As snow sprinkled over the campus of Manheim Central on Friday night, there was a chance to advance to the District III 4A championship on the line. The Barons of Manheim Central hosted the Lampeter-Strasburg Pioneers in the coldest game of the year in the 4A semifinals.
The Pioneers won the coin toss and elected to defer till the second half. This left the Barons high powered offense with the ball to start. They methodically marched down the field before Zac Hahn connected with Aaron Enterline for a 43-yard touchdown pass to give them the early lead. The Dylan Neff PAT made it 7-0 with 8:25 left in quarter one.
In a defensive battle, neither offense could get anything going for the next 12 minutes of play. The Pioneers and Barons exchanged punts the rest of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter.
The next scoring came at 8:28 as Brycen Arnold found the endzone off a 12-yard touchdown rush. This capped off a 58-yard drive for Manheim. The Barons controlled a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
With the defenses playing stout for both sides, the score at halftime remained 14-0 in favor of the home team.
The Pioneers started the second half having to punt once again. This setup Manheim with the ball at their own 25.
Hahn and the offense got back to work, marching 75 yards capped off by a three-yard touchdown run from Arnold. This made it 21-0 with 3:48 left in the third quarter.
Lampeter-Strasburg’s offense got cooking late in the third quarter when Trenton Wagner connected with Dean Herr for a 26-yard touchdown reception. However, the extra point was blocked, leaving the score 21-6.
With Manheim getting the ball back, Arnold found the endzone for the third time of the night, capping off a 63-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown rush to increase the lead 28-6.
Manheim Central was just getting in its rhythm and was not done quite yet in the fourth quarter. Jaden Weit punched in a rushing touchdown to extend the Barons’ lead to 35-6.
With under a minute left in regulation, Weit got himself another touchdown off a three-yard rushing touchdown.
Manheim Central sealed off the game winning by a score of 42-6 over Lampeter-Strasburg to advance to the District Championship game.
Tonight was a very special night for Brycen Arnold as he got three touchdowns on the night and now has over 2,000 yards on the season.
The Pioneers had an excellent season finishing with a record 9-3.
As for Manheim Central, the Barons will travel to Bishop McDevitt next Friday for the District III 4A championship as they keep their playoff push alive.
