Linglestown Colts varsity midget football team was overpowered Sunday by the Mechanicsburg Wildcats in the season opener at Koons Park. Mechanicsburg jumped out to an 18-0 lead in the first quarter and cruised to a 38-6 win. Linglestown’s highlight was a 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter by Colts speedster Drew Scales. The Colts played hard, but were overmatched by a much bigger Wildcats team. The midget division features players who are age 14 and under with a maximum weight of 148 pounds. Linglestown teams upended Mechanicsburg in the two other games contested Sunday at sun-drenched Koons Park: * Colts Pee-Wees 18, Wildcats 12 (age 10 and under with maximum weight of 96 pounds) * Colts Pony 18, Wildcats 9 (age 12 and under with maximum weight of 120 pounds) Colts varsity teams travel to meet West Shore Vikings next Saturday, Aug. 30, 3 pm at a field in Wormleysburg. Junior varsity games start next week – check the Linglestown Football Association's Web site for schedules. HELP WANTED: If you like seeing youth football coverage on Linglestown Gazette, please consider being a Gazette contributor by jotting down game scores and highlights, and sending the info to BB. You don't have to be a writer – BB will do all the heavy lifting to produce game summaries. To volunteer to cover a varsity team (Pee-Wee, Pony or Midget), send BB an e-mail or call him at 512-0722. ____ Photo: Linglestown Colts player Erick Boone ( #8 in blue jersey) breaks into the open during second-half action in the Pony division game. Also pictured is Nick Notestine (#21),Justin Salak (#73) and Raleigh Sirb (#42).

WHP TV-21 produced a video report on the old cemetery located on the west side of the historic village that is owned by Linglestown Church of God. For a link to a Patriot-News article on the same topic, check out "BB's Linglestown notebook" that was posted Saturday.

A family in Blue Meadows Farm housing community lost their home early this morning in a fast-moving fire, according to a news brief published online by The Patriot-News. Dauphin County dispatched Linglestown Fire Company for a deck fire early in the 1 am, but crews arrived to find a well-involved two-story house, according to a news brief on the fire company's Web site. Firefighters worked the fire scene for about nine hours. Gazette contributor Q sent me this exclusive Q-Tip: A passerby spotted a fire on a house deck on J K Drive and banged on windows to warn the family. They tried to put out the fire, but flames spread to a grill and caught the tank. The family was not injured, but their dog could not be rescued. The cars survived, but they don't have anything – no wallet, no keys, no credit cards, nothing left. The local American Red Cross chapter is putting them up in a hotel for two nights. The family is a younger couple with two children ages 2 1/2 and 1. My wife and I talk with them on occasion while walking or at the playground. Our neighbor is going to put together a flyer asking for donations. Triple Crown Corporation, the developer of Blue Meadows Farm, has offered the family a townhouse in the development and is willing to furnish it for them. (The arrangement is contingent upon the home insurer's approval.) ____ A Gazette reader spotted the fire as he was leaving Blue Meadows Farm and shot 10 minutes of video that is now posted on YouTube.

* Linglestown got some ink in Friday’s edition of The Patriot-News. Beat reporter T.W. Burger filed an interesting story about the fate of an old, old cemetery (pictured) owned by the Linglestown Church of God. * Speaking of Burger, I had the pleasure of meeting Terry in person for the first time this week. We broke bread and swapped stories at St. Thomas Restaurant just prior to his meeting with church officials to gather information about the cemetery. I discovered his wit and storytelling prowess when he penned a column entitled "Burger To Go" that appeared weekly in The Patriot-News. The paper dropped the column a few years ago, but you can still read Terry’s latest musings on his blog. * After an intense week of following Linglestown Twilight baseball, it’s now time to make the transition to football as the Linglestown Colts varsity teams start their season tomorrow (Sunday, Aug. 24) at Koons Park against the Mechanicsburg Wildcats, first game at 1 pm. I tentatively plan to attend the midget division contest and file a report about what takes place on this blog. * Kudos to the LP parks crew and the football association for greening up the gridiron at Koons Park. * I chatted with Village of Linglestown Committee member Bill Minsker about the upcoming square and village improvement project. He said construction is still tentatively scheduled to start next spring. He did pass along a new tidbit – enough property owners along Linglestown Road in the historic section of the village want to hook up to the public water system for a waterline to be installed as part of the project. * My buddy Frank Cotolo and his traveling musical extravaganza is once again booked to appear on the stage at St. Thomas Roasters coffeehouse on Friday, Sept. 5, 8-10 pm, no cover. Be sure to mark this date on your social calendar! * Last but not least, here’s an update on the mowing contest – The dry patch of weather that we’re experiencing has caused BB’s mowing count to be stuck at 21 since Aug. 4.

