Jersey Shore settling into Heartland Conference

JERSEY SHORE - While talks began in 2005 of a new conference to sweep the Susquehanna Valley, nothing was set in stone back then.

By May, those talks were more stern, and the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference found its home in District IV.

The conference is made up of 25 schools - many of which have been on the Bulldogs' schedule for years. But rather than have different leagues for different sports - such as the Central Susquehanna Conference and the Susquehanna Valley League - the PHAC brings them all together.

"We were looking at this conference as a way to put all of our sports under one umbrella," said Mary Thomas, Jersey Shore Area High School principal. "It is a large conference and does that for us. One of our main goals is to achieve good academics, athletics and sportsmanship all in one. We're hoping for a good year. All of our sports are included. That was part of the premise to go this way."

The last sport to earn an SVL title in 2008 was the Jersey Shore baseball team, which split the regular-season trophy with Montoursville. Now, as the fall sports season gets into full swing, the Bulldogs hope to make a run and garner the first-ever PHAC title.

Like other conferences, there are divisions based on the number of schools participating in that sport. Since there are 18 or more teams, Jersey Shore football is in Division I along with Shikellamy, Milton, Selinsgrove and Danville. That gives Thomas and the administration at Shore the distinction of being the president of the PHAC committee.

"It was a nine-member executive committee, and there are three divisions," Thomas said. "Jersey Shore is Division I, and we are the president of the committee right now. The numbers and things are re-evaluated every two years, so that could change."

For reference, Lewisburg is the first vice president, while Montgomery serves as the second vice president.

One team that would certainly love to earn a PHAC title is the football squad, which kicks off their season tonight against Central Mountain at Lock Haven University's Hubert Jack Stadium.

Two new teams on the schedule are Double-A powerhouse Mount Carmel - a team that boasts a quarterback with nearly 4,000 career passing yards - and Class A Southern Columbia, which Shore will meet up with in its third game this season. Neither of those two schools are in the same division as Shore, but they will be a true test for the Bulldogs this upcoming season.

The usual rivals will be on the schedule - Montoursville, Selinsgrove, Milton -as will Athens, a squad that Shore ousted in an exciting, 7-0 victory last year.

Since most of the teams are the same, the season shouldn't have too much of a different feel to it. Still, there is the uncertainty of going up against two new teams for Steve Eck's squad.

"Right now, our biggest test is Central Mountain," Eck said. "That's going to be a heck of a game. If we can get that game, it's really going to get us going in the right direction. I'm sure Central Mountain feels the same way. Those other teams are down the road. It's a challenging schedule, but we'll worry about them down the road."

Along with the regular announcement of PHAC all-stars at the end of the year, the league will also be picking academic all-stars.

"Jersey Shore already has a strict policy on student-athletes," Thomas said. "A student has to be on top of their game to play. At the end of the year, there will be all-stars announced, but this year, there will also be academic all-stars as well. That is basically the only difference between the old league and new league.

"I'm not sure how many of the kids are in tune to it yet. School just started, so maybe once the year starts to unfold, things will pick up. Kids might talk about it at practice and whatnot. We are looking forward to a great year with some new records for the school."

The only sport that isn't classified in Division I at Shore is boys' and girls' soccer, which is at the Division II level.

A complete list of teams in the PHAC are: Benton, Bloomshurg, Central Columbia, Danville, Hughesville, Jersey Shore, Lewisburg, Loyalsock, Midd-West, Mifflinburg, Millville, Milton, Montgomery, Montoursville, Mount Carmel, Muncy, St. John Neumann, Selinsgrove, Shamokin, Shikellamy, South Williamsport, Southern Columbia, Sullivan County, Warrior Run and Williamsport.

According to league regulations, schools that participate in PIAA Class AAA, Class AA or Class A can be a member of the PHAC. Since Williamsport competes in Quad-A in girls' and boys' basketball, softball, baseball and football, the Millionaires will be PHAC members in the remaining sports.