Blue Streaks stun Cougars with late TD

(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)

By Jeff Reinhart — LNP/Lancasteronline

HARRISBURG — Hayden Johnson and Asher Wolfe were just trying to make a play.

Johnson, Manheim Township’s junior whippersnapper quarterback, was rolling out, trying to dodge a pack of oncoming Harrisburg tacklers. Wolfe, the Blue Streaks’ sleek, first-year junior wide receiver, was dancing around in the back of the end zone, trying to shake free from the Cougars’ secondary.

Oh, and there were four seconds left in the game, and Township was down by three points. Crunch time. Money time. Must-have-it time.

Johnson ended up avoiding the rush, Wolfe shook free in the back of the end zone, and Johnson zipped a 4-yard, game-winning TD pass to Wolfe with time running out Saturday afternoon in Township’s riveting 24-20 non-league win over the reigning District 3 Class 6A champs.

“We were going to kill the clock there but we didn’t,” Township coach Mark Evans said. “Hayden extended the play with his feet and he found Asher in the end zone wide open. That was pretty special.”

“I started on the outside, and I was supposed to sit right behind the linebackers,” Wolfe said. “I saw Hayden start to roll out so I shifted along with him and he found me. He threw me a great ball and I caught it.”

And the Streaks, after a heartbreaking loss to Cumberland Valley in their opener, earned their second straight win after drilling Dallastown 40-0 last week. Harrisburg, which eked out a 20-17 victory in OT at Township last fall, dipped to 1-1.

“The kids are getting more and more confident, and that’s what I love seeing,” Evans said. “Today, they never wavered.”

The final four minutes were a complete blur. Unable to ice the game and pinned deep in its own territory, Harrisburg lined up to punt with 3:46 to play. For the second time Saturday the Streaks ended up bum-rushing the line of scrimmage and blocked the punt, taking over at the Cougars’ 18.

Two plays later the Streaks fumbled and Harrisburg recovered at its 11 with 2:53 to play. Once again, Township held and got the ball back in good field position. Johnson, who clicked on 25-of-33 passes for 205 yards, hit Nick Palumbo for a 10-yard gain inside Harrisburg territory, and the Streaks were in business.

Two plays later, and with the clocking ticking down, Johnson threw a bullet to Wolfe, who caught the game-winner. This is the first season he’s playing wideout; Wolfe has been a stalwart at safety the last couple of seasons for Township.

Harrisburg, which piled up 337 yards but ultimately couldn’t overcome the two blocked punts or 11 penalties, did get one last-gasp effort. After falling on Township’s pooch kick near midfield the Cougars completed a pass but it was well short of the end zone as the clock hit zeroes.

“You can’t make that stuff up,” Evans said. “It was boom, boom, boom, boom, back and forth between a couple of heavyweights.

“We just happened to have the ball last. That was a young team really coming of age, and I’m excited about that. We found a way to win without playing our best there in the fourth quarter.”

Township opened the game with a nine-minute scoring march, culminating with Declan Clancy’s 1-yard plunge for a 7-0 lead. Harrisburg made it 7-6 early in the second quarter when Shawn Lee had a 2-yard keeper, but Township got the next two scores to grab a 17-6 lead.

First, Quin Arnold drilled a 32-yard field goal late in the first half for a 10-6 lead, then Johnson called his own number for a 4-yard TD for a 17-6 cushion with 7:13 left in the third.

“We’re confident in our offense, and we know we can punch the ball in,” Wolfe said. “We just had to execute.”

Johnson’s TD was set up by Township’s first blocked punt of the game.

Undaunted, the Cougars went to work. Lee capped a spiffy run-pass-mix drive with another 2-yard keeper and it was 17-14 after a two-point play.

Early in the fourth quarter, Harrisburg turned Township over on downs at the Cougars’ 3. Harrisburg then marched 97 yards, and Mahkai Hopkins’ 5-yard TD burst gave the Cougars their first lead, 20-17, with 7:13 to go.