Twilight playoff championship notes ... Winning pitcher Steve Booker had a 132-pitch outing in Wednesday's game, struck out nine and only walked three. His record for the season was 3-0 with a 1.33 earned run average, and he had an outstanding 37 Ks in the 27 innings he pitched. … Nolan Shaffer, Valley View’s pitcher, was a tough cookie for Linglestown batters to crack in the final series. He only gave up one run in winning game #2 at Valley View last Friday, and made Twilight work extremely hard to scratch out three runs last night. … A.J. Granito, who retired after last season, got the itch to play again after finishing some classes this summer and accepted coach Econ’s invitation to play halfway through the season. The decision turned out to be a good one – Granito got the call to pitch hit in the eighth inning and delivered the winning hit! … Linglestown Gazette’s playoff MVP goes to first baseman Sean Frailey, who stroked a double in the seventh inning that led to the tying run being scored. In the five official games of the final series (one game was thrown out due to a tie), Frailey went 8-for-14 (.571 avg.) with three singles, two doubles, three knocks that went back, back, back, outta here and five runs batted in. He also was rock solid in the field at first base. Awsome job, Sean! … Where’s Rhys? Secret weapon Rhys Wolford came up big in the season finale. He scored the tying run as a pinch runner for first baseman Sean Frailey in the seventh inning when Jason Kelly singled up the middle, and then made a clutch diving catch while playing first base in the eighth on an attempted bunt. Way to go, Rhys! ... Coach Steve Econ said Valley View not only was a good ball team, but they also showed a lot of class when some of their players came over after the game to personally congratulate a number of Twilight team members. … The game was one of the few in team history that was covered by a local TV news crew – WHP TV-21 sent a cameraman who filed a great video report. (A bootleg copy of the report is posted below.) ... According to former Twilight coach and longtime fan Bob Kemmler, the last time Twilight won both the regular season and playoff championships was way back in 1969. … The team’s season record was 35 wins, 11 losses and 4 ties. … Bill Di-space-Santo (Di Santo) had a dream come true – he showed up in a photo published in today’s Patriot-News, and his name was spelled correctly. BB made sure the photographer knew about the all-important space. … BB had a wanna-get-away moment while making the rounds high-fiving and hugging players after the big win. When I congratulated catcher Bryan Stovall, who is soon headed back to classes at Millersville University, he got one of those hurt-puppy-dog looks on his face. It turned out that I had mindlessly called him Frailey. Oops! Source:WHP TV-21

Linglestown Twilight needed an extra inning and clutch hits Wednesday by Brian Zellers and A.J. Granito to defeat Valley View 3-2 and win their second straight East Shore Twilight League playoff championship. For game details, jump over to a story by Bob Black of The Patriot News, and check out the paper's The Sports Blog for a great photo by Patriot-News photographer John Whitehead. A monster-sized set of Twilight notes is located in the post above this one. Back row, left to right: Sean Frailey, Bryan Stovall, Josh Muscalus, A.J. Granito, Jason Kelly, Sam Phillips, Sean Kelly, Bill Di Santo, Brad Sanders, Pete Hayden, Steve Booker, Nick Barbera, Brian Zellers Front row, left to right: Jim Miller, Scott Montgomery, Rhys Wolford, Jack Muscalus, Ken Connor, Shawn Berwager, Coach Steve Econ Missing from photo: Aaron Confer

In a replay of Monday's tied game, Linglestown Twilight soundly defeated Valley View 9-4 Tuesday at Valley View Gun Club in Schuylkill County. The win gives Twilight a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven East Shore Twilight League final series. For a game summary, jump over to a report published published in today's Patriot-News. Twilight can wrap up their second straight championship this evening at Koons Park, 5:45 pm game time, FREE admission. Twilight notes … Brad Sanders got the mound assignment and came through with a clutch complete-game win. (9 hits allowed, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk allowed). … Middle infielders Sam Phillips (shortstop) and Nick Barbera (second baseman) turned a beautiful double play in the seventh inning to defuse a potentially big Valley View rally. … First baseman Sean Frailey’s torrid streak at the plate continued with a two hit, one RBI game that included a two-bagger. … Also heating up this week has been Jason Kelly who matched Frailey with two hits and a run batted in. In Monday’s game, Kelly swatted a triple in the final inning that plated two runners in Twilight’s stunning four-run final inning that tied the score and forced a replay Tuesday. … Hopefully Steve Booker, who operates a FedEx route, will deliver a win tonight as the scheduled hurler. To get to the game on time, he plans to drive to the game in his truck. … Where’s Rhys? All-world hurler and utility player Rhys Wolford was preparing to begin fall classes at Shippensburg University and missed last night’s game. Bummer! … BB snagged a line drive and caught an infield pop-up during batting practice Tuesday at Valley View. This was the first time that I did this since playing teener ball in 1971. Gotta tell ya, that liner was a stinger. OUCH! ___ Photo: Linglestown Twilight players celebrate after winning the league championship last August in Middletown. Come out this afternoon, game time 5:45 pm, to see Twilight try to make it two in a row.