Chambersburg was the bigger and badder football team on the field Friday when it hosted longtime District 3 powerhouse Manheim Central.
But despite outperforming the Barons in nearly every statistical category, coach Gary Carter’s boys fell by a 24-19 score.
It was a tough pill to swallow for the Trojans (0-1), who erupted for more than 400 yards of offense, more than twice as many as Manheim Central. So how did the Barons get the job done against their formidable opponent? By way of the big play.
Chambersburg drew first blood near the end of the first quarter when QB Cam Green fired a 21-yard TD strike to tight end Seth Gilliam. The ensuing kickoff, however, saw Manheim Central’s Xavier Oxceva take the ball 91 yards to the house. After a missed extra point, the Barons were trailing 7-6.
Chambersburg kept churning out yards in the second quarter and expanded its lead to 13-6 on a four-yard scoring scamper from Malachi Tasker. Manheim Central (1-0) punched back, scoring two rushing TDs to pull ahead 18-13 at halftime.
The Trojans were driving in the third quarter, but the Barons made another big scoring play — a 78-yard interception return from Logan Miller — to turn the screws on Chambersburg. The Trojans added a score in the fourth quarter, when Jashaun Palmer found Logan Ocker for a 56-yard TD pass, but that was as close as Chambersburg would get. Palmer came into the game to replace an injured Green, whose status for next week’s game is unknown.
Next up for the Trojans is a road trip to State College on Friday. The Little Lions (1-0) opened their season with a 35-28 victory over Central York.
Greencastle-Antrim 35, Waynesboro 13
Greencastle-Antrim raced ahead to a 28-0 halftime lead over Waynesboro and never looked back, as the Blue Devils snapped a two-year losing streak to the rival Indians.
Spencer Long was the catalyst for Greencastle’s offense. He exploded for a 65-yard TD run in the first quarter, and later in the second quarter his 70-yard scoring reception from Gavin Logsdon put the Blue Devils in front 28-0 before the halftime break.
In between Long’s big plays, the Blue Devils (1-0) twice made Waynesboro pay for fumbles, cashing in with a 27-yard rushing score from Landon Kagarise and a 20-yard pass from Logsdon to Wyatt Hull.
Waynesboro (0-1) played much better in the second half and opened the scoring in the third quarter with an eight-yard run from Brayden Heimbuch. The Indians were driving later in the third but had to settle for a field goal attempt after giving up a sack on third down to Greencastle’s Loki Huffman. Hull blocked the kick, before Ethan South picked up the ball and scrambled 87 yards down the field for a score. South’s TD was a backbreaker, giving the Blue Devils a 35-7 lead.
Waynesboro capped off scoring with a 10-play, 68-yard drive that culminated with a 25-yard TD pass from Heimbuch to Dwayne Robinson.
The Blue Devils return to the field on Friday with a home game against South Western (1-0), a team coming off a 35-9 win over Carlisle. Waynesboro will also be home on Friday against Lower Dauphin (0-1), a team coming off a 41-7 loss to North Penn.
