Manheim Central still perfect after rout of Warwick

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

By Jeff Reinhart — LNP/Lancasteronline

When you’re hot, you’re hot.

And Manheim Central’s football team continued its bubbling-hot start Friday night with an offensive and defensive showcase against rival Warwick.

Brycen Armold rushed for 204 yards with a pair of touchdown romps — including an 80-yard TD jaunt on the first play from scrimmage — Zac Hahn tossed three TD passes and chipped in with a game-icing TD keeper, and the Barons sacked Warriors QB Jack Reed eight times in a 47-13 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 victory in Manheim.

Make that a 5-0 getaway for the Barons, who won their section opener, while snapping a four-game losing streak against Warwick in the process. Central also snapped the Warriors’ two-game winning streak, as Warwick (1-1, 2-3) dipped a game back in the section standings.

“Our seniors didn’t want to go 0-for-whatever against them,” said Hahn, who has 10 TD passes in the last three games. “They wanted to beat Warwick for the first time in their careers. It’s a special rivalry for us, so this was a special win.”

The first half was a shootout. After Armold bolted 80 yards to paydirt on the first play from scrimmage to set the tone, Warwick punched right back, with Reed flipping a 7-yard TD toss to Thomas Jeanes and it was 7-6. Armold countered with his second long TD run of the quarter, a 50-yard dash and Central was up 13-6.

Undaunted, Reed hit Jeanes again, this time for a 19-yard score and it was 13-13. Central punched in the last TD of the first half, when Hahn zipped a 4-yard scoring pass to Rocco Daugherty, and the Barons had a 20-13 lead at the break.

Central owned the second half. Hahn hit Sonny Callahan for a 55-yard TD pass before Jaden Weit had a 6-yard TD run and Hahn called his own number on a QB draw and raced 10 yards for a score. Hahn iced it with a 26-yard TD strike to Bode Sipel.

Weit and Rolan Hoffer had two sacks apiece for Central, which held Warwick to 3.3 yards per carry and recovered a fumble.

“If you’re going to beat really good football teams, you have to play two halves of football, and we played one good half, and then we kind of shot ourselves in the foot in the second half,” Warwick coach Bob Locker said. “We got behind the eight-ball, but we were going to go down swinging. We did what we do, but we have them the ball in good field position too many times.”

Central’s D flexed its muscles in the second half, forcing Warwick to four three-and-outs, and to just a pair of first downs. The Barons closed the game with 34 unanswered points and, most importantly, they kept Reed scrambling all night.

“We made a couple of adjustments, and we executed really well in the second half,” Central coach Dave Hahn said. “Reed is a great quarterback, and he’s had an excellent career. So that was huge for us. We had to get after him, and we were able to.”

End result: Central remained perfect and sits atop the Section Two standings with Exeter.