When the big plays are going in your favor, use them again and again.
Manheim Township sophomore Isaiah Jones is one of those who would agree with that. He took the opening kickoff of Friday night's home football game and returned it 85 yards to the Penn Manor end zone for a quick score. The Streaks (4-0) scored another 17 points in the first quarter alone and pounded Penn Manor 65-7 in the first Section One game of the year for both teams.
Harrison Kirk, who finished with 11 completions on 17 pass attempts for 214 yards, threw the first of his three touchdown passes later in the first period, connecting with Jaden Floyd for a 51-yard score.
Jackson Wright added a 31-yard field goal to make it 17-0 before Township made it 24-0 on a 25-yard scoring toss from Kirk to Mickey Stokes.
In addition, Kirk connected with Brett Benjamin four times for 55 yards and a touchdown. He hit Stokes three times for 42 yards, including the TD. Ben Mann caught two passes for 27 yards. Other completions went to Bryce Casey (28) Nate Carpenter (19) and seven yards to Elijah Fonseca.
"We have a lot of different weapons in terms of our offense as well as our defense," head coach Mark Evans said. "We have different parts in different places for the defenses we see. We have the ability to have multiple answers to different situations."
Township carried the 24-0 lead into the second quarter. Floyd (8 carries, 104 yards) broke through for a 31-yard rushing TD and Casey scored from 21 yards out before Penn Manor (1-4) got on the board. Benjamin's 18-yard TD catch made it 44-7 at the half.
Evan Clark's 48-yard dash to the end zone, Shamir Alberto's eight-yard rushing TD and a 20-yard rushing TD by Matt Torres capped the scoring. Matt O'Gorman kicked the extra points on the final two TD's after Wright had gone 6-for-7 in PAT's plus the field goal.
"Matt O'Gorman had a couple of touchbacks on his kickoffs," Evans noted. "He's the kicker of the future for us, so we were getting him comfortable. That's how programs build success - giving the entire team a chance to play under Friday night lights."
GIRLS' SOCCER
"It's one of those things coaches talk about - learning from a loss," girls' soccer coach Terry Law said, referring to Monday's 2-0 setback at Conestoga Valley. "I think we learned some things about ourselves and I think it had something to do with the way we played against Hempfield."
The Streaks had blanked each of their first three opponents. Monday's loss to CV dropped their league mark to 1-1 (3-1-0 overall). On Thursday they held off arch rival Hempfield 2-1.
"A lot of what we learned was controlling the things you can control," said Law. "We're a pretty young team and have a bit of learning and growing to do. I think we're improving every day."
Freshman Anika Krasnai scored 23 seconds before halftime off a Sam Bennett assist. The Knights pulled even eight minutes into the second half. Caroline Wood scored the game-winning goal in the 77th minute.
Though freshman Liza Suydam was credited with an assist, Law gave credit to the entire development of the play.
"There were five or six players involved in that goal," he explained. "Everyone handled the ball well and confidently. Liza Suydam gave a good ball to Caroline Wood and she buried it. It was a classy finish."
In Saturday's contest, the Streaks fell behind 1-0 to Lampeter-Strasburg on Liz Deardorff's goal 14:00 in. Kyla Rishell tied it in the 27th minute. The two sides traded goals less than five minutes later, including Suydam's goal to make it 2-2 at the half.
"Liza's goal was a rocket from 20 yards out," said Law.
Krasnai scored twice in less than three minutes for a 4-2 lead. L-S cut it to 4-3 but McKenna Conklin came through with an insurance goal in the 76th minute and a 5-3 win.
"We were able to finish with some quality goals," added the coach.
GOLF
Connor Strine led the way in yet another strong outing for the Manheim Township golf team on Thursday afternoon at Conestoga. Strine shot a 74 to edge Hempfield's Sawyer Marten (77) as Township finished atop the team standings with 317 points. Lancaster Catholic (355), Cedar Crest (365), Penn Manor (377) and Hempfield (391) followed.
Hamilton McNaughton also had an excellent day with a 79. Graham Calhoun finished with an 82 as did Dante Billoni.
Township improved to 16-0 overall and 12-0 in the L-L League.
BOYS' SOCCER
The Blue Streaks' week in boys' soccer results included three 2-1 scores.
Township opened the week with a 2-1 defeat of league rival Conestoga Valley at home. The Streaks edged Hempfield 2-1 in Landisville on Wednesday and were on the short end of a 2-1 final in Reading Saturday morning.
Hempfield and CV were the first league rivals the Streaks faced this year, improving their mark to 2-0-0 and a first-place spot in Section One. The Reading match was the team's first loss (3-1-1 overall) of the year.
Colton Pierson took advantage of two opportunities in the first half, putting Township up 1-0 at the eight minute mark and doubling the lead in the 32nd minute. He had assists from Andrew Sheehan and Rob Irizary - part of a 12-shot attack by MT's offense.
Irizary and Sheehan were both involved in the scoring at Hempfield too. The Knights took a 1-0 lead and carried it into the second half. Sheehan scored the equalizer seven minutes after the break. Moses Beers served up the game-winning goal with one minute remaining in regulation. Irizary and Liam Wright each recorded an assist.
