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Shore, CM discuss 2026 football outlooks at PHAC media day

By NICOLAS SEVERINI 4 min read

The Friday Night Lights are almost glistening.

Ahead of what is expected to be another enticing season of High School Football scores the Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference, the PHAC held its first annual Football Media Day this past Friday in Watsontown. The scene alone could get any football fans' juices flowing, with coaches and players across the conference making time available to local media ahead of the 2026 high school football season.

DIVISION I

Once upon a time a team that hovered around the five or six win mark, Shamokin's transformation from mid-table settler to perennial champion has been one of the more intriguing storylines in the conference. A district champion in back to back years the Indians, led by fourth year head coach Marc Persing and a who's-who of future college athletes, are coming into 2026 after capturing their first PHAC title in recorded history.

With plenty of talent returning, including three star athlete and Wake Forest commit Logan Steele, the question becomes who, if any, in the area can compete with the boys in purple.

Jersey Shore is not unfamiliar to the assignment. A district runner up in three straight seasons, the Bulldogs under 15th year head coach Tom Gravish will look for their luck back after losing each of their last three against the high powered Indians.

Despite graduating two stellar skill players in Carson Watkins and Luke Ryan, the Bulldog interior remains mostly intact indicating that the conference and district runner ups could be shaping for another deep run.

"Last year we had kind of a young team, so we really like the energy (this year,) echoed Gravish. "We feel our culture is pretty much in place with what the standards are and what the expectation is for our players. Players accept those expectations."

A team that's about as easy to predict as a coin toss, Williamsport High School will be looking for more consistency under first year head coach Kevin Brown.

Brown, a graduate of Williamsport High School CU-Lock Haven football athlete, served as an assistant coach at Williamsport for nearly a decade before most recently taking the job as a running backs coach with Lycoming College.

"At times, I get tired of hearing me now," joked Brown when asked about the difference between being a position coach and head coach. "Because I got to talk to everybody on some level. But it is fun, I love the game and its totality. Running backs are my trade, but I have to oversee everything now. If the DB's are doing something I don't like, I have to speak on it."

Brown will have plenty of talent at his disposal, including do-it-all-man Tevin Williams who can turn a regular Friday Night into a game of Madden with the difficulty settings at rookie.

Despite repping a 22-game losing streak, the Central Mountain football program remains optimistic heading into the 2026 season.

The Wildcats have weathered two difficult schedules and will do the same this year. But in this case, they have progress from the end of last year to build upon. Standouts such as Kole Corman, Kyle Everett, Gavin Heverly and Mason Masorti are making their returns, and the team possesses much more experience compared to last season.

"I don't think there's anywhere we look and say, 'This is an easy win.' But on the same token, I don't see anywhere we can't compete, let alone vie for a win," said Central Mountain head coach Travis Thompson. "We were really young last year in a lot of positions but come this year, those kids are a year older, they're battle-tested and they know what it takes to compete it this league."

Stay tuned for more content discussing Jersey Shore and Central Mountain in our annual tab and future editions.

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