JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Ever wonder when Manheim Magic was hatched?
Here are a couple of dates for you: Nov. 10 and Nov. 24, 1989.
Ring a bell?
How about these numbers: 15-14 and 15-14.
Those were the identical final scores of two of the most memorable football games involving Lancaster-Lebanon League teams ever played. And they were contested just two weeks apart.
Nov. 10, 1989 – Undefeated Manheim Central 15, undefeated Elizabethtown 14, in the regular-season finale for the Section 2 championship before an overflow crowd in E-town.
“I still remember walking in that night,” Central coach Mike Williams said, “and they were lined up about 10 deep around the field. What a week. There was so much tension in school that you could have cut it with a knife.”
Nov. 24, 1989 – Central 15, E-town 14 in the District 3 Triple-A title game in Hersheypark Stadium. And for you history buffs, there was snow on the ground in the stadium that day. Not as much snow as a certain game 14 years later. But snow nonetheless.
“Those were special games,” Williams said this week. “Those two games stimulated our program.”
Into one of the best Triple-A programs in the state, year after year – since 1989, the year Central won the first of its 15 district titles, and advanced to the state playoffs for the first time, dropping a gut-wrenching 14-10 decision to Berwick.
Central and E-town will renew their rivalry at 7 p.m. on Friday in E-town, where first place will be on the line.
The Bears (5-0 Section 2, 8-0 overall) are the top-ranked Triple-A team in District 3. The Barons (4-1 Section 2, 5-3 overall) are young and are battling injuries, but can force a tie for the top spot with a win.
When you talk Central and E-town, it’s impossible not to think of those two classic games in 1989.
In the first game, Central jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its first drive when Darrell Neville busted one 60 yards.
“After that,” Williams recalled, “they proceeded to kick our butts.”
E-town answered when quarterback Scott Weber dove in from the 1, and it was 7-all at the half. The Bears went ahead 14-7 in the third quarter when Weber tossed a 24-yard TD pass to Jason Wittel.
That’s when Central mounted a comeback, with quarterback Chad Ginder tossing an 8-yard TD pass to John Griffith in the waning seconds to make it 14-13.
Ginder’s 2-point run put the Barons ahead for good with under a minute to play, and Central pulled off the stunner.
“And Manheim Magic was born,” Williams said. “And I was a genius that week for going for 2.”
A week later, E-town topped undefeated Middletown 24-12 in its district semifinal, and Central improved to 11-0 with a 45-0 rout over South Western in its district semi.
That set up a much-anticipated rematch between the Barons and the Bears, and that game, like the one two weeks earlier, did not disappoint.
Once again, Central grabbed an early 7-0 lead on Neville’s 1-yard plunge. Then E-town took over, with Weber tossing TD passes to Eric Clair – the future Penn State recruit – and Wittel, and after Clair gathered in a 2-point conversion pass, the Bears led 15-7 with time running out.
Cue Manheim Magic, which made its inaugural appearance just two weeks earlier.
On its last-gasp drive, Ginder was picked off. But instead of falling on the ball, E-town’s defender took off, and was flattened by Central’s Neil Fittery. The hit caused a fumble, which Ginder scooped up on a big bounce and took 28 yards to the house to slice the Bears’ lead to 14-13.
And when Neville slammed in with the 2-point conversion, Central had its second breathtaking 15-14 victory.
“I’ll never forget it,” former E-town coach Jack Cassebaum said this week, when ask to reminisce about those games. “I can still see that ball bouncing up. And the quarterback, who usually doesn’t follow the play after he throws an interception, picked it up on one doggone bounce. What are you going to do?
“They pulled that doggone magic off. And they did it twice.”
The rest is history – for Central, a tradition-rich history with a pile of trophies in the showcase, including the shiny state championship trophy from 2003.
“The course of history very easily could have been E-town Magic instead of Manheim Magic,” said Central defensive coordinator John Brubaker, who was an assistant coach for the Barons in 1989.
“Those two games started the ball rolling for some great football in Manheim, and started many years of confidence in our program.”
Not to mention 18 Section 2 titles, the 15 district championships, and two trips to the state championship game.
The Barons would love a 19th section championship. But to get it, they’ll have to go through the only undefeated team in the league.
Just like in 1989.
