Lampeter-Strasburg picks off Weiser, awaits Wyo
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Dave Byrne — LNP/Lancasteronline
There was absolutely no way Lampeter-Strasburg was looking past Conrad Weiser Friday night. Not even with unbeaten Wyomissing lurking, eight days away, in a showdown for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 football title.
The Pioneers broke on top early, overcame a couple of self-inflicted wounds by scoring 17 points in the last 1:44 of the first half and cleared the way for that Week 10 match-up with a 51-17 victory over the Scouts on Friday night in Lampeter.
“We all know what’s out there now,” Pioneers coach Vic Ridenour told the post-game huddle. “I can’t freakin’ wait!”
The Pioneers used three interceptions to improve to 6-0 in the league, 8-1 overall.
Trent Wagner (9-for-12, 185 yards two touchdowns); Hunter Hildenbrand (seven touches, 277 all-purpose yards, three TDs) and Carson Coleman (12 rushes, 93 yards 2 TDs) sparked an efficient offense that took command right away.
Trey Spahr had the defensive lineman’s dream with an 11-yard interception return for a touchdown and Peter Fiorello kicked a 43-yard field goal as the first half expired.
The L-S defense held the Scouts (2-4, 3-6) to 198 yards total offense, 63 on the ground. Weiser’s Ousmanne Conde rushed 18 times for 50 yards.
Meanwhile, the Pioneers’ offense put up 307 yards on the ground and 210 in the air.
Scouts quarterback Donovan Gingrich threw for 135 yards on 14 completions in 28 attempts, but a strong rush by the Pioneers’ front four forced him to throw three interceptions. L-S turned two of those into TDs, including Spahr’s Pick-Six, and also cashed a muffed punt return for another TD.
“We executed on offense very well,” said Wagner. “A couple special teams errors didn’t affect us.”
Feeding the Scouts a steady dose of Carson Coleman, L-S took the opening kickoff 80 yards in nine plays, with Coleman (7-44) scoring from the 2.
After an Adam Noll field goal of 46 yards put the Scouts on the scoreboard, L-S engineered a six-play, 65-yard drive, with Coleman bursting for 34 yards to the Weiser 31 and 27 yards to the 1 before scoring on the next play.
Hildenbrand picked off Gingrich at the L-S 24 and, after a holding penalty, broke a wildcat run 85 yards to the end zone.
“All I saw was green,” said Hildenbrand, who was in the clear as soon as he broke the line of scrimmage. “It was great blocking by the big guys up front and all I had to do was turn on the jets.”
A muffed punt by the Scouts set up Wagner’s 26-yard TD pass to Dean Herr, but it was the Pioneers turn to be generous as Weiser turned a muffed punt and muffed kickoff return into a 13-yard TD pass from Gingrich to Evan Rittle and a 6-yarder to to Evan Miller.
L-S regained equilibrium as Wagner connected with Hildenbrand on a stop-and-go route for a 53-yard TD.
“The corner comes up, Hunter’s gone,” said Wagner.
On third-and-9 at the Scouts’ 21, Luke Hines put a huge rush on Gingrich, who was looking to throw a bubble-screen pass. Gingrich unloaded just before getting hit, his throw landing right in the belly of Spahr, who returned it for his first career TD.
“I’m not going to lie, he happened to throw the ball there,” Spahr said. “I just ran. It was all so unreal to me. Once I got the ball, I started running like Mike Vick.”
That restored the Pioneers’ 17-point advantage they had briefly given away and, taking over at their 34 with 23 seconds left in the half, moved 45 yards on two completions to Hildenbrand and one to Drexton Frank. Fiorello split the uprights as the clock hit zeroes and the Pioneers were in command.
“That was a big three points,” said Hildenbrand. “That’s where the confidence just kept building. The second half we stood our ground.”
Julian Lopez added a 30-yard TD run in the third quarter to close out the scoring.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Conrad Weiser | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Lampeter-Strasburg | 20 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 51 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Coleman, 2 run (Fiorello kick) |
| 1 | Conrad Weiser | Noll, 46 FG |
| 1 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Coleman, 1 run (Fiorello kick) |
| 1 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Hildenbrand, 85 run (kick failed) |
| 2 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Herr, 26 pass from Wagner (Fiorello kick) |
| 2 | Conrad Weiser | Rittle, 13 pass from Gingrich (Noll kick) |
| 2 | Conrad Weiser | Miller, 6 pass from Gingrich (Noll kick) |
| 2 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Hildenbrand, 53 pass from Wagner (Fiorello kick) |
| 3 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Spahr, 11 interception return (Fiorello kick) |
| 4 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Fiorello, 43 FG |
| 4 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Lopez, 30 run (Fiorello kick) |
Team statistics
| Conrad Weiser | Lampeter-Strasburg | |
| First downs | 11 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 28-63 | 36-307 |
| Passing yards | 135 | 210 |
| Total yards | 198 | 517 |
| Passes | 15-26-3 | 12-16 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-0 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 4-42.0 | 2-25.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 6-36 | 10-82 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Conrad Weiser: Conde 18-50, Robinson 1-14, Rittle 1-6, Britting 1-2, Parr 1-(-5), Gingrich 3(-6).
Lampeter-Strasburg: Coleman 12-94, Hildenbrand 1-85, Wagner 7-45, Lopez 1-30, Mellinger 6-10, Howse 3-8, Maltesta 3-(-1).
PASSING
Conrad Weiser: Gingrich 15-24-3–135, Parr 0-1-0–0.
Lampeter-Strasburg: Wagner 9-12-0–184, Howse 3-3-0–25.
RECEIVING
Conrad Weiser: Rittle 7-38, Dianna 5-44, Conde 2-47, E. Miller 1-6.
Lampeter-Strasburg: Hildenbrand 4-115, Herr 2-49, Frank 2-18, Malatesta 1-16, Hostetter 1-10, Coleman 1-2, Weichler 1-(-1).
