District 3 playoffs: Mustangs end decade-long postseason drought

It's been more than 10 years since South Western got to celebrate a district playoff victory. But the Mustangs put an emphatic stop to that streak Friday.

South Western (8-3) cemented its first District 3 win since 2011 with a 21-3 victory against No. 10 Greencastle-Antrim in the first round of the Class 5A tournament.

The No. 7-seeded Mustangs move on to the quarterfinals. They will face No. 2 Cedar Cliff at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10 at West Shore Stadium.

Here's how Friday's playoff games went down:

District 3 playoffs

Class 5A

First round

No. 7 South Western 21, No. 10 Greencastle-Antrim 3: The phrase "act like you've been there before" didn't apply to the South Western Mustangs on Friday night.

South Western delivered a victory over Greencastle-Antrim at the Corral behind 230 rushing yards from Austin Rollman, and then, the party was on.

After the school's first playoff win since the Don Seidenstricker era, an excited bunch of Mustangs celebrated the end of the 11-year drought down on the field in front of the student section before singing the alma mater as the band played.

The Mustangs' reward? A 40-mile drive next Friday to match up with the District's No. 2 seed in Class 5A, the Cedar Cliff Colts.

South Western punched its ticket on the back of a stout defensive effort that plugged running lanes, and even destroyed a Greencastle attempt at a fleaflicker.

After forcing a third-and-out on the opening possession of the game, the Mustangs went to work with running back Rollman at the wheel.

The junior running back scored all three South Western touchdowns while being the only Mustang back to have a carry until late in the fourth quarter.

No. 6 Conestoga Valley 40, No. 11 Dover 9: The Buckskins earned their first playoff victory since 2009. Jayden Johnson took the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and Conestoga Valley never looked back. Johnson scored three touchdowns in the game, and the Buckskins led 34-0 in the third quarter before Dover got on the board when Aric Campbell threw a 52-yard touchdown to Noah Wentz.

Class 4A

First round

No. 8 Milton Hershey 29, No. 9 Eastern York 23: Bud Kyle tried to find the words, but he couldn’t.

The Eastern York head coach needed to compose himself while looking at his players following Friday’s season-ending loss. After all, this was the group that turned the Golden Knights from a perennial bottom feeder to a winning program for the first time in nine years.

Eventually, Kyle just turned the floor to the seniors. It’s a small group – just six players. But each of them addressed their teammates to say how much this season meant to them.

The underlying message: This will end. So enjoy it while it lasts.

“We built a great bond with these guys,” Kyle said afterward. “We did a lot outside of football. We talked about what’s going on in their life at home. They understand we’re more than just coaches to them. We have their back.”

A year after going 2-8, Eastern York finished 7-4 and with its first playoff berth since 2014. It hoped to win the program’s first playoff game but couldn’t overcome a 22-point halftime deficit or a back-breaking kick return touchdown against Milton Hershey on the road Friday.

Still, the Knights made it a game until the final moments. Down 12 points with three minutes to go and stuck deep in their own end, Knights sophomore quarterback Quinn Bramble started a drive and then connected Draven Becknauld for a 40-yard completion down the sideline. He tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Johnathan Rose with 12 seconds left.

Milton Hershey recovered the ensuing onside kick to clinch the win.

“That just shows the resilience of our kids,” Kyle said. “Most kids would have packed it up. But they didn’t in the second half.”

The Golden Knights showed plenty of resilience on defense in the first quarter with a pair of fourth-down stops deep in their own territory. But turnovers and field position soon defined the first half.

Eastern York lost three fumbles in the first two quarters – including one by senior fullback Levi Ayala at the Milton Hershey 19-yard line. Conversely, Milton Hershey ran just four plays in its own end and eventually took advantage of those good starting positions.

Spartans quarterback Jason Burney threw three touchdowns in the first half. A short pass to Parris Blackston on fourth-and-five turned into a 32-yard catch-and-run touchdown. He then connected with Blackston again on a 25-yard fade in the corner of the end zone and hit Mohamed Koroma for a 20-yard score over the middle.

Things began to flip in the second half.

Eastern inserted Mimi Valenti at quarterback, and the mobile freshman immediately gave the Knights some juice. He shook off numerous defenders for an 11-yard touchdown run on third-and-10.

