The Pennsylvania high school football preseason is in full swing — at an accelerated pace, thanks to a change in scheduling.

That means that heat acclimation was last week, official practice began Monday, the first (and only) scrimmage is this Saturday, and the first game is next Friday, Aug. 24.

For the Chambersburg Trojans, that means a scrimmage at York on Saturday and the opener at Greencastle-Antrim six days from then.

“It shortens the preseason camp, and with school starting early (Thursday), we only have three days we can run two practices,” Trojan coach Mark Luther said. “You have to try to get more done in the offseason if you can. I can’t say I care for it, but that’s just the way it is.”

Chambersburg is coming off an 0-10 season and is mired in a 19-game losing streak. The Trojans also have only nine seniors on the roster and returning quarterback Tyler Collier has chosen to not play football this year.

Although that may sound a little bleak, Luther has been encouraged.

“It’s hard to have a positive vibe when you’ve been 1-9 and 0-10 the last two years,” he said, “but this junior class has experienced success in the past in this sport. A lot of them played last year. Their approach to last week was really good.

“We’ve got some good skill players, and our offensive line has size and experience. Plus, all but one of them will return next year. There are some things to be positive about.”

Collier was injured in the season opener last fall and missed a few games. The 6-foot-8 senior has decided to concentrate strictly on basketball for his final year.

Luther said, “We knew that basketball was his main sport.”

In his place, Brady Stumbaugh is the likely choice at quarterback, although Luther said that Brady Hughes and Ryan Kemerer, both seniors who did not play last year, have the skills to be effective. Stumbaugh had some bright moments last season after Collier was injured.

Also returning on offense are running back Keyshawn Jones, who showed plenty of promise a year ago, fullback Andrew Shetter, H-back Kyere Morton and linemen Tucker Karn, Brock Harmon and Wyatt Hall.

Returning defenders are Karn and Harmon up front, Shetter and Terrell Williams at linebacker and Stumbaugh and Jones in the secondary.

Chambersburg has 67 players on its roster, but that includes about 22 freshmen. That’s not enough ninth-grade players to field a team, so they will play up with the sophomores on the junior varsity squad.

Luther said, “Having only nine seniors is not very good — and two of them just came out in the last week — but that class always had low numbers. You’d like to have 20-25 in each class.

“The young kids will still get to play 10 games, but we’ll have to try to work with the youth programs to make sure those numbers get stronger.”

The players that Luther does have on the field put a smile on his face, however.

“This has been the best preseason we’ve had,” Luther said. “The attitude has been great and they are working hard. I’m excited to see how that translates to the field on Saturday. I think if we can do some good things then we can get some confidence and carry that right into our early games.”

Trojans’ 2018 schedule
Aug. 18 — at York (scrimmage), 11
Aug. 24 — at Greencastle-Antrim, 7
Aug. 31 — South Western, 7
Sept. 7 — Red Lion, 7
Sept. 14 — at Altoona, 7
Sept. 21 — at State College, 7
Sept. 28 — Cumberland Valley, 7
Oct. 5 — at Central Dauphin East, 7
Oct. 12 — Harrisburg, 7
Oct. 19 — Central Dauphin, 7
Oct. 26 — at Carlisle, 7