WAYNESBORO – First, the highlights of the home team, the Waynesboro Indians, which lost to the Mechanicsburg Wildcats, 32-17, on Friday, Oct. 10 at Buchanan Automotive Stadium.
Placekicker Nick Carbaugh kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. The successful three-point kick, a significant distance for a high school kicker, was preceded by a 20-yard pass play from quarterback Rayshawn Fraser-Hewitt to wide receiver Christian Munday. As a matter of fact, Fraser-Hewitt barely got the pass off, but he threw a beautiful rainbow pass that somehow landed in the hands of Munday, who was flanked by two Mechanicsburg defenders.
Steven Howard electrified the Homecoming crowd with a 75-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter. Howard, who also returns kicks and plays wide receiver on offense, perfectly timed a pass thrown by backup quarterback Luke Reider, who replaced starter Noah Apple, who left the game due to injury. From there, Howard had a clear path down the Waynesboro sideline. For good measure, linebacker Shawn Smith ran interference along the way to ensure Howard didn’t get caught from behind.
Freshman Ronan Mencia prevented Mechanicsburg from taking a potential 18-0 lead when he stopped Wildcats’ running back Rece Miller on a fourth-down play at the Waynesboro 13-yard line. Mechanicsburg tried an off-tackle run to the right side of the Indians’ defense. Still, Mencia raced into the backfield from his linebacker position and caught Miller from behind before Miller got some momentum behind him to pick up the necessary yardage for the first down. On the previous play, Smith stopped Grady Weaver for a 1-yard gain.
In the end, the Indians suffered their sixth loss of the season against a team that is tied with Shippensburg for the Mid-Penn Keystone Division lead. The teams own identical records of 6-1 in the league. Mechanicsburg is 7-1 overall and plays Shippensburg in the final game of the regular season.
Waynesboro slips to 2-6 and hosts Lower Dauphin next Friday for its home finale. The Falcons handed the Wildcats their only loss of the season, 22-21, on September 12.
Mechanicsburg came right out of the gates to score on the game’s opening possession. The Wildcats used a conservative approach, using the run game as the primary means to gain yardage. It worked. On third down at its own 43, Miller ripped off a 52-yard run to give the Wildcats a first down at the Tribe’s five-yard line. Three plays later, Apple rolled to his right and tossed a touchdown pass to Drake Dawson. The point after touchdown kick was no good.
After Waynesboro punted on its first offensive series, Mechanicsburg was on its way to paydirt again. But on first-and-goal at the 2, the Indians forced a fumble and took over at the 10-yard line.
Waynesboro advanced the ball to near midfield, with the big play coming on a high-arching pass from Fraser-Hewitt to Munday. The drive stalled, and the Indians punted back to Mechanicsburg.
This time, the Wildcats marched 72 yards on 9 plays, punctuated by a 6-yard touchdown run by Miller with 9:29 left in the second quarter. Miller was responsible for 51 yards on the possession on six carries. The two-point conversion was no good, but Mechanicsburg applied even more pressure on the Waynesboro offense with a 12-0 lead.
Waynesboro was unable to get anything going on its next two possessions, which were sandwiched in between Mencia’s fourth-down stop. But the Wildcats punched it in on their next drive, as Miller ran for a 10-yard TD with 44.4 seconds left in the first half. The two-point conversion increased the lead to 20-0.
The dagger came two plays into Waynesboro’s ensuing offensive series when Mechanicsburg’s Jack DeLuca intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown for a 26-0 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Photos by Toya McCleary:
