GREENCASTLE – An instant classic.
In the 37-game rivalry between neighboring Waynesboro and Greencastle-Antrim, Friday’s contest might have been the best.
Waynesboro’s Kean Baumgardner bulled his way for two touchdowns, Steven Howard intercepted two passes, and Mitch Torbica recovered two fumbles (one on offense and one on defense). The Tribe scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns and held off a furious Blue Devils rally to etch a 27-21 victory in a non-league high school varsity football game on a hot evening at Kaley Field.
Waynesboro defeated Greencastle-Antrim for the second straight year after the Blue Devils won the previous two. Before that, the Indians won eight straight after G-A won 12 in a row. Waynesboro leads the all-time series 19-17 with one tie.
The Indians found a way to counter big plays by Greencastle-Antrim, including its initial touchdown after Waynesboro marched 74 yards for a Baumgardner two-yard TD on the game’s first possession.
It was a beautiful possession for a season-opening game, and the first third-down conversion of the campaign came on a nifty 12-yard completion from senior quarterback Rayshawn Frazer-Hewitt to another senior, Ayden Strausbaugh. Baumgardner, like a bull in a china shop, broke loose for 19 yards on another third-down play to keep the drive going. Torbica saved the drive when he pounced on a loose ball at the G-A 33-yard line. Frazer-Hewitt ran for six yards, and he then passed to Larry Taylor for 24 yards to set up Baumgardner’s score.
The momentum seized by the Tribe was nullified by the Blue Devils on their opening offensive series. While it took Waynesboro 10 plays to cover 74 yards, it took G-A one play to cover 58 yards. The big play came on the legs of Blake Reuter, who raced 55 yards untouched to give the Blue Devils a 7-6 lead after Blake Witmer kicked the point after touchdown.
Fast forward to early in the second quarter, and G-A moved the ball from its 20-yard line to the Indians’ 24, thanks to a 24-yard run by Lars Galinanes. Galinanes was a carbon copy of Baumgardner, whose running style is straight-ahead, and once he got going was hard to slow down, let alone stop. But the next play, the Blue Devils coughed up the ball and Torbica recovered at the Waynesboro 24.
The Indians, who punted the last two possessions, hit paydirt this time. An 80-yard touchdown was highlighted by a 13-yard completion from Frazer-Hewitt to Taylor, a 17-yard scamper by Frazer-Hewitt, and, one of the best plays – if not the best – a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Murray for a 12-7 lead.
However, the lead was short-lived.
The Blue Devils retook the lead after taking over at their 39. Galinanes galloped for 18 yards on first down. Two plays later, quarterback Lane Barry to Noah Shifflett. The extra point made it 14-12.
G-A was driving late in the second quarter, but Taylor made a spectacular interception to close the first half.
Each team punted on their first second-half possessions, and Taylor recorded his second pick of the game deep in G-A territory at the 17-yard line.
But nothing came of the short-field possession, and the Blue Devils went on a long march from their 20 to the Waynesboro 20. In all, the drive took 15 plays and covered 60 yards. But a fourth-down run of six yards was one yard short of a first-and-goal.
And, just like that, the game turned.
On first down from the Waynesboro 14, Frazer-Hewitt tossed to Christian Munday on a screen pass to the right side of the field. Munday started running toward the end zone, and, after a nice stiff arm put him in the open field, Munday saw nothing but turf field and yard markers on his way to a 76-yard touchdown.
“(Frazer-Hewitt) was getting pressured, so he had to throw it short,” said Munday. “And I just took it and ran. I just know I wasn’t going to stop running.”
He didn’t, and Waynesboro got a huge morale boost from the play.
The Indians elected to go for two, and quarterback Austin Willequer threw a strike to Taylor, who ran it in to give Waynesboro a 20-14 lead with 6:42 remaining in the game.
It got better for Waynesboro.
On the ensuing kickoff, Boro’s Shawn Smith wrestled the ball away from Greencastle-Antrim’s kickoff returner, and the Tribe was in business at the G-A 26.
Baumgardner picked up seven tough yards, and after an offsides penalty by the Blue Devils, a 2-yard run by Taylor, and an 8-yard scramble by Frazer-Hewitt, Baumgardner burrowed in for the score. Nick Carbaugh booted the extra point to give Waynesboro a 27-14 lead with 3:31 to play.
But the game wasn’t over.
The Blue Devils needed only five plays to drive 69 yards, punctuated by a 25-yard TD pass from Gavin Logsdon to Kyle Ramirez. The PAT made it 27-21 with 1:48 left in the game.
Waynesboro recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock after the Blue Devils used all three of their allotted time-outs. Baumgardner sealed it with a 3-yard gain to give the Indians a first down at the G-A 25-yard line.
“It’s the first game of the year, and we played a lot of young kids with inexperience,” said Waynesboro Head Coach Mark Saunders. “We had more than enough penalties. We didn’t turn the ball over much, but we had some missed assignments and things that you expect from the first game, and playing with some young kids. It was a win, and it’ll give us a chance to go back and correct some things.”
Waynesboro will be working to correct the mistakes it made against Greencastle-Antrim and will be getting ready for its Mid-Penn Keystone Division opener at Gettysburg on Friday, Aug. 29.
Photos by Toya McCleary
