Landis’ late TD plunge lifts Hempfield over Dallastown

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

By Jason Guarente — LNP/Lancasteronline

George Eager held his thumb and index finger about one inch apart as he addressed his players. That, Hempfield’s coach said, is the difference between winning and losing.

No one who watched these wild 60 minutes could argue otherwise. The Black Knights were on the happy side of that inch. It took a last-minute drive, a freak big play and a fluky penalty to get them there.

Jackson Landis’ 1-yard touchdown run with 33 seconds left lifted Hempfield over Dallastown 16-14 in a nonleague football game at Landisville on Friday night.

After everything that went wrong, and it was a lot, the Black Knights felt fortunate when their offense marched onto the field with 2:58 remaining.

They needed 76 yards to finally grab their first lead. They had no doubt they were going to do it.

“You always want the ball in your hands when the game is on the line,” Landis said. “I had total confidence we were going to score. I knew we were going to find a way.”

Hempfield’s final offensive play was Landis’ keeper. He ran behind future NCAA Division I tackle Deyvid Palepale and powered into the end zone. The QB stayed down for several minutes with cramps before slowly walking off the field.

Dallastown was ahead 14-0 midway through the second quarter and Hempfield’s drives kept finding new ways to stall. The Black Knights threw two interceptions in the end zone and they failed to convert a short fourth down.

It wasn’t until the third quarter that Hempfield found a spark. Cam Margeson caught a pass in traffic near midfield, bounced off the safety and raced 66 yards for a touchdown.

“It was a one-in-a-million kind of play,” Margeson said. “Any other circumstance, I probably could’ve been tackled. Everything set up perfectly,”

Margeson, a slot receiver who replaced Andy Garcia in the offense, went to his coach and asked for the ball before that play. He made the chance count. The 6-2, 180-pound junior finished with nine receptions for 159 yards.

Hempfield’s deficit was only 14-10 after Margeson’s moment. A win was within reach.

Dallastown nearly put it away early in the fourth quarter when Christopher Cromartie ran 80 yards for a touchdown. An unnecessary block in the back at the end of the run negated the score. The Wildcats couldn’t recapture those six points.

That kept the door open for Hempfield.

Landis hit Dom Acevedo for 20 yards and Margeson for 26 to move the ball to the 1. Hempfield’s senior quarterback, a two-year starter, wasn’t going to be denied on his run.

“That’s who he is,” Eager said. “That’s why he’s the team leader. I can get on him. I don’t have to coddle him. He knew in the first half he missed some throws that were open. You could see in his eyes he was ready to go.”

Dallastown had one last hope. Hempfield’s defense, which lost nine starters from the team that won Section One of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, made the stop. The Black Knights held the Wildcats scoreless in the second half.

It was Palepale, one of the few defensive holdovers, who recorded a sack and a pressure to end the drive before it ever got moving.

Eager won’t like much of what he sees when he watches the video of this performance. He’ll like the ending. He’ll like the character his players showed.

“With the way we played in the first half, we probably shouldn’t have been able to win the game,” Landis said. “Our guys are tough. We just kept going.”

Hempfield is 1-0.

The Black Knights saw on their coach’s fingers how easily their record could be reversed.