The first Friday night in November can only mean one thing, playoff football. Tonight in the District III 5A playoffs, the battle of the Warriors went down between Gettysburg (9) and Warwick (8).
Warwick came out hot despite the cold temperatures and scored first on a Christian Royer four-yard touchdown rush. This capped off a 45-yard drive. With the successful PAT from kicker Gage Meckley, Warwick had a 7-0 lead with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter.
Christian Royer got Warwick’s second touchdown off a 22-yard rush with 11:14 in the second quarter. The PAT failed, but Warwick still had the 13-0 lead.
Warwick tacked on another touchdown with 5:33 remaining before halftime with a ten-yard pass from Jack Reed to Ryan Fink. This made it 20-0 Warwick.
Gettysburg desperately needed an answer before halftime to keep things in control. With a 38-yard touchdown reception to Tanner Newman from Brady Heiser, Gettysburg got it back within two possessions. The PAT was good from kicker Jermaine Gondwe making it 20-7. The half ended at 20 -7 with Warwick leading.
Warwick came up with a big fourth-down stop halting a Gettysburg drive in the red zone. Warwick’s Colin Winters turned that into more Warrior points from a 20-yard rushing touchdown. Warwick controlled 27-7.
However, on Gettysburg’s next drive, they got another Heiser to Newman touchdown. This time it was for four yards and it cut Warwick’s lead by seven.
Warwick drove down the field and set up for a 31-yard field goal attempt but Gettysburg blocked it, keeping the game at a two-possession difference. However, they could not turn it into points.
With 10:28 left in the game, Christian Boyer secured his third touchdown of the night off of a six-yard rushing touchdown. This made it 34-14. On the first play of Gettysburg’s next drive, Warwick forced and recovered a fumble. This set up a 33-yard field goal for Meckley, putting the game out of reach at 37-14.
Warwick’s defensive back Blake Minnich intercepted a pass to halt a Gettysburg drive at the three-yard line with 6:41 left. Warwick then drove down the field. Colin Winters punched it in for his second touchdown of the game making it 44-14.
As if one wasn’t enough, Minnich had a game sealing interception at the two-yard line to secure the victory for Warwick.
Warwick rolled past Gettysburg in the first round of playoffs by a score of 44-14. This sets them up for a date at undefeated Governor Mifflin (1) next Friday night.
