On Friday night, the 1-1 Cocalico Eagles traveled to Manheim Central to take on the 2-0 rival Barons. It seemed like the entire towns of Manheim and Denver were in the stadium cheering on their respective teams.
Cocalico deferred starting the game. On the opening kickoff, Manheim Central fumbled and Cocalico’s Tyler Angstadt recovered. However, on the first play from scrimmage for the Eagles they fumbled and the Barons got it right back. The drive quickly stalled out resulting in a punt.
The first scoring didn’t come until three minutes remained in the first quarter when Cocalico’s Brayden Eppinette dodged defenders to barrel into the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown. The Kole Roos’ PAT made it 7-0 Eagles.
On the Barons’ next drive, Zac Hahn connected with Aaron Enterline for a 69-yard reception to set up Central at the Cocalico eight-yard line. Hahn then connected with Rocco Daugherty for a five-yard touchdown pass. Dylan Neff added the point after and tied it up at 7-7.
The next Cocalico drive went for 61 yards and was capped off by an Aaryn Longenecker 28-yard touchdown rush. Roos missed the extra point leaving the score 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Eagles’ first drive in the second quarter ended with another turnover giving the Barons the ball at midfield off of a fumble. The Barons capitalized off the turnover with a Brycen Arnold 22-yard rushing touchdown. Abbie Reed kicked the extra point to put the Barons up 14-13.
The Barons got yet another turnover as Bode Sipel intercepted Josh Myers’ pass to give Central the ball back at midfield again. Hahn hit his big receiver Enterline for a monster 41-yard touchdown pass to extend the Barons’ lead. Neff’s PAT put Manheim Central up 21-13 at halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, the Eagles had a chance to cut into the lead with a 26-yard field goal, but Kole Roos missed it wide. There was no scoring the entire third quarter and most of the fourth quarter.
With six minutes left, Longenecker ran in a six-yard touchdown for his second touchdown of the night. The Eagles failed to convert on the two-point attempt leaving them trailing 21-19.
This is where Hahn took control into his own hands, rifling the ball to Sipel for a 42-yard passing touchdown to put the Barons up 28-19 with the extra point. This put them up by two possessions making it difficult for an Eagle comeback with less than three minutes left.
On the next Eagles drive Myer’s pass was picked off by Daugherty to seal the game and set up the Barons to advance to 3-0. The Barons added on another touchdown when Kahlen Watt hauled in a 28-yard touchdown reception from Hahn on fourth down. The PAT made it 35-19 to end the game.
The score was very deceiving of how this game actually played out. Cocalico was only down by two with less than five minutes left. Cocalico had four crucial turnovers, which arguably cost them the game.
Rocco Daugherty, Aaron Enterline, Zac Hahn, Brycen Arnold, and Bode Sipel all had phenomenal games for the Barons leading them to a 35-19 win. Zac Hahn had a whopping four passing touchdowns.
The Barons already appear to be in mid-season form improving to 3-0 and next week they will host the 2-1 Susquehannock Warriors. Cocalico falls to 1-2 and looks to get back on track next week when they will host a struggling 1-2 Octorara.
Overall, both teams played great. It just so happens Manheim Central ran away with it towards the end to seal the game.