The Reading game started on Saturday morning and nearly went into Sunday. The Red Knights scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime as Jair Duran put the game away 95 minutes after the opening whistle.
The Streaks were not able to hold on to a 1-0 lead in the second half. Wright scored in the 61st minute off an assist from Beers. Michael Dominguez tied the game in the 73rd minute.
Quinn McCarty, coming off two close victories, made three saves in front of the Township net.
TENNIS
Victories over Ephrata and Conestoga Valley improved the tennis team's record to 6-0 (4-0 league)
Township played both matches at home, blanking both the Mountaineers on Monday and the Buckskins two days later.
Avery Palandjian, Julia Briner, Scotland Reynolds and Kayla Kurtz each contributed to two team points in the Ephrata match. Reynolds and Palandjian teamed up for an 8-0 doubles win. Briner partnered with Camille Henneman to win 8-0 while Kurtz and Sarah Pestana cruised to an 8-0 third doubles win.
Palandjian won the number one singles 6-0, 6-1. Reynolds, Kurtz and Briner each won their singles matches 6-0, 6-0.
Reynolds and Palandjian posted an 8-1 win in the first doubles match versus CV. Briner and Henneman faced a tough competition from Sophia Steed and Ellie Kready, but prevailed 8-5. Kurtz and Petana won their match 8-0.
In singles, Palandjian (6-2, 6-3) and Reynolds (6-0, 6-0) started off with straight set wins. Kurtz followed with another one, winning 6-2, 7-5 and Briner made it all Township with her 6-0, 6-1 win.
FIELD HOCKEY
The Streaks had a busy week of field hockey that included three L-L League matches followed by two non-league Saturday games played at Hershey.
The week opened with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss at Conestoga Valley on Monday. Vanessa Daniels was sensational in goal, making 12 saves as the Buckskins recorded 14 shots on goal.
That kept the game scoreless through regulation play. Ellie Livingston scored the game-winning goal at the 14:23 mark of the overtime period to give CV the victory.
Two days later and another Section One road game saw the Streaks, with 22 shots on goal, post a 7-0 victory at Cedar Crest.
Sophia Rockwell, who also had one assist, Kayte Moist and Rea Fox each finished with two goals. Abby Laubach also scored while Daniels recorded a shutout, improving MT's league record to 2-2.
Friday the 13th did not have things go in the Streaks' favor. Penn Manor edged Township 2-1 with Julia Romano scoring an unassisted goal for the Streaks.
Township split its Saturday matches at Hershey, defeating Central York 1-0 before losing to the hosts 3-0.
Allison Cubell's goal at the 13:09 mark of the second half came off a Keliah Santiago assist and broke a scoreless tie against the Panthers. Daniels minded the cage and kept the Panthers off the scoreboard with four saves.
Daniels faced 19 shots against Hershey. The Trojans were able to sneak in three goals and shut out the Streaks, who fell to 3-5 on the year.
CROSS COUNTRY
Both the boys' and girls' cross country teams improved to 3-1 on the year with a defeat of Lebanon and Conestoga Valley in Tuesday's Section One home meet.
In the boys' race, Township won a close battle, edging Lebanon 22-36 and running past CV 19-46.
The Township girls blanked Lebanon 15-55 and beat the Buckskins 21-40.
One of the keys to Township's success in the boys' race was claiming half of the top-10 places across the finish line. Tyler Stevens won the race in a time of 17:03. Roy Horton's time of 17:08 was a close third-place time. Dieter Geib (5th, 17:34), Brayden Brunsch (7th, 17:57) and Keven Perez, who took 10th at 18:14 helped pace a team that also earned 11th thanks to Andrew Gusavage (18:36)
Hayden Brennan was 13th in 18:44 with Braden Schuyler crossing next at 18:50.
Chloe Kline won the girls race with a 21:05. Claiming third and fourth, respectively, were Ava Pasewicz (21:52) and Paige Laurence (21:58). Aurelia Huss crossed at 22:00 - good for sixth. Jenny Weiss was seventh at 22:01.
With Sarah Russo (9th, 22:28) and Avery Ebersole (10th, 22:32) Township had seven of the top 10 finishes. Eleventh place went to Nora White who registered a time of 22:46.
Sophie Ilkhanoff (12th, 22:51) and Matzalen Urkiza (15th, 23:45) rounded out the leaders for Township.
GIRLS' VOLLEYBALL
In Section One girls' volleyball action, the Streaks racked up a 3-0 victory over McCaskey and evened their L-L League mark at 1-1 on Tuesday.
Township kept the Red Tornado in check, winning 25-10, 25-13 and 25-10. Katie Bushong led the team in assists with 13 and tied Sarah Journey with eight digs.
Emily Stevens and Trinity Tull added five kills each. Stevens also registered a block.
Part of what kept McCaskey from climbing back into each set was the serving of Faith McGowan. The sophomore served up 10 aces on the day.
Monday's non-league match at Central York included two close sets as the Panthers topped Township 25-23 and 25-22 before taking the third set 25-10.
Tull collected 10 kills and one block while Bushong hustled for 16 digs and dished out 10 assists. Emily Thorsen served up two aces.
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