Harrisburg rolls over Manheim Township for second straight Class 6A title

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

By Jeff Reinhart — LNP/Lancasteronline

HARRISBURG — It was a Murphy’s Law kind of day for Manheim Township’s football team Saturday.

Try as they might, the Blue Streaks never got anything cooking. And in the few instances when they did, those drives were short-circuited by a turnover. Harrisburg, no stranger to big games and pressure-packed moments, pounced.

Shawn Lee rushed for three touchdowns and added a TD pass, Mahkai Hopkins had a pair of TD plays, Kyle Williams popped a punt return for a score and the host Cougars clocked Township 44-6 in the District 3 Class 6A championship game at Severance Field to successfully defend their district title.

“We didn’t execute like we’re capable of,” Township coach Mark Evans said. “We’ll go back to the drawing board and we’ll keep working. I’m proud of this group, and especially this group of seniors. They’re extremely resilient and they provided great leadership.”

Third-seeded Harrisburg (10-2) will square off against Mid-Penn Commonwealth foe State College, the District 6 champ, in a state semifinal next week.

State College won the regular-season meeting 20-6.

Fifth-seeded Township (9-4) saw its scintillating playoff ride come to a halt, as the Streaks were in the 6A title game for the first time since 2017, when Township topped Cumberland Valley for gold.  During this ride, the Streaks beat a pair of teams — Cumberland Valley and Hempfield — they lost to during the regular season.

Township  finished in third place in L-L League Section 1 play behind Hempfield and Wilson but ended up maneuvering its way to the district finale. However, Township could not sweep the season series against Harrisburg; the Streaks clipped the Cougars 24-20 in Harrisburg on Sept. 10.

Harrisburg won the rematch, and hoisted the district gold trophy on its home field.

“I really believed we had the potential and the talent to do this,” Evans said. “My hat goes off to our senior class, which did a remarkable job as leaders for this football team. They pulled this group together. But when you’re playing a team like that, you have to focus on execution and the details.”

Harrisburg’s defense — flashing some serious speed off the edges and keeping Township quarterback Hayden Johnson scrambling throughout — put on a clinic. The Cougars feasted on a pair of fumbles, picked off a pass, sacked Johnson four times and held the Streaks to 54 rushing yards and 3.0 yards per carry.

Township would have had negative rushing yardage but Johnson (11-of-22 for 115 yards) ripped off a 35-yard run late in the fourth quarter to get the Streaks back in the positive column. Harrisburg defensive end Terrell Reynolds had two of the sacks, giving him 21 this season. He and his mates were spectacular in the run-stuffing department.

Harrisburg scored early and often to put Township in an insurmountable hole. Hopkins, who became the Cougars’ second all-time leading rusher during the game, did the honors twice early on for Harrisburg, crashing in from a yard out on the Cougars’ first drive of the game. Hopkins’ two-point run gave Harrisburg a quick 8-0 cushion. He rushed for 73 of the Cougars’ 235 yards.

On Harrisburg’s second drive, Hopkins scored again, this time as a pass-catcher; Lee flipped a throwback screen to Hopkins, who rumbled 51 yards for a TD. Williams’ two-point dash gave the Cougars a 16-0 lead with 3:23 to go in the first quarter.

Williams (84 rushing yards) struck again early in the second quarter, returning a punt 57 yards for a back-breaking TD, and Harrisburg grabbed a 24-0 lead when Lee hit Elias Coke for a two-point pass. Lee (10-of-14, 113 yards) capped the first half in style with a 4-yard TD keeper and Harrisburg was ahead 31-0 at the break.

Township was completely stymied at that point.

The Streaks got on the board early in the fourth quarter when Nick Palumbo jumped a route, picked off Lee, and raced 52 yards for a Pick-Six. Palumbo intercepted three passes a week ago in Township’s semifinal vs. Hempfield — including a Pick-Six.

Those were the only points Township mustered as the Streaks’ offense was kept out of the end zone by the Cougars’ hard-charging defense. Township had a couple of chances but the two fumbles were killers. Lee had a pair of TD keepers to ice it for Harrisburg; his 6-yard TD run making it 38-6 with 4:08 to go in the third quarter, his 39-yard TD sprint with 8:54 to go in regulation capping the scoring.

“Against a good football team, you have to execute in all three phases,” Evans said. “We didn’t do it. Some days you’re the windshield and some days you’re the bug. Unfortunately, we were the bug on the windshield today.”