Warwick beats Shippensburg, sets up Section 2 rematch with Solanco
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Jeff Reinhart — LNP/Lancasteronline
LITITZ — It wasn’t exactly the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field.
But it certainly wasn’t very balmy Friday night at Warwick’s Grosh Field in Lititz, where the wind was whipping and the temperatures dipped into the 40s.
| Final | |
| Warwick | 23 |
| Shippensburg | 7 |
That didn’t stop the host Warriors, who did the three things they’ve seemed to do best this football season.
First and foremost, Warwick’s defense stood tall, with countless big sticks, a takeaway and a couple of big sacks. Second, the Warriors dominated up front, riding their bullish offensive line. And third, thanks to the spirited O-line effort, bell-cow back Heath Schnipke rushed for 108 yards with a pair of second-half touchdown bolts.
The end result: Warwick waffled Shippensburg 23-7 in a District 3 Class 5A first-round game. Up next for the fifth-seeded Warriors (9-2) is a very familiar face: Section 3 rival Solanco, the No. 4 seed, in a district quarterfinal Friday at 7 p.m.
“Our kids understand their assignments, and they all run to the football,” Warwick coach Bob Locker said about his team’s defense, which came into the game ranked No. 2 in the league in total defense allowing just 167 yards a game.
“They don’t make many mistakes,” he said, “and anything you get, you’re going to earn it.”
Shippensburg, which beat Warwick 20-13 in this game last year, averaged 4.1 yards per carry, with just three runs that went for 10 or more yards.
Solanco (9-1) topped the Warriors 35-7 in Week 4 and went on to win the section championship and earn a first-round bye. The rematch will be a win-and-advance showdown.
Warwick will make the trek to Quarryville after taking care of business against the 12th-seeded Greyhounds (7-4), a run-first outfit that managed 153 yards on the ground, but 48 of those came on one first-half run by Damian Horan. That set up Brody Maciejewski’s 1-yard TD keeper, slicing Warwick’s lead to 9-7 late in the second quarter.
Take away that sequence and the Warriors’ hard-charging defense bottled up the Greyhounds throughout. Jace Conrad had two bone-jarring sacks, Warwick held Shippensburg to 10 carries of 1 yard or less, and Koen Adams capped it, recovering a fumble with 4:40 to play.
“That’s what we preach all week: Defense wins championships,” Conrad said. “We’re always ready to go, and we love to cut it loose on a Friday night. And we cut it loose tonight. We stuck to our assignments and we played some hard-nosed football. The score shows that.”
Warwick had a quick 9-0 lead on Thomas Myers’ 1-yard QB sneak and Tyler Schoffstall’s 22-yard field goal into the wind. Later, Myers got knocked out of the game, and Colin McGaw was under center for the Warriors to open the second half.
That’s when Warwick started feeding Schnipke, and he delivered. His 33-yard TD rumble gave the Warriors a 16-7 cushion with 8:56 to go in the third quarter.
In milk-the-clock mode late in the third quarter, Schnipke had 13- and 8-yard gainers to keep the chains moving. He body-slammed in from 5 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter and the Warriors were up 23-7.
“Nothing flashy,” Locker said. “Tough kid. And our O-line deserves some props.”
That rugged defense, too.
“Our D-line guys really fired off the ball,” Conrad said, “and our linebackers were able to run downhill, with our safeties right behind them. We take a lot of pride in our defense.”
