Hempfield tops Carlisle, sets up rematch with Township

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

By John Walk — LNP/Lancasteronline

A 65-yard touchdown pass from eighth-seeded Carlisle just before halftime cut its deficit to two scores at top-seeded Hempfield in a District 3 Class 6A football quarterfinal Friday night.

Carlisle got the ball after half, too. On top of that, Hempfield’s leading rusher Grant Hoover had taken a wicked hit on a 6-yard run with two minutes, 14 seconds left in the first half and didn’t return.

So it felt like the visiting Thundering Herd had a chance at an upset after halftime. Those hopes from Carlisle were dashed when Hempfield defensive lineman Aidan Shorter picked off a Herd pass at the line of scrimmage and rumbled 18 yards the other way to the Carlisle 2-yard line near the end of the third quarter.

Teammate Stephen Katch ran it in on the next play to essentially seal the game in an eventual 30-14 Black Knights’ win on the turf in Landisville in wet and windy conditions.

“I was blitzing,” Shorter said of the interception. “Nobody blocked me. I figured it was a screen at that point. I saw the quarterback look at me and throw it. I jumped up and picked it off.”

Coincidentally, Shorter made a nearly identical play this time a year ago in a district quarterfinal win, though he scored that time.

Meanwhile, Katch, a jack-of-all trades weapon who normally starts at wide receiver, gathered 56 of his 59 rushing yards in the second half. He did so in place of Hoover, who had galloped for 94 yards on 15 carries before leaving and not returning due to concussion protocol, according to Hempfield coach George Eager.

“Who knows for next week?” Eager said of Hoover’s status.

Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 champion Hempfield (9-2) gathered 263 rushing yards on 46 plays, with 203 rushing yards on 27 carries going to the left side, which is manned by 6-foot, 3-inch, 315-pound junior lineman Deyvid Palepale, a prized recruit who earlier in the day picked up his 10th scholarship offer, this one from University of Southern Cal.

The success in running to the left side was most evident on Hempfield’s second drive of the game, which went 94 yards on 11 plays, eight of them run plays to the left that gathered 70 combined yards. That drive was capped by an 11-yard TD throw from Jackson Landis (10-for-16, 119 yards, 1 TD) to Andy Garcia to make it 7-0.’

A Cannon Biscoe 38-yard field goal pushed the Hempfield advantage to 10-0 midway through the second quarter.

After Hoover left the game, Landis faked a handoff to Katch, tucked the ball and took off down the left sideline for a 41-yard run score, pushing the lead 17-0.

The Katch 2-yard TD run after the Shorter interception made it 23-7. Hempfield pushed the lead to 30-7 with 8:47 left on a 6-play, 60-yard drive highlighted by a 33-yard Landis pass to Micah Gates and capped by a Katch 1-yard run off the left side.

The Hempfield defense held Carlisle (6-5) to 38 rushing yards and six first downs, including just one in the second half, and tallied three sacks with the one interception.

Up next is a date with L-L Section 1 rival Manheim Township, who Hempfield edged in a nail-biting 17-14 win back in Week Five.