With 2024 L-L League football season on tap, here are the top returning players to watch in Section 1

Are you ready for some football?

The 2024 Lancaster-Lebanon League gridiron season is right around the corner, with Media Day on tap for Aug. 2, heat acclimatization practices set for Aug. 5, scrimmages on tap for Aug. 17, and the Week 1 games scheduled for Aug. 23-24.

To get you prepped and ready for all the action, LNP|LancasterOnline and Mike Drago Sports — back in the saddle for its third season of wall-to-wall pigskin coverage — have compiled a list of the top returning players from around the L-L League.

High School Football

With 2024 L-L League football season on tap, here are the top returning players to watch in Section 2

JEFF REINHART | Sports Writer

High School Football

With 2024 L-L League football season on tap, here are the top returning players to watch in Section 3

JEFF REINHART | Sports Writer

High School Football

With 2024 L-L League football season on tap, here are the top returning players to watch in Section 4

JEFF REINHART | Sports Writer

High School Football

With 2024 L-L League football season on tap, here are the top returning players to watch in Section 5

JEFF REINHART | Sports Writer

Here is the Section 1 list, with capsules written by Jeff Reinhart and Mike Drago. Players are listed alphabetically …

12 FOR THE SHOW

Correll Akings, RB-DB, Wilson — To date, Akings has scored more headlines — and more points — in basketball, but he’s poised for a breakout season in football. He’s a physical player, and one of the fastest on the team. The 5-9, 165-pounder showed his offensive potential last season as a sophomore, leading the Bulldogs with 30 receptions out of the backfield, while leading Wilson’s backs with 458 rushing yards. His 5.8 yards-per-carry average was also tops on the squad. Akings had a pair of 100-yard performances, and he scored a personal-best three touchdowns in a win over McCaskey. Overall, he scored nine times, second-most on the team. Akings saw limited time on defense, but he’s expected to use his speed and athleticism to develop into a solid cover-corner. He earned all-division basketball honors as a sophomore, averaging a team-high 12.1 points a game, with a team-leading 37 3-pointers. Akings scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds in Wilson’s 54-53 victory over Reading in the Berks Conference championship game.

Xavier Beatty, WR-DB, Reading — He’s a clutch performer. In basketball, Beatty’s blocked shot in the final seconds protected the Red Knights’ state tournament-opening win at Chester this past winter. In track, he posted a 23-1 1/2 on one of his final attempts to add a long jump silver medal at the PIAA championships to his D3 gold in that event earlier this spring. In football, Beatty returned kickoffs for touchdowns against Hempfield and Muhlenberg, and he had TD receptions of 70 and 81 yards, respectively, against Wilson and CD East last fall in his junior gridiron season. Beatty will be expected to make even more big plays for the Knights in all three phases of the game this fall. His best spot is at DB, where his speed, jumping ability and tenacity helped him pick off two passes and earn first-team all-league honors last season. On offense, Beatty averaged 25 yards on his 11 catches, with three TD grabs.

Tom Capizzi, OT-DT, Manheim Township — Blue Streaks’ trench veteran returns to anchor the O-line, a unit that helped Manheim Township’s runaway-train offense rush for 2,088 yards, crank out 388 yards a game, and average 44 points per contest last fall. Capizzi, a first-team section all-star pick at OT in 2023, was a key cog for a Streaks’ team that won 12 games, captured section gold, and went back to the D3-6A finale for the second year in a row. He chipped in with 16 tackles on D for good measure. Leader. Wily vet. Youngsters will look up to him when the going gets rough.

Jalen Cintron, QB, McCaskey — Earned the full-time signal-calling duties behind center last fall and absolutely ran with it. Cintron clicked on 111-of-202 passes for 1,309 yards with 17 TD flips. He earned section honorable mention all-star kudos for his breakout campaign zipping the ball around the lot. Quick on his feet. Knows where his weapons are, and how to get them the rock. And now Cintron has 10 varsity games and hundreds of pressure-packed snaps under his belt, so the expectations will rise in Tornado Alley.

Declan Clancy, RB-LB, Manheim Township — Streaks’ jack-of-all-trades wiz had a monster 2023 season, piling up crooked numbers galore on both sides of the ball. A sampling: 1,162 rushing yards with 14 TD runs; 21 catches and four TD grabs out of the backfield; plus 82 tackles, five stops for losses, a pair of sacks and a pair of fumble recovers on D. Clancy’s haul: Linebacker of the Year in Section 1, first-team section all-star honors at RB and LB, and he made our Big 37 team. He’s a baller. And a winner.

