By Mona Steinhauer
The Penn Manor field hockey team racket up five goals, the highest output by any team in the round-of-16, and advanced to the quarterfinals with a dominating shutout over Twin Valley (who survived Lampeter-Strasburg 4-3 in overtime to advance) last Tuesday at Hempfield.
Jill Witmer continued her offensive onslaught with four goals and Renee Suter added one to propel the Comets.
Witmer scored twice in less than three minutes to spark a 2-0 first half advantage. Her second half goals sandwiched Suter's effort and left the Comets with one of two shutouts in round one. Cumberland Valley also advanced via a shutout, blanking new Oxford 2-0.
Manor pounded out 13 shots on goal and was rewarded with 13 corners. They kept Twin Valley, for the most part, at bay, yielding just one corner and no shots on goal.
In the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon in Hershey, Witmer scored twice and the defending state champ Comets guaranteed themselves a return visit to the PIAA tournament with a 2-0 victory over Cumberland Valley (14-7).
The Comets dominated play with a 19-2 advantage in corners and a 13-1 margin in shots on goal, yet they scored during field play.
Penn Manor saw a new look defensively as CV's keeper came out high into the circle, along with two rushers. That proved effective and kept the Comets high-powered offense at bay, at least on corners. CV's keeper, Peyton Smith, collected seven saves and defender Lauren Mariano added four defensive saves in denying the Comet offense.
Witmer, however, would not be denied. She scored her first goal with 4:10 left in the first half and extended Manor's lead to 2-0 on a feed from Suter 7:39 into the second half.
Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Manheim Township the Comets take on nemesis Lower Dauphin, the team that knocked them into the district consolation bracket last season.
FOOTBALL
Sitting one game behind Wilson in the Section One standings, the Comets were looking for an upset on the road this past Friday night and a possible tie for the section title. And after a solid 20-10 first half advantage, that upset was looking very possible. But that was the first half.
Wilson regrouped at the break and ran off 32 of the first 44 plays in the second half to take control. They outscored the Comets 14-0 after the break and clinched the section championship as they improved to 6-0. This was Wilson's second straight section title and their 19th overall.
Despite a scoreless first quarter, Manor came out strong. The locals broke open the scoring in the second quarter when Austin Sahd picked off Zach Zweigzig and took it back 32-yards for the score.
Wilson looked to return the favor and pressed inside the red zone but Garrett Young's tackle of Johnny Morgan loosened his grip on the ball at the goal line, preventing the tying touchdown. The Bulldogs, instead, settled for a 25-yard field goal.
The Comets then put together an impressive 65-yard drive that ended with a five-yard scoring run by LeRonn Lee (61-yards on 5 carries and 80-yards on 5 catches) that extended the lead to 13-3.
This time the Bulldogs countered with a 93-yard kickoff return, their first of the year, and closed the gap to 13-10.
Manor capped their scoring with ten seconds left in the half. On third-and-goal from the nine, Demetrius Dixon battled for possession in the end zone and came up with PJ Rehm's nine-yard scoring strike that extended Manor's advantage to 20-10.
Wilson dominated the second half. After Sahd knocked down a fourth-down pass in the end zone, the Bulldogs maintained that momentum on their next possession, going 55-yards in nine plays and cutting the lead to 20-17.
Then, in the fourth, they put together a nine-play drive and took the lead with a seven yard scoring run.
"The Comets, who were held to 60 second half yards, regained possession at their own 23 with 1:58 left on the clock. That drive stalled on downs at the midfield with a minute left to play.
CROSS COUNTRY
The cross country teams wrapped up their season last Wednesday after competing in the District Three championships on a wet and muddy course that traversed its way through the old Parkview Golf Course in Hershey.
The girls' team, led by Marcy Herr, finished in 29th place (out of 40) and ran the second race of the day. Herr, a senior, wrapped up her scholastic career with a 58th place finish in 21:43. Cumberland Valley's Leigha Anderson was first overall in 19:35 and Warwick girls' won the team title.
"Marcy was disappointed with the results as she finished only 20 seconds from qualifying for the state meet, scheduled for this week," noted head coach Tom Ecker. "She ran a strong race for 2.5 miles but faded over the final half mile. While she didn't achieve her personal goal, we were proud of the effort and commitment she made going into the race. Parts of the course were under a few inches of water," Ecker noted. "That, along with many muddy areas, made the course more challenging than it already is."
Also placing for the Comets was sophomore Breanne Funk (109th, 22:40), seniors Becky Novak (199th, 24:07), Hannah Tucker (228th, 24:25) and Selma Brkic (260th, 24:47) and juniors Katie Maisel (273rd, 25:11) and Taylor Breidenbaugh (289th, 25:37). A total of 313 runners competed.
The boys' team ran the last race of the day and experienced the worst conditions on the course. Dallastown's Chuck Lockwood was the individual champ with a 16:36 and Conrad Weiser collected the team title.
Leading the way for the Comets, who finished 40th, was junior Peter Ashworth who ran an 18:58 and placed 129th overall. Freshman Travis Wells was Manor's second runner, grabbing 197th place in 19:35 and sophomore Harrison Manning (217th, 19:46) followed. Freshman teammate Jonathan Bitner finished fourth for the Comets with a 19:51 (228th place) and Faheem Gilani, a junior, rounded out the counters (245th, 20:00). Also competing was junior Mark Curtin (256th, 20:03) and sophomore Brad Funk (258th, 20:03). A total of 343 runners and 46 complete teams competed.
SOCCER
Last Monday the soccer team, with just two seniors, traveled to Carlisle to compete in a District Three Class AAA play-in game against the No. 10 seed Thundering Herd. And in a physical and hard-fought battled that yielded seven yellow cards and one red, the Comets, seeded 23rd, fell short 2-1 on penalty kicks.
After a scoreless first half, the hosts went in front 5:04 into the second half. Not to be out done, Manor knotted the score on a goal by Andrew Herr with 11:05 left in regulation. Not long after that goal, the Herd's Brennan Zizzi received a red card and subsequent ejection. Despite playing down a man, the Herd forced the overtime and eventually survived with a 7-6 advantage in penalty kicks.
The first two shooters for each team were denied but the next five shooters all found the back of the net. The seventh kicker for each team missed with the Herd's Devon Somma going over the top and Manor's Trevor Jones hitting the post. The Herd then broke through with a shot to the low corner and put the pressure on Herr, whose shot was stopped and set off a Carlisle celebration.
