Solanco stops Elizabethtown in Section 3 battle of unbeatens
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Jeff Reinhart — LNP/Lancasteronline
QUARRYVILLE: There’s a new outright leader atop the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 football standings: Solanco.
Quarterback Brody Mellinger engineered the game-winning drive in the waning minutes and his 1-yard dive with 1:38 to play gave the Golden Mules the lead for good in a riveting 35-32 win Friday night.
Solanco’s Donovan Peters came up big at the other end, batting away Elizabethtown’s last-gasp throw into the end zone on the final play.
“There’s still a long way to go, but we feel great about where we are,” Mellinger said. “Now we have to keep this momentum going and stay focused every week.”
In a game that more than lived up to the hype, the Mules improved to 3-0 in league play and to 7-0 overall, handing E-town (2-1, 6-1) its first loss in a showdown featuring the two top-rated teams in the District 3 Class 5A power ratings.
Solanco, which should remain atop those rankings, took over sole possession of first place in the section when tri-leader Garden Spot suffered a 39-27 setback against Twin Valley.
The Mules are 7-0 for the first time since a 9-0 getaway in 2015. E-town was angling for its first 7-0 start since going 9-0 back in 2007.
“It goes back to our seniors,” said Solanco coach Tony Cox, who picked up his 50th career win. “We’ve had adversity all year; against Penn Manor and L-S we got down early, but we kept punching back.
“And I knew this was going to be a great game. It’s always a close game when we play E-town. Our culture has really changed here. The kids keep their heads up and they keep fighting away.”
The Mules trailed 32-28 with just over six minutes to go but embarked on the go-ahead 69-yard drive, pounding the ball on the ground the whole route. Mellinger, who rushed for 122 yards, dove in from a yard out with 1:38 left for a 35-32 lead.
“Very confident there,” Cox noted. “It comes down to guys like Brody and Josiah Forren and Elijah Cunningham and our O-line. They did a great job. And I can’t say anything more about our seniors. They’re a family, and that’s been the greatest thing about all this.”
E-town had 58 seconds to go 73 yards, and quarterback Josh Rudy completed several passes along the way to put the Bears in scoring range with time running out. On the last play, Rudy fired a deep slant to Brady Breault but Peters swooped in and batted the pass away, and Solanco survived.
“I had so much confidence in our defense there,” Mellinger said. “I knew they were going to make a play there in the end.”
E-town had an early 6-0 lead, marching 15 plays on the game’s opening drive, with Logan Lentz darting 20 yards for a TD. Solanco answered in six plays, with Josiah Forren crashing in from a yard out to tie the game at 6-6.
Forren’s 5-yard TD burst gave the Mules a 14-6 lead, and Mellinger added a 5-yard TD keeper in the second quarter. E-town was within 20-12 at the half when Rudy hit Braden Cummings for a 17-yard TD pass.
The Bears got three second-half scores — Rudy had a 2-yard keeper, Rudy, who passed for 293 yards, flipped an 87-yard TD toss to Cummings, and Cade Capello’s 3-yard run with 6:17 to go gave E-town a 32-28 lead — but Mellinger had a 23-yard TD dart to Elijah Cunningham, and the Mules put together that late scoring drive to win it, thanks to Mellinger’s keeper.
