Daniel Boone can’t hold early lead, falls to Waynesboro

AJ Hofer ran for a pair of early scores before Waynesboro responded with 30 unanswered to knock visiting Daniel Boone out of the District 3 Class 5A tournament 42-20 Friday night.

Hofer finished with 178 yards and three touchdowns for the 12th-seeded Blazers (5-4), who were looking for their first district win in seven years.

They were up 14-0 in the first quarter after Hofer scored on runs of 12 and 5 yards.

The fifth-seeded Indians (9-2) tied it 14-14 by halftime, then took advantage of a pair of Boone turnovers to pull away in the third quarter.

Rhyan Day’s Pick Six gave Waynesboro a 30-14 lead.

Hofer pulled Boone within 30-20 later in the third but the Blazers failed on a two-point conversion and later failed to recover an onside kick.

The Blazers had a chance to go into halftime with a lead but Nate Millard missed a 42-yard field goal in the final seconds of the second quarter.

The Blazers were coming off a long layoff after canceling the final two games of the regular season due to COVID issues at the school. They last played Oct. 15, beating Reading High.

Hofer finishes the season with a team-high951 rushing yards, and eight TDs.

The win was the sixth straight for Waynesboro, and its first in district play.

The Indians advance to play fourth-seeded Spring Grove, a 33-6 win over Twin Valley. Spring Grove defeated Waynesboro 25-20 in the season-opener.

Daniel Boone last made the district tournament in 2014, when it beat Lampeter-Strasburg and Milton Hershey to advance to the semifinals, where it lost 24-6 to Cocalico.