MANHEIM — L-L League rushing champ Marc Royer was up to his old tricks, scooting for 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and No. 2 Manheim Central sailed past No. 3 — and Section 2 rival — Cocalico 42-20 on Friday night in a District 3-AAA semifinal game at Elden Rettew Field.
Royer pushed his season total to 2,074 rushing yards, and he’s up to 24 TD runs after a pair of scoring runs against Cocalico.
Make that chalk in the AAA bracket; No. 1 Bishop McDevitt vs. No. 2 Manheim Central for all the marbles next Friday at 7 p.m. in Hersheypark Stadium.
WATCH REPLAY OF LIVE WEBCAST FROM THE GAME
QUICK HIT
Manheim Central bolted to a 21-0 first-half lead, Royer lit it up on the ground and the Barons overcame the loss of a pair of key players in their 22-point rematch win over Cocalico. Manheim Central (13-0) beat the Eagles 24-12 in a Section 2 game in Week 6 in Denver. The rematch started the same way, with the Barons scoring 14 first-quarter points to seize control early on.
But here’s the bad news for the Barons: Dual-threat QB Colin Fry, who had an 8-yard TD run to open the scoring, then threw a 44-yard TD pass to Taylor Geib and a 3-yard TD toss to Ian Hanselman, went down in a heap in the second quarter and did not return.
He injured his right (throwing) shoulder, and he spent the second half walking the sideline with his arm in a sling. Coach Mike Williams said after the game that Fry was heading for x-rays and that he’s expecting Tony Staffieri, who had a 4-yard TD run and ran the O in the second half, to get most of the work with the first team in practice this week.
And wideout/return specialist Daniel Wiederrecht, who has a 100-yard kick return for a TD on his resume this season, landed awkwardly in the first half and was carted off the field. He spent the second half on the sidelines on crutches, and Williams said he’d be checked for a possible tailbone injury moving forward.
KEY MOMENT
With Manheim Central leading 21-8 after Cocalico’s Spencer Moser broke off an 82-yard TD run with 9:26 to go in the first half, the Barons answered with a long drive into the Red Zone. But the drive stalled and Manheim Central faced a fourth-and-2 inside the 10.
Instead of sending Damon Crouse in for a field goal, Williams rolled the dice and went for it. Good call. Royer slammed ahead for a first down to keep the drive alive. A play later, Fry flipped a 3-yard TD pass to Hanselman and it was 35-8 with 4:21 to go in the first half and the Barons were in control.
STATS AND STUDS
Royer’s 250-yard effort highlighted Manheim Central’s 385-yard night on the ground, as the Barons’ o-line took care of business. Royer capped the scoring with an 84-yard TD romp in the waning minutes. … Before he was helped off the field, Fry went 7-for-12 for 112 yards, with the TD keeper and a pair of TD passes. Williams and Co. are anxiously awaiting the results of Fry’s x-rays. … Moser capped his standout four-year career in style for Cocalico, rushing for 160 yards and a pair of scores, and he caught three passes. Moser’s second TD — with 1:29 to go in the first half to cut the Barons’ lead to 35-14— was an 8-yard dandy after QB Jhet Janis pitched the ball very late, just as he was being tackled. … Janis passed for 46 yards, including a 21-yard TD strike to TE Casey Kerschner, which sliced Manheim Central’s lead to 35-20 with 7:07 to go in the fourth. Janis also rushed for 76 yards, as the Eagles piled up 271 rushing yards.
NUMBERS GAME
4 — Cocalico, which came into the game with an L-L-best 32 takeaways and a league-best plus-24 turnover margin, turned the ball over an uncharacteristic four times — two picks and a two fumbles.
The Barons scored off two of those takeaways: Geib’s 44-yard reception from Fry was set up by Matt Carter’s interception, and Staffieri’s 4-yard keeper — on his very first play under center after trotting in for Fry — came after the Barons recovered a fumble.
On Cocalico’s last-ditch drive late in the fourth, Manheim Central’s Justin Moreno iced it with a fumble recovery, when Janis had a bad exchange on a handoff. That led to Royer’s 84-yard dash, which slammed the door, sending Cocalico home and the Barons to Hersheypark.
BIG PICTURE
Manheim Central punched its ticket back to a familiar place: Hersheypark Stadium and the District 3-AAA championship game. The Barons have a district-best 16 titles, and will go for No. 17 against Bishop McDevitt, which axed Conrad Weiser 49-21 in the other semi to improve to 12-1.
Cocalico finishes its season with an 11-2 mark, with both losses coming to Manheim Central.
WHAT THEY SAID
“We’re going back to Hershey and we’ll be up for it. I hope we’re not intimidated because it’s Bishop McDevitt and because they have some special players. But I think we’ll pull together and we’ll play hard. We might not have a couple of our best players but we’ll give them a battle. I’m not worried about that — I know we’ll battle.” — Manheim Central coach Mike Williams.
“They pushed around pretty good. I’m not so sure if it was just up front; they just executed much better than we did. They stayed on their blocks longer; we couldn’t get off their blocks. Offensively, we couldn’t sustain a drive early on. We had a couple of three-and-outs and we’re down 14-0. I thought we did better as the game progressed, but they got on us early and we couldn’t get out of it.” — Cocalico coach Dave Gingrich.
RAPID REACTION
Manheim Central has been waiting for four long years not only to get back to the district championship game, but also to get a crack at Bishop McDevitt. The Barons got their wish Friday. Unfortunately for them, they might have to go against the Crusaders with their starting QB on the sidelines.
Staffieri is mighty capable and has taken ample snaps this season. We’ll monitor that situation this week. But as far as star power goes in our neck of the woods, it doesn’t get much better than Manheim Central and Bishop McDevitt. Buckle up.
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