Chambersburg’s football squad won’t be making the trip to the District 3-6A playoffs, and this news should come as a relief for the 12 squads that did make the cut.
That’s because, for the second time in three weeks, the Trojans were competitive with one of the best teams in Pennsylvania.
Fighting for a spot in the postseason, Chambersburg put up a valiant effort against Bishop McDevitt, the No. 2-ranked 6A team in the state, but ultimately fell by a 42-18 score. The Trojans trailed by one score, 14-12, late in the second quarter and just before the fourth quarter, they were still within two scores of the mighty Crusaders, 28-12.
This wasn’t the first time Chambersburg (3-6, 3-5 Commonwealth) has played up to the level of a superior opponent. Two weeks ago, the Trojans frustrated the Harrisburg Cougars, who were ranked No. 1 in the district at the time.
Bishop McDevitt (9-1, 8-1) started the game like most believed the Crusaders would, racing ahead to a 14-0 advantage after one quarter. The biggest play of that stretch came on a 96-yard scoring strike from Sebastian Williams to Zayden Smith.
But the Trojans weathered the storm, and came back with some haymakers of their own. Cam Green fired TD passes of 40 and 20 yards to Keiandre Cross and Lucas Ocker, respectively, to pull Chambersburg within two points of the Crusaders, 14-12, with 58 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Trojans failed on both conversions.
Just when Chambersburg thought it could go step-for-step with McDevitt, the Crusaders reclaimed momentum and a 21-12 halftime lead with a scoring drive that took less than 40 seconds. The Trojans held on for as long as they could in the second half, before the floodgates opened with McDevitt’s Kaedyn Walker rushing for his second, third, and fourth TDs of the game. Chambersburg scored the game’s final TD on a rush from Malachi Tasker.
Deakon Snavely, a sophomore linebacker, surpassed 100 tackles for the season.
The Trojans end their season at No. 14 in the district power rankings, two spots short of a playoff berth.
Middletown 40, Greencastle-Antrim 33
Spencer Long erupted for 195 rushing yards and three TDs, but his Greencastle-Antrim squad fell short in its final push for a postseason berth.
A 55-yard TD run by Long put the Blue Devils into a 7-7 tie with Middletown, but the Blue Raiders outscored Greencastle 20-7 in the second quarter to take a two-score lead into halftime. The Blue Devils (5-5, 3-4 Colonial) scored their second TD on a seven-yard run from Long.
The third quarter featured another electric scoring play from Long — this time on a 74-yard run — to pull Greencastle within one TD of Middletown, 27-20.
The Blue Raiders (5-5, 3-4) scored two of the game’s next three TDs to maintain their lead. Greencastle scored its final two TDs on a 28-yard run from Jeremiah Amstutz and a 23-yard pass from Gavin Logsdon to Dane Medina.
Logsdon completed 10 of 19 passes for 112 yards, with Wyatt Hull reeling in five catches for 51 yards.
The Blue Devils finish their season ranked No. 15 in District 3-4A, five spots removed from a berth in the playoffs.
Mechanicsburg 35, Waynesboro 0
Waynesboro was shut out by Mechanicsburg in the final game of the regular season.
The Wildcats (8-2, 7-2 Keystone) were led by the play of QB Landon Zimmerman, who completed 6 of 11 passes for 106 yards and a TD. Anthony Francis logged 14 carries for 60 yards, while Darius Crawford-George hauled in two catches for 50 yards.
The Indians wrap up their campaign at 0-10 (0-9 Keystone).
North Hagerstown 49, South Hagerstown 13
Riding the legs of Michael Stewart, who logged 22 carries for 249 yards and two TDs, North Hagerstown powered over South Hagerstown in the Hub City Gridiron Classic.
Stewart scored the game’s first TD on a four-yard run, before later helping the Hubs put the game away with a 71-yard scoring burst. North’s offense had plenty of chances to operate, thanks to a defense that held the Rebels (2-7) to minus-36 rushing yards.
South hung with the rival Hubs (4-5) for as long as it could. The Rebels countered Stewart’s first TD with a 93-yard TD pass from Lucas Semler to Percell Clay III, but North just kept chugging. The Hubs went ahead 21-7 at halftime thanks to the efforts of Ronnie Savage, who ran for a TD, and then found Carter Croft in the air for a 25-yard score.
North opened the second half with an 88-yard kickoff return from Donald Rivers. South struck back with a 37-yard TD pass from Cole Stockman to Kaimari Burke to cut the lead to two scores, 28-13, but North scored the game’s final 21 points.
Liam Kline ran back an interception for a 39-yard score and Stewart busted loose for his second TD, before Mykai Bostic capped off all scoring with a 15-yard run over right tackle.
North will host a Class 3A West postseason contest this week, while South will hit the road for a Class 4A-3A game.
Boonsboro 35, Smithsburg 0
Boonsboro ran away from Smithsburg to extend two long streaks.
By defeating the Leopards (7-2) for the 16th season in a row, the Warriors (6-3) clinched their 16th-straight winning season.
Boonsboro was dominant, amassing a 28-0 halftime lead before recovering an onside kick to start the third quarter and scoring another TD to complete the blowout. Blake Main’s three-yard TD scamper put the Warriors ahead, 7-0, before their defense got the ball back with an interception from Luke Matthews. The Warriors cashed in on the turnover with an 11-yard TD run from Jadon King, and after forcing a Smithsburg three-and-out, they expanded their advantage to 21-0 on a three-yard scoring plunge from Landon French.
Boonsboro capped off its scoring with TD passes of 16 and 29 yards from Main to Jayden Paugh, who also registered an interception.
Smithsburg’s Nicolas Roncone registered nine carries for 14 yards, caught two passes for 28 yards, and recorded a sack on defense. Noah Hegbe posted 32 rushing yards on eight carries, and on the other side of the ball, he notched eight tackles, including a sack. Luke Scott (14) and Jaxon Dodson (8) combined for 22 tackles.
Both teams will host first-round Class 1A region playoff games this week.
