HERSHEY — For Bishop McDevitt, its fourth District 3-AAA championship gold trophy in a row.
For Manheim Central, back to the drawing board.
The Barons, who have 16 district championship gold trophies in the case, have been waiting four long years to get a stab at McDevitt, since the Crusaders dropped down from AAAA to AAA in 2010.
The first meeting between the much ballyhooed programs turned out to be extremely one-sided in the final score department:
Bishop McDevitt 48, Manheim Central 7.
Early on it sure looked like Manheim Central was going to make a game of it, but the Barons’ first four drives ended on downs, with a fumble, again on downs and with a missed field goal.
Twice they reached the red zone but couldn’t punch it in.
Meanwhile, McDevitt was on its way to a 20-0 halftime edge — and eventually a mercy rule romp.
It was the first time Manheim Central was mercy-ruled since 2007, when Elizabethtown piled it on in an L-L Section 2 game on a rainy night in E-town.
Prior to that, the Barons hadn't been mercy-ruled since 2004 in the state finale against Thomas Jefferson.
Tony Staffieri, thrust into the starting QB role vs. McDevitt when Colin Fry went down with a shoulder injury in the semifinals against Cocalico, suffered a shoulder injury of his own in the first half — coach Mike Williams said it was likely a broken collarbone during the postmortem — and Fry was summoned from the bench — gimpy wing and all.
The Barons attempted three passes all night, and spent a good chunk of the game operating out of the Wildcat — on the fly — with Marc Royer and Ian Hanselman taking direct snaps.
Royer and Hanselman both had success; Royer, the L-L rushing leader and 2,000-yard gainer, galloped for 195 yards and a TD, and Hanselman added 83 yards.
But here was the telltale stat:
McDevitt junior RB Andre Robinson — a dynamite blue-chip recruit — rushed for 287 yards, including a District 3 championship-game record 80-yard TD burst.
Manheim Central had 286 yards. Total.
Bottom line: Even with the QB issues — and even though Royer and Hanselman had solid success — the Barons simply couldn’t stop the Crusaders, who piled up 564 yards, 22 first down and punted once.
Williams called the loss humbling.
It was just the third time Manheim Central lost in a district championship game; the Barons also fell to Middletown 33-7 in 1988 and 15-7 to West York in 2008.
Manheim Central will take a hit on graduation night in the spring; Fry, Royer, Hanselman, all-state TE Taylor Geib, stud DT Rey Lasanta and interior line thumpers Michael Brown, Nate Brandt and Jay Swayne will move on.
And then there’s Williams, who just wrapped up his 33rd season prowling the Barons’ sidelines. Manheim Central is 330-78-3 under his watch, including 16-3 in District 3-AAA title game.
He said after the game that he’ll take some time to wind down and catch his breath before making any decisions about his future.
But he sure sounded like he’ll be back for season No. 34 — and another run at trying to dethrone McDevitt.