Keyshawn Efese, OT-DT, Reading — He’s a late-comer to football, but he worked himself into shape and pulled in more than half a dozen scholarship offers in the offseason, including Villanova, Bryant and Maine — among others. When Efese showed up as a 10th-grader, he weighed 365 pounds, was out of shape, and he had little football experience. He played at 6-5 and 300 pounds last season, gained valuable game experience, and clocked a 5.1 in the 40 this spring at a college showcase. Efese was a second-team all-league pick at O-tackle as a junior, overpowering opposing lineman with his massive size and strength.

Brody Gebhard, LB, Hempfield — Section 1 first-team all-star ‘backer honors last fall for Mr. Gebhard, who kept his good vibes going until the end of the school year. In case you missed it, he tossed a no-hitter against Erie McDowell in the state quarterfinals, and the Black Knights went on to win PIAA-6A gold on the baseball diamond this past spring. On the football field, Gebhard piled up 47 tackles (including 38 solo sticks) with a team-best 4.5 sacks last season for the Knights. Tackle machine and an ace pitcher. That’s a pretty cool combo.

Madyx Gruber, ATH, Wilson — Many may think of Gruber as a basketball player, but he showed some football skills and physicality during an impressive junior season last fall, which netted second-team all-league honors at WR, and he caught the eye of college coaches. Gruber isn’t a blazer, but he’s quick, and he finds ways to get open and to get valuable yards after the catch; he averaged 16.5 yards on his 28 receptions last fall, with nine TD catches, tied for third-most in Berks. Three of those TD receptions came against Reading, including an 80-yarder. Gruber developed into an outstanding cover-corner, picking off a team-high three passes, and taking one back 50 yards for a pick-6 vs. McCaskey. That was one of his team-best 10 total TDs. Gruber averaged a team-leading 22.6 yards on kick-returns, and he also fielded a couple of punts. He could be doing even more this season. He completed his only pass attempt last season for a TD, and Gruber could get more chances to throw this fall, either as part of a package or as the Bulldogs’ full-time QB.

Christo Hunsicker, TE-LB, Wilson — The 6-2 ‘backer was probably the Bulldogs’ best defensive player as a junior, using his size, athleticism and instincts to lead the team in tackles, TFL, sacks and fumble recoveries last season. Hunsicker earned second-team all-league honors on D. He played equally well on both the inside and the outside on D, making 64 tackles, including nine sticks for losses, with three sacks and a pair of pass breakups. Hunsicker also came up with a blocked punt that was recovered for a TD in the D3-6A playoff opener vs. Cumberland Valley. He saw little time on offense last season, but he’ll move into key role there as a receiver, either at TE or WR, this fall. Hunsicker played QB coming up through the program. The versatile 3-sport athlete could also end up handling the kicking and punting duties. Hunsicker has the size and athleticism to play in college, but likely will end up playing baseball at the next level. He was a first baseman, pitcher and cleanup hitter for Wilson’s Berks League championship team this past spring.

De’Andre Jones, WR-DB, McCaskey — The Red Tornado’s sleek flank threat put together a special season last fall, earning three all-star nods in Section 1. Jones caught 34 passes for 588 yards (a solid 17.3 yards per snag) with seven TD receptions to pick up first-team honors at WR. He also excelled in the secondary, and he was rewarded with another first-team all-star nod at DB. And Jones, a real whirling dervish and playmaker in space, also picked up second-team all-star honors for his kick-return prowess. He and Cintron are poised to do more pitch-and-catch aerial damage this season.

Tristan Long, OT-DT, Cedar Crest — Had a breakout season toeing the Falcons’ D-line last fall, with 64 tackles, including an eye-popping 18 hits for losses. That’s a bunch. Long tacked on 5.5 sacks and bum-rushed plenty of backfields, as Cedar Crest won eight games and went to the D3-6A playoffs. He’ll also show off his blocking skills at O-tackle, and Long will be the Falcons’ D ringleader as Cedar Crest sets sail with a first-year skipper. We’re expecting Long to be one of the last guys getting up from the bottom of the pile, play after play, this fall. His defense never rests.

Taylor Veilleux, DT, Manheim Township — A lot of household names on the Streaks’ roster last fall, so you might not have heard Veilleux’s name quite as much. This season you will. Dude is a monster in the middle on D; he had 40 tackles, including 14 sticks for losses and three sacks last fall, when Manheim Township won a dozen games, section gold, and went back to the D3-6A finale. He earned second-team section all-star status at D-line for his body-slamming efforts. He’ll chip in on offense, too. But he and Larue are poised to wreak plenty of havoc in the trenches on D. Taylor Veilleux. Remember his name. You’ll hear it a lot at Streaks’ games this fall.