"Back to Back to Back."
Each fall across the nation, thousands of high school football players gather on their school's practice field with dreams of becoming champions. Some have aspirations of becoming champions, while others dream of rewriting history for their school. This year's Viking football team walked onto the practice field on a foggy August morning, and broke out of their pre-practice stretches with the chant of "Back to Back". This was their goal...this was their mission. Last year's team had captured the Lancaster-Lebanon Section III title for the first time since 1991. To put things into perspective, current assistant Coach Wallace was a sophomore on that team. Current team members were years away from being born. There had been years in between where teams had come close, but to say that last year was a long time coming is an understatement. Then graduation took its toll. The Vikings graduated three 1,000 yard backs in quarterback Isaac Ray, receiver Mason Yost, and running back Dominic Trader. The Vikings also graduated all-league lineman Andrew Fox. Everyone knew that there was work to be done. Many reporters and local papers picked NL to finish in the middle of the pack, and many of those predictions were out of respect for what they accomplished the year before. In short, no one gave the Vikings a chance to repeat as champions. Luckily the only people who had to believe were the coaches and players...and they did. Quietly the team worked tirelessly through the preseason and first two scrimmages. It was evident that they could be good, but how good no one knew. Then the regular season started. The Vikings opened the season with a 52-0 drubbing of Pine Grove, followed by a 52-21 victory at Lebanon. A 36-25 win at Hamburg left the team with a 3-0 record heading into Section 3 play. The Vikings continued to put half a hundred on the scoreboard when they beat Ephrata 57-26.The Vikings were rolling along when they were dealt a blow. It had been discovered by coaches and administration that the team had inadvertently played an ineligible player in the first two games, and the team would be forced to forfeit those games. The Vikings fell from the fourth seed to the seventeenth seed in the District 3 power ratings, and could not lose another game if they hoped to qualify for the District 3 playoffs. What could have been a disaster only brought the team and coaches closer, as they took on an "us against the world" attitude. They would refuse to lose. The Vikings pounded Pequea valley 42-17. In a mid-season non league game, the Vikings were dealt some adversity, and had to score a late touchdown to beat Williams Valley 16-13. The following week at Homecoming, the Vikings had to generate a scoring drive with less than a minute left in order to best ELCO 44-41. Annville-Cleona would be the next victim as the Vikings put 58 on the Little Dutchmen in a 58-36 victory. Donegal put a scare into the Viking Nation, but the team score 21 fourth quarter points to beat the Indians 34-22. The following week the team headed to Columbia for a chance to do what they had chanted every day for three months..."Back to Back". The game at Columbia was a formality in the minds of most, but when 1,000 yard rushed Luke Funck was injured in the opening drive, the Vikes were faced with challenges yet again. Before the end of the first half, starting center Hunter Wallace would leave with an injury, as would starting receiver Corey Teasdale. The team rallied, and overcame the odds to win 53-14. They were champions...Back to Back. For the first time since 1991 the Vikings had walked off the field victorious in all 10 contests. Even though the team would fall to number two seeded Northeastern in the playoffs, they had proven many things to the school, the community, and themselves. They proved that in the face of adversity, when a group of people are willing to come together and work towards a common goal, great things can happen. It was a pleasure and an honor to watch this team play this season. From the hearts of all Viking football fans, we thank you for a truly remarkable season. To the coaches: (Coach Wall, Coach Miller, Coach Wallace, Coach Williams, Coach Trout, and Coach Deitrich), and to the players...we can't wait until next year when we can hear the echos through the fresh cut fields,
"Back to Back to Back." Comments are closed.
|
october teachers of the month Kris Miller is an Algebra I and Honors Geometry teacher from Quentin, PA. He is involved in extracurricular activities at NL and loves sports. Mr. Miller went to Conestoga Valley High School in Lancaster and later went to Lebanon Valley College and received his Masters Degree at Millersville University. He has been teaching for 7 years at Northern Lebanon. Mr. Miller teaches Algebra I and Honors Geometry in room 40, and is accompanied this semester by student teacher Mr. De La Ronde from Lebanon Valley College. He offers tutoring in his room from Monday to Thursday after school from 2:30 until 3 PM. Mr. Miller is involved in extracurricular activities at NL. He is an assistant coach for the varsity football team and head coach for the junior high wrestling team. Mr. Miller is also a freshman class advisor along with Mr. Beidler. Outside school, Mr. Miller also enjoys golfing. He often visits his family’s cabin and loves to play with his two daughters, Breana and Reagan. Breana is 3.5 years old and Reagan is just 7 months. Mr. Miller’s wife, Steph, is a nurse at Hershey Medical center. He also has one younger sister named Alicia. Mr. Miller’s favorite movie is “Rudy”, a football movie by David Anspaugh, and his favorite book is Tuesday’s with Morrie by MItch Albom, a memoir. When asked about his growth as a teacher, Mr. Miller said, “I have spent a lot of time trying to make my math class more engaging through the use of hands-on activities and the use of technology.”
Mr. Jack Beidler is the 10th grade world history teacher. He is from Annville, but now lives in Fredericksburg. Mr.Beidler has been teaching for 19 years at Northern Lebanon. Mr. Beidler teaches 10th grade World History in room 15. Tutoring is available after school if you ask him. Mr. Beidler does not currently have a student teacher, but has had about seven in past years. Mr. Beidler has been involved in extracurricular activities at NL. Currently he is a 9th grade class advisor. He is also a former head football coach at NL. Mr. Beidler also coaches football at Lebanon Valley College. His hobbies include playing football, watching the Hershey Bears hockey team, and The Washington Capitals. Mr. Beidler’s favorite movie is “Remember the Titans”, another football-based movie by Boaz Yakin. His favorite book is The Art of Smart Football, an analytic and strategic book studying different football strategies, trends and plays, by Chris Brown. Mr. Beidler has four older brothers and two children, and all of their names start with the letter “J”. His two children are Jacob, 14, and Joseph, 12, and he is married to NL English teacher Julie Beidler. After 19 years teaching at Northern Lebanon, Mr. Beidler has learned that, “success breeds success”.
EDITORSWelcome to Northern Lebanon's new Belron Blog. The Belron has been our high school's source for news since 1964. This year the students are working hard to bring changes to the format of our news. Our blog will be updated several times a week with the latest and greatest news from Viking Country. You can also follow us on Twitter at @NL_Belron. Once a marking period we will also be publishing our full-color edition of the Belron news magazine on our website. Please follow us and spread the word. Archives
May 2018
Categories |