Just back from Manheim, where Central held off Wilson 29-27 in an instant-classic. The Barons dodged a major bullet when the Bulldogs misfired on a 42-yard field goal with 8 ticks left - that after Wilson rallied from a 26-7 hole and took a 27-26 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Amazing game between two top-notch programs. I double-dipped Saturday night, blogging live and writing for the Sunday News … Filed this story, which you can see bright and early Sunday morning …
It was an instant classic.
One minute Manheim Central is large and in charge, throttling Wilson 26-7.
The next, Wilson drops 20 unanswered points on the shell-shocked Barons and grabs an improbable 27-26 lead with 6:16 to go in the game.
Dare we say … Manheim Magic?
Better make that a double dose.
Central, which went from up 19 to down 1 after Wilson put together a breakneck three-touchdown fourth quarter, mounted a late drive, and the Barons’ Taylor Groff coolly and calmly drilled a go-ahead 26-yard field goal with 3:39 to play.
Undaunted, Wilson drove the length of the field with time running out, but Shane Witmyer missed wide left on a potential game-winning 42-yard field goal with 8.1 seconds to go and the Barons – fingers and toes crossed and heads pointed skyward – held on.
Wilson almost didn’t get the kick off. The Bulldogs were facing fourth down and had no timeouts left, but Central called a timeout because the Barons didn’t have the proper personnel on the field – allowing time for Wilson to get its kicking team on the field.
Central dodged that bullet.
In a game that more than lived up to the hype – between two of the premier prep football programs in the L-L League and in District 3 – Central withstood Wilson 29-27 before 2,500 screaming fans in Manheim.
“You won’t see a better game than that this season,” Central coach Mike Williams said, exasperated after it was finally over.
“What an awesome game – back and forth. We feel very fortunate to have won.”
Central, which improved to 2-0 overall after thumping Susquehannock 58-0 last Friday night, was in cruise control midway through the third quarter.
Wilson, which dropped to 1-1, had taken a 7-0 lead when Zach Zweizig hit rock-solid tight end Tyler Beck for a 25-yard TD with 1:24 to go in the first quarter. That capped a 13-play drive, which included a fourth-down conversion – and the TD was on a third-and-11 call.
But Central answered immediately, with quarterback Justin Gorman squirting in from 6 yards out just 22 seconds later. The PAT snap was low and Wilson still led 7-6. That short drive was set up by Dan Trafford’s 93-yard kickoff return, giving the Barons first-and-goal.
But the Barons exploded for three unanswered scores, the first two in the second quarter.
Rugged fullback Joe Gruber (13-67 rushing) bullied his way for a 19-yard TD run with 8:12 to go in the half. The 2-point run failed, but Central led 12-7.
Just before the half, Gorman connected with Penn State recruit Dakota Royer, who beat his man deep, slipped Wilson’s safety, and raced 50 yards for a score to give the Barons a 19-7 lead at the half.
And Central picked up where it left off in the third, with Trafford taking a screen pass from Gorman and zooming 12 yards for a score, giving the Barons a seemingly safe 26-7 cushion with 6:15 to go in the third.
Trafford also pulled off a fake punt earlier in the game.
Then all heck broke loose.
Wilson, the reigning Section 1 and District 3 Quad-A champ, coming off a 14-1 season but with 20 new full-time starters in tow, junked its running attack and Zweizig started going up top – a lot.
The junior hit Brad Ohlinger for a 13-yard TD, making it 26-14 with 10:23 to go in the fourth. Just three minutes later, Nick Greth scooted 5 yards for a TD and it was a 26-20 game – after Central’s Peter Ireland blocked Witmyer’s PAT kick – with 7:13 to go.
Central, which spent most of the fourth quarter in stall mode, was trying to run out the clock. Facing a third and long, Beck flushed Gorman out of the pocket, and when Gorman’s attempt at throwing a pass was batted, he fumbled, and the ball bounced literally 20 yards behind him.
Wilson’s Louis Weaver was on the spot, scooping up the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, knotting the game at 26 with 6:16 to go. Witmyer’s PAT gave Wilson a 27-26 lead and the comeback was complete.
In an odd twist, Wilson called for an onside kick after taking a one-point lead, but Central recovered near midfield, setting up the final march that culminated with Groff’s winning boot.
“We got a little overconfident,” said Central offensive lineman Joe Weaver, who helped keep Gorman upright long enough for him to complete 15-of-25 passes for 177 yards.
“We let up with our intensity and all of a sudden they were ahead. … Wilson was a great team; amazing. We played with heart. That’s all we could do. It came down to heart, and we showed the most heart in the end.”
Wilson had two other good chances early in the game. Zweizig, who completed 18-of-33 passes for 243 yards, was picked off by Central’s Casey Ebersole on the goal line. And the Bulldogs also fumbled a punt inside Barons’ territory.
But in the end, it was Central that ended up surviving.
“We couldn’t generate any offense, and we made some dumb mistakes,” Williams allowed. “We had the game pretty well in hand, but we couldn’t generate any offense. They stuffed us. We couldn’t make plays when we needed to.”
Unlike Wilson, which rallied valiantly and nearly pulled off the mother of all comebacks – in Manheim, no less.
In the end, Central dodged the biggest bullet when Witmyer’s kick had plenty of distance, but sailed wide left.
“Heck of a game,” Gruber said. “Our offense wasn’t working and our defense wasn’t clicking. Nothing was working there for a while … ups and downs. We went from the peak of the mountain to the bottom of the valley there. But we kept talking about how badly we wanted this. We work so hard for these kinds of games … we weren’t going to lose.”
