Lancaster Catholic was a preseason favorite to play for a district championship.
Camp Hill was not.
Both schools, however, have made the District 3 finals and will play Friday at Hersheypark Stadium. The Lions (7-4) will face Columbia (6-5) in Class A at 1 p.m. Lancaster Catholic, which is 12-0, meets undefeated Wyomissing (11-0) in Class AA at 7 p.m.
The Lions' season has played out like a Hollywood script. After finishing 1-9 last season, Camp Hill -- under the direction of a new head coach, Frank Gay -- promptly lost four of its first five games in 2011.
The Lions have since won six straight, including a 42-24 come-from-behind victory against Steel-High on October 21 that Gay believes truly turned around his team's fortunes. "I think they were on board from the beginning, but they didn't believe in themselves, that they could overcome that (poor start)," said Gay, who used to coach at Red Land.
"I'm tremendously proud of everybody, they way we handled the adversity," said Kevin Chrencik, a senior lineman, in an interview with CBS 21 News. "To keep trucking along, even when times were tough."
Gay's preseason goal was to "restore the roar" of Camp Hill football. He's done that; with basically the same group of players that went 0-8 in the league a year ago.
"We didn't really work as a team, whereas this year, it's just a great team atmosphere," said Jake Bingham, who ran for over 200 yards in last Friday's win over York Catholic.
Lancaster Catholic and Wyomissing, on the other hand, are the only undefeated schools remaining in District 3. Wyomissing grounded the Bermudian Springs running attack last Friday in a 34-7 win in the district semifinals, allowing just over 100 yards rushing. "They're the type of team that...they don't give up, so I'm ready to play, " said Brandon Hollister, who is averaging just under 102 yards rushing per game, according to MaxPreps.
"This is the best team we've played all year, by far," said Bruce Harbach, Lancaster Catholic's head coach, of the Spartans. "They have all the tools and all the athletes to make this a good game."
Lancaster Catholic has captured two of the last three District 3-AA titles.
