HERSHEY – Homecoming 2024 was a good night to be a Lower Dauphin Falcon. And Gerald Sanders, who was crowned Homecoming king at halftime at Hersheypark Stadium, earned the limelight as Lower Dauphin won its third consecutive game in a 31-0 romp over a lackluster Waynesboro Indians team on Friday, Oct. 18.
Waynesboro will finally come home when the Indians host Hershey in the regular season finale on Friday, Oct. 25 and a chance to salvage a 5-5 season after playoff hopes were dashed following consecutive losses.
It might as well have been Friday the 13th for the Tribe, which dropped its fourth consecutive game after sprinting to a 4-1 record. On paper, it should have been a game. Both teams lost close games to Shippensburg and recorded lopsided wins over Palmyra. Lower Dauphin eked out a 9-7 win over Mifflin County last week, a team that edged Waynesboro 20-14 two weeks ago.
Sanders was a one-man show. The senior carried the ball 23 times for 198 yards and three touchdowns. The Falcons ran for 260 yards on a collective 41 rushes.
Quarterback Braeden Heckard only had 10 passes and completed five for just 49 yards. But Lower Dauphin got all it needed on the ground, as the Indians’ defense, typically stalwart against the run, couldn’t wrap up against Sanders and Carter Burton, who rushed for 53 yards on six carries, including a long gain of 30 yards.
Heckard tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Fritz.
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the visitors. On the third play of the game, quarterback Rayshawn Frazer-Hewitt threw an interception. The defense held, and the Falcons kicked a 35-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
Waynesboro mounted its best offensive series of the night after starting at the 20-yard line on the ensuing kickoff. Hayden Nolan caught a 23-yard pass on third-and-17 out to the 36-yard line. Frazer-Hewitt ran for 17 yards on another third down play to the Lower Dauphin 44. Nathan Nolan bulled his way forward for seven yards, and after he was taken down for a two-yard loss, Ben Williams picked up four yards on a pass from Frazer-Hewitt. It wasn’t enough for the first down, but on fourth-and-1, Frazer-Hewitt kept it for four yards and a first down at the 31.
The drive continued, aided by a personal foul penalty on the Falcons, giving the Indians a first down at the 27. However, a personal foul on Waynesboro backed the Indians up to the 38. Frazer-Hewitt connected with 15 yards to Tank Benedict, but the Indians failed to convert on fourth down.
Lower Dauphin drove 78 yards on six plays, highlighted by a 39-yard run by Sanders. Sanders finished the drive with a 25-yard touchdown run and a 9-0 lead following an unsuccessful extra point attempt.
The Falcons were back in business after another interception near midfield. It occurred after Ethan Alldredge’s 11-yard reception to the Lower Dauphin 49.
The Falcons, who picked off four passes, converted the turnover into a touchdown and two-point conversion. Sanders scored on an 11-yard run. Fritz hauled in a 31-yard pass to set up the scoring play.
Waynesboro was in business of its own, as the Indians marched 55 yards on 11 plays. Nathan Nolan carried the ball on four of the first five plays and gained 21 yards to the Lower Dauphin 39. Frazer-Hewitt gained 19 yards and a personal foul on the Falcons placed the ball on the 7. But the Indians advanced the ball only three yards on the next three plays and a fourth-and-goal pass was incomplete.