A bad snap on a punt gave Eastern York good field position early in the fourth quarter, and the Knights capitalized when Ayala plunged into the end zone to make it a one-score game.

A 30-yard field goal by Landon Heiland cut Eastern York’s deficit to five points with 6:36 to play.

But Milton Hershey immediately seized back the momentum when Angel Roberts took a kick back 78 yards for a score the next play.

“We were trying to get it away from him but he was moving around, and we kicked it to where he was at,” Kyle said. “He made a play. We have to live with that. It was one play.”

Mimi Valenti rushed for 57 yards on seven carries and passed for 25 yards. Bramble went 6-of-9 for 70 yards. Nushi Valenti rushed for 49 yards on 21 carries and Ayala rushed for 54 yards on 13 carries.

Eastern York will bring back most of its starters next season. Kyle said he hopes those players will remember the pain and emotion they felt Friday.

He doesn’t think it will be another nine years until the program’s next winning season.

“This is going to hurt for a while, but I hope this will be the motivation when they don’t feel like coming to offseason workouts,” he said. “I think this is the start of something good. I expect to be in the same position and hopefully the other side of the coin next year.”

Class 3A

Quarterfinals

No. 3 West Perry 42, No. 6 Bermudian Springs 21: John Livelsberger knows his team had chances against the Mustangs. But four interceptions, including two in the red zone, dashed any plans the Eagles had of working its air game.

“We knew we’d have some air ability, we knew we’d be able to throw on them a little bit,” Livelsberger said. “Running the ball, we got off to a shaky start, which we were a little worried about at first. But then we got it going once we opened them up and spread them out a bit.”

Tyson Carpenter helped the running game with short passes that kept the Mustangs’ defense honest. He hit Jack Gautsch for a 14-yard score in the first quarter and Nayel Lua on a short toss in the fourth quarter.

But the Mustangs also scored on a Carpenter throw. Jensen Hockenberry-Folk grabbed the ball out of the air and cruised 88 yards for a pick-6 that increased the Mustangs’ lead to 28-13.

“Other than the mistakes in the red zone, I feel like we really executed as well as we could,” Livelsberger said. “I was proud of how our guys bounced back after last week. They showed a lot of fight this week.”

Littlestown edged Bermudian last week to forge a three-way tie for the Division III championship with Delone Catholic.

“Hats off to West Perry,” Livelsberger said. “They got some big, big kids, but I really appreciated the way our seniors and our guys played tonight.”

Berm’s special teams made some huge plays that kept the Eagles in the game. A fumbled punt return by the Mustangs led to a 30-yard touchdown by Tyler Staub that put Berm on the scoreboard first.

An onside kick recovery after Lua’s touchdown gave the Eagles the ball late in the game, but another turnover gave it right back to the Mustangs.

“Leo [Hernandez-Gutierrez], unfortunately is a senior,” Livelsberger said. “He’s been a lot of fun over the last couple years. He was a soccer kid that has been on the football team with us and his onside kick is pretty dangerous.”

No. 4 Schuylkill Valley 45, No. 5 Littlestown 21: The Bolts were still in the game after a wild first quarter ended with them trailing 21-13. Dylan Herr provided both of Littlestown's early touchdowns. But Schuylkill Valley's Dominic Giuffre couldn't be stopped. He scored three early touchdowns — with one going for 86 yards and another for 54. Herr tied the game at 21-21 midway through the second quarter but it was all Panthers after that. Schuylkill Valley led by 10 at halftime and an interception early in the third quarter seemed to put Littlestown away.

Class 2A

Semifinals

No. 2 Trinity 28, No. 3 Delone Catholic 3: The Squires' season ends with a 6-5 record and a share of the YAIAA Division III title with Bermudian and Littlestown. Despite losing to Trinity by 37 points on opening night, the Squires trailed just 14-3 at halftime. But Trinity opened the third quarter with a 17-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that took more than 10 minutes off the clock and seemingly put the game away. Trinity star running back Messiah Mickens rushed for 172 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.

Correspondent George Marinos contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: PIAA District 3 football scores: South Western ends playoff drought