Hi there, folks. Keith Schweigert checking in with some belated thoughts on Friday night’s Penn Manor-Hempfield game…

 The Comets’ lopsided win came as a complete surprise to anyone not wearing blue and gold. Nobody — aside from those sitting in Penn Manor’s stands or standing on the sidelines — expected them to thoroughly dominate the Black Knights the way they did. When I spoke to coach Todd Mealy before the game, he was completely at ease and confident. It was clear he thought his team could win the game, but the rest of us needed a little more convincing.

The staffs of both the Intell and New Era — and online staffers Jeff Reinhart and Yours Truly — all picked Hempfield. That’s a fact that Penn Manor’s players took great delight in reminding me as I left the stadium Friday night; their team bus was rolling by when a few players recognized me, rolled down their windows and let me hear about it. (I suppose it’s too late to tell them it was all a ploy to motivate them for the game, huh?)

It became clear to me on Friday that Penn Manor’s victory — and it’s 4-0 record — is no fluke. Sure, the Comets didn’t play much of a non-league schedule. And they came within a botched extra-point snap of losing their opener to Solanco. But in their biggest test of the season, the Comets stepped up in a big way. Their offense, led by backup quarterback P.J. Rehm, moved the ball up and down the field on Hempfield all night long. Aside from a few misadventures in the red zone early in the game, the Comet attack had its way with Hempfield’s defense. Rehm spread the ball around to several different receivers and looked cool in the pocket, even when he was harassed by the Knights’ pass rush. It makes you wonder what Penn Manor will do now that senior Michael Treier, who has been sidelined with a foot injury he sustained in Week 1, returns to the lineup. Treier suited up and played a few downs on defense Friday night, but only took one snap. He’ll be healthy next week, but will he play quarterback again? Mealy isn’t saying.

I can hear Hempfield fans arguing that the Knights did more to give the game away than Penn Manor did to take it, and there’s a kernel of truth to that. The Knights turned the ball over three times in the first half — twice when snaps to quarterback Jarvis Cummings flew over his head when he went back in shotgun formation. Penn Manor only turned those fumbles into three points — one drive ended with a blocked field goal, another ended on downs in the Hempfield red zone — but the miscues allowed the Comets to keep their offense on the field and the dangerous Cummings on the sidelines.

And besides, the Comets clearly deserved to win no matter how much assistance they got from Hempfield’s sloppiness. When you put together a 17-play, 99-yard scoring drive that consumes more than eight minutes — the way Penn Manor did in the third quarter — you deserve to win the game.  The Comets made more plays on both sides of the ball. The game was theirs for the taking, and they took it. This one was no fluke.

So what does this mean for the Section 1 race? Well, as much as I was impressed with Penn Manor, it probably doesn’t change the outcome of the title race that much. Wilson came into the season as the team to beat, and the Bulldogs (4-0) still look like they’re head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. Penn Manor, which is the only other undefeated team left in the section, doesn’t get a chance to prove me wrong until Oct. 24, when they host Wilson in Millersville. Between now and then, they have a few big hurdles to clear — specifically dates with Manheim Township (Oct. 10) and Warwick (Oct. 17).

Even if they can’t upend the Bulldogs, it’s almost a sure bet that the Comets are a district playoff team. Six wins will likely be enough to get them into the AAAA field, and they’ve still got very winnable games against woeful McCaskey (0-4) and almost-as-bad Cedar Crest (1-3) and Reading (1-3) on the schedule. If they win those games, they’ll have seven wins and will be a lock to make the postseason.

Hempfield, meanwhile, got a bit of a jolt with this loss. The Knights came into the game with a 3-0 record, and appeared to be the most likely candidate to battle Wilson for the section crown. It’s hard to explain what happened. Did they, like the rest of us, think Penn Manor’s record was a fluke and overlook them? Was it just a bad night at the office? Or are the Knights not as good as advertised?

My opinion: it was a combination of the first two options. Penn Manor’s program has struggled for so long, it’s hard not to think the Comets would crumble against the first good team they played. And Hempfield did look uncharacteristically sloppy. But I still think the Knights have too many weapons on offense and too good of a defense to not rebound from this. I’d look for that bounce back to happen this week, when they visit struggling McCaskey.

SHAMELESS PLUGS: Don’t forget to check out LancSports.com on Friday for live blogs from the top games of the week. This week, Jeff Reinhart will be blogging from the Section 2 clash between Lebanon (4-0) and Garden Spot (3-1). I know he’s pumped to get his first look at the Cedars’ “Air Raid” offense. Meanwhile, I’ll be blogging from the neighborhood battle between Section 1 rivals Warwick (3-1) and Manheim Township (2-2). Join us for live commentary, scores of games in progress and the fastest finals in Lancaster County. See you then!