Wilson holds off Central York, heads to District 3 Class 6A championship
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Wilson faced a fourth-and-13 just outside the red zone with 2:48 left Friday night at Gurski Stadium, holding a one-point lead over Central York with a spot in the District 3 Class 6A championship at stake.
The Bulldogs decided to go for it even if a turnover on downs meant the Panthers and iron-legged kicker Matthew Parker, who had already hit field goals of 56 and 43 yards, could get a chance at a game-winning field goal.
That scenario never materialized as Madyx Gruber found Cam Zullinger for 16 yards and a first down and Correll Akings scored on a 6-yard run on the following play to seal a 28-20 victory for the second-seeded Bulldogs (11-1), who advance to face Harrisburg, which defeated Manheim Township 35-14.
They’ll play Saturday, Nov. 23 at 1 at Exeter’s Don Thomas Stadium.
“Cam Zullinger is a big dude,” Gruber said. “I just tried to get him the ball and let him make a play.”
Two plays after Parker’s 43-yard field goal cut the Bulldogs lead to 21-20 with 4:56 left, Gruber hit a wide-open Mike Glover for a 61-yard gain. Glover dragged a defender for a big chunk of yards to set Wilson up on Central York’s 19.
“I think it might’ve been a blown coverage,” Glover said. “I had a go route and they didn’t cover me. Madyx threw a great ball and I did what I could to pick up the extra yards.”
The third-seeded Panthers (9-3) still had a final chance after Brendyn Smith’s kickoff return set them up near midfield. After two negative plays, Brooklyn Nace hit Smith for a 26-yard gain to convert a third-and-long but four straight incompletions allowed Wilson to kneel the clock out.
Central York has lost in the District 3 semifinals four consecutive seasons.
Wilson advances to the District 3 championship for the 12th time. The Bulldogs are searching for their eighth championship and first since 2016. They last appeared in 2021, losing 14-10 to Harrisburg.
“It feels great to get this ‘W,’ ” said Glover, who finished with 117 receiving yards and two scores. “Offense, defense, they all came out and played hard. I can’t wait to play for a championship next Friday. We got this week to prepare and we’re going to try and get a chip.”
The first four possessions of a wacky first half ended like this: Central York lost fumble, Wilson turnover on downs, Central York lost fumble, Wilson lost fumble.
On the fifth possession, Parker’s knee inadvertently touched the ground on his punt attempt at Central York’s own 13-yard line. Wilson capitalized on a 7-yard TD pass from Gruber to Zullinger for the first points of the game with 4:04 left in the first quarter.
The Panthers answered with two big plays to take the lead. Nace hit Smith for a 66-yard touchdown on the next drive and Legend Johnson ran 52 yards for a touchdown with 8:16 left in the second quarter.
Gruber and Glover responded to tie the game with a 12-yard touchdown connection to complete an 11-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up 4:37 of clock.
Gruber then intercepted Nace’s deep pass after Jaiden Carpenter deflected the ball into the air.
“Honestly, I felt the ball bounce off my helmet and then just heard them celebrating,” Carpenter said. “I turned around and he had the interception and was running down the field.”
“I was at the right place at the right time,” Gruber said. “Jaiden played great defense and it hit his shoulder and fell right into my lap. Winning the turnover battle was huge because we didn’t want their high-powered passing game on the field.”
Gruber returned the ball to the Central York 34-yard line and hit Glover for an 18-yard touchdown three plays later to give Wilson a 21-14 lead with 2:49 left before halftime.
Parker hit a 56-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Central York | 7 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| Wilson | 7 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wilson | Zullinger, 7 pass from Gruber (Hunsicker kick) | 4:04 |
| 1 | Central York | Smith, 66 pass from Nace (Parker kick) | 2:51 |
| 2 | Central York | Johnson, 52 run (Parker kick) | 8:16 |
| 2 | Wilson | Glover, 12 pass from Gruber (Hunsicker kick) | 3:39 |
| 2 | Wilson | Glover, 18 pass from Gruber (Hunsicker kick) | 2:49 |
| 2 | Central York | Parker, 56 field goal | 0:00 |
| 4 | Central York | Parker, 43 field goal | 4:40 |
| 4 | Wilson | Akings, 6 run (Hunsicker kick) | 2:24 |
Team statistics
| Central York | Wilson | |
| First downs | 13 | 19 |
| Rushes-yards | 29-121 | 45-111 |
| Passing yards | 171 | 172 |
| Total yards | 292 | 283 |
| Passes | 18-33-1 | 13-24-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-2 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 5-29.4 | 5-40.4 |
| Penalties-yards | 9-56 | 3-25 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Central York: Johnson 17-123, Nace 9-5, Frey 2-5, Team 1-(-12).
Wilson: Akings 14-45, Greer 8-35, Gruber 21-24, Young 1-10, Team 1-(-3).
PASSING
Central York: Nace 18-32-1—171, Team 0-1-0—0.
Wilson: Gruber 13-24-1—172.
RECEIVING
Central York: Smith 6-107, Gurley 4-26, Johnson 3-8, Suchanic 2-14, Ruppert 2-12, Ramnath 1-4.
Wilson: Glover 5-117, Zullinger 5-49, Akings 2-7, Carpenter 1-(-1).
INTERCEPTIONS
Central York: Morgan.
Wilson: Gruber.
