Road warriors

There a WPIAL teams that must travel through a tunnel or two (click here), but they've got nothing on Chestnut Ridge.

The Lions are the road warriors of District 5, if not the PIAA.

Without a conference to call home (not that Chestnut Ridge hasn't tried to join one), a preseason scramble was made to fill the Lions' schedule. Phone calls were laced as far away as North Carolina in an attempt to get Chestnut Ridge a 10-game schedule.

Fortunately for the Lions, the furthest south they have to drive is Maryland, but they've faced some rather long journeys on their was to a 4-3 record heading into Saturday's game at always tough Fort Hill (Md.).

"We've approached it as a positive. It's an opportunity to see teams outside our region and a chance to represent south central Pennsylvania well," Chestnut Ridge coach Max Shoemaker said.

Chestnut Ridge has played road games at Berks Catholic, located north of Reading, and Kutztown. Each required a minimum three-hour bus ride in one direction.

"On both our long trips, we scheduled a pregame meal at a college campus nearby," Shoemaker continued. "Berks Catholic was near Albright College and, of course, Kutztown University is right there in Kutztown."

Following the pregame meal, the team would tour the campus on foot then head to the game.

There the type of activities most football teams don't get to experience on a Friday.

"We've looked at our schedule as a good thing," said junior quarterback Beau Bosch. "We get to travel throughout the state to places we've never been before."