Manheim Township takes out top-seeded Hempfield in 6A semifinal

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

By John Walk — LNP/Lancasteronline

LANDISVILLE — The Hempfield offense found its footing on its third possession Friday night. The host Black Knights drove to the Manheim Township 9-yard line looking to tie the score. Instead, Hempfield fumbled the snap and Manheim Township pounced on the football.

The visiting Blue Streaks scored seven plays later. Then scored again a minute later to take a three-score lead into halftime, part of an eventual 42-7 win in a District 3 Class 6A semifinal.

The No. 5-seeded Blue Streaks advanced to next week’s district final at Harrisburg. The No. 3 Cougars (9-2) beat No. 2 Central York 44-7.

“It was a huge momentum stopper for them,” Manheim Township defensive back Nick Palumbo said of the first forced fumble. “We got the ball back and it was all up from there.”

Palumbo tallied three interceptions, the last a 40-yard Pick-Six, the first defensive score of his career and the final score of the game. It was largely a result of Manheim Township (9-3) taking away the Hempfield run game early and going up 21-0 at half

Manheim Township avenged a 17-14 Week 5 loss to Hempfield, a game in which the Knights had scored on two big plays but were otherwise contained.

“Our takeaways that we talked about all week was what we learned in Week 5,” Manheim Township coach Mark Evans said. “They were very confident. They knew they were the better team in Week 5, it just didn’t come out on the scoreboard.”

The Streaks had more than double the amount of rushing yards and first downs than top-seeded Hempfield (9-3) on Friday. On the other side, theTownship defense forced four turnovers and held the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 champs to 100 rushing yards on 20 carries.

“They’re good tacklers,” Hempfield coach George Eager said of Manheim Township. “Their players come down and make plays. It’s hard to make them miss.”

Hempfield cut the deficit to 21-7 at the start of the second half with a nine-play, 70-yard drive highlighted by a 40-yard fake punt run by Stephen Katch. The drive was aided by a Manheim Township defensive pass interference call and capped by a Jackson Landis 4-yard run.

Manheim Township answered with a seven-play, 70-yard drive finished off by a Hayden Johnson 20-yard run to the right side, pushing the advantage to 28-7 near the end of the third quarter.

Johnson connected on 13-of-15 passes and carried the ball nine times for 246 total yards and two scores.

After a second Palumbo interception, Johnson used a flea flicker to connect on a 37-yard pass, and Declan Clancy (11 carries, 106 yards, three TDs) scored two plays later on a 4-yard run to go up 35-7 with 10:44 left.

Manheim Township returns to a district final for the first time since 2017, a team cheered on then by younger players in the bleachers who are now making their own run on varsity.

“They were all there,” Evans said. “And we’re young. But we’re not waiting until next year. We’re focused on the now.”