The Black Knights opened the District Three Class 4A playoffs on Tuesday, October 26 against South Western. Hempfield, the number three seed, hosted the 14th-seeded Mustangs.
As both defenses corralled attackers of the opposition, Hempfield's Nate Schwartz finally galloped through for a score 17 minutes into overtime. Breaking the scoreless deadlock, he gave Hempfield a 1-0 victory.
"Nate got an amazing left-footed shot into the side netting," Mark Ashley, the Hempfield head coach, described. "It was a beautiful shot with power and accuracy."
Ashley commented on the Mustangs' defense, saying, "They played a safe defensive game.
They had so many players back and we weren't able to finish many chances.
"Their goalie made seven or eight very good saves," continued the coach. "Our defense allowed only one shot."
Noah Felty flagged down that one shot in front of the Knights' net and earned a 97-minute shutout.
The win moved the Knights (13-5-1) into the quarterfinals to face a familiar opponent - Lancaster-Lebanon League rival Manheim Township. The 11th-seeded Blue Streaks were 6-1 winners at Central York, defeating the sixth-ranked Panthers.
The Knights defeated the Streaks 2-1 in one of the two regular-season games they played each other. The other match ended in a scoreless tie.
The Knights were coming off a 2-1 loss the previous week in the L-L League title game, Thursday, October 21, on Warwick's home turf.
The Warriors and Knights took this finale into extra time where Gage Meckley finally put the match away 13 minutes in. The one Hempfield goal came in the 60th minute courtesy of Jase Colino.
Felty was formidable in goal, making seven saves in the 93 minutes of play.
TENNIS
The twosome of Sophie Carson and Grace Lehman posted a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Carlisle's Rory Ade and Natalie O'Neill in the first round of the District Three Class AAA double championships at Hershey Racquet Club on Friday, October 22.
In the second round they battled Sophie Lanius and Lexi Lakatosh of Red Lion. The Red Lion pair prevailed 7-5 in the first set. They followed that with a 6-2 victory, Lakatosh and Lanius won their semifinals match as well, eventually losing 6-1, 7-5 to Muhlenberg's Jen Manta and Judith Manta - the district's top-seeded team - in the championship match.
The Hempfield pair had entered districts as the number three seed.
Lehman, the previous week, had won the opening round of singles only to come up short in the quarterfinals to Anya Rosenbach of New Oxford.
FOOTBALL
Statistically speaking, Friday night's Section One game between the Wilson Bulldogs and the Hempfield Black Knights was a balanced, give-and-take deal.
The Hempfield defense limited the Bulldogs to only 50 yards rushing. The Wilson defense allowed Hempfield quarterback Cam Harbaugh 280 yards of passing, which was the same total of yards the Bulldogs gained on the ground, led by Jadyn Jones rushing for 139 yards on 21 carries.
When the most important stats of the game were tallied, it was Wilson finishing on top 28-21. The Bulldogs scored the winning touchdown with 30 seconds to play as Hempfield fell to 2-2 in Section One and 5-4 overall.
"We knew their rushing attack was how they could win," said head George Eager. "If you get Wilson to pass the ball, that means you're doing something right."
Harbaugh completed 15-of-26 passes, including five completions to Adam Acker for a total of 129 yards. The Hempfield quarterback's precision spirals landed in the hands of Evan Smith and Andy Garcia for touchdown passes.
And speaking of the statistical shifts in the game, even though Harbaugh had a game to remember, the Bulldogs defense shut down the Knights' running game, limiting the visiting team to only 25 yards.
"That is characteristic of Wilson," said Eager, referring to the Bulldogs stopping the run. "We knew they would be stingy for the run, but we fully expected to rush for more than 25 yards. It made us one-dimensional."
The Bulldogs (6-3, 4-0 league) capitalized on a break they got on the opening kickoff.
"Their kickoff landed on our 15-yard line, and it bounced back to their kicking team," Eager explained. "Three plays later, they scored, and we were down 7-0."
Using the short field, the Bulldogs scored on Brad Hoffman's eight-yard rushing touchdown. The Knights came right back and tied the score on Harbaugh's 21-yard scoring pass to Smith.
"Cam did a good job finding him," Eager said of Harbaugh finding the open receiver, who had not been the primary target on the play.
Wilson pulled ahead 21-7 before the Knights closed the gap to seven points at halftime. They did so on Stephen Katch's two-yard rushing touchdown.
Hempfield pulled even in the fourth quarter on a great play by both quarterback and receiver.
"We were actually pinned at our own five- or six-yard line," Eager explained. We got a couple of first downs. Cam stepped up in the pocket and hit him in stride. Andy did the rest.
"He is very quick and has good hands," Eager said of Garcia.
With the score tied, the Knights' drive stalled. They punted to the Bulldogs, who used their strong rushing attack to march down the field and score with 30 seconds to go. Jones scored on a 14-yard rushing TD.
GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL
Hempfield held off Ephrata on Monday, October 25, in the L-L League volleyball semifinals, which the Knights hosted. Despite the Mountaineers strong first set, the Black Knights (15-0) triumphed 25-19. They won the next two sets 25-18 and 25-19, finishing the sweep. In the other semifinals match, Section Two champ Elizabethtown defeated Section One runner-up Manheim Township 3-0.
Hempfield setter Melody Butzer (31 assists) and libero Allison Cummings (16 digs) helped to frustrate Ephrata's efforts. Joslene Morgan poured in nine kills for Hempfield. Addison Leber and Nyah Smiley registered six kills and three kills, respectively.
The quest for a league championship came down to Wednesday night's clash at Conestoga Valley where Hempfield took a 1-0 lead over E-town, taking the first set 25-15.
Just as the Knights inched closer to earning their fifth straight league trophy with a 25-14 win, E-town answered with their own 25-14 win. In fact, the Bears clawed away and tied the match at 2-2 before the Knights won their 18th title in 20 years on a 15-8 tiebreaker victory.
Leave a Review