 passes for 1,099 yards and a program-record 15 touchdowns. A player who consistently turned short passes into big plays, Snyder was as consistent as he was productive, passing for 80 yards in 10 of his 12 games, topping 100 yards five times and also scoring touchdowns as a defender and on special teams.
Slate Sechrist played a vital role in helping the offense thrive up front, but also anchored a strong defensive line and earned all-state honors on the defensive end. Sechrist won the Sun-Gazette Lineman of the Year award after averaging 6.7 tackles per game and making 26 tackles for loss. An exceptional run-rusher who also disrupted the passing game, Sechrist totaled 4 ½ sacks and 58 carries while creating opportunities for his teammates. Over his final two seasons, Sechrist had 40 tackles for loss.
Also continuing the Sechrist football tradition, Bo Sechrist repeated as an all-state linebacker selection. The junior helped quarterback the defense and made a team-high 123 tackles, including 76 solos, averaging 10.3 per game. Sechrist had 10 tackles in eight of his 12 games and had 20 during the playoffs. Also an excellent running back, Sechrist has made most of his 258 tackles over the past two seasons, including 26 for loss.
Like Jersey Shore, Warrior Run reached a district final and Hall and Butler played major roles. No area player produced more career yards than Hall, an all-state wide receiver selection who capped his stellar high school career with 174 catches for 3,194 yards and 33 touchdowns. Despite dealing with a hamstring injury for most of the season, Hall still caught 53 passes for 1,017 yards and 13 touchdowns last fall, averaging 19.2 yards per catch. He became the second area receiver to produce two 1,000-yard seasons and also excelled in high school.
Butler did a little bit of everything to help Warrior Run make history and reach its first district final and is an all-state athlete. Butler rushed for 1,181 yards and 16 touchdowns, while catching 30 passes for 461 yards and four more scores. The senior was also one of the best linebackers in the area, totaling 138 tackles, including 101 solo and 27 for loss. He added four sacks, four interceptions, two forced fumbles and a pick 6. Butler also returned a kickoff for a touchdown and generated 469 all-purpose yards against North Penn-Mansfield.
That same night, Kreger showed why he became an all-state receiver, catching 11 passes for 278 yards. Kreger’s total is the third highest in area history and he also produced the fifth highest total two weeks later with a 264-yard performance against Canton. The big and fast junior caught 60 passes for 1,188 yards and 10 touchdowns. In just two seasons, Kreger has totaled 88 catches for 1,727 yards and 18 touchdowns and averaged 118.8 yards per game this season.