When Mike Melnyk took over at Manheim Township nine years ago, finishing with a .500 record was considered a remarkable accomplishment.

Clearly, Township's football program has come a long way since.

Friday night, the Blue Streaks sewed up the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 championship with a 45-7 drubbing of Penn Manor in Neffsville, becoming the first team at the school in 30 years to win the section title outright.

It says a lot about his program that Melnyk's players are far from satisfied with that accomplishment.

"To be the first team (since 1977) to win it outright feels great," said senior defensive tackle Roberto De La Rosa. "I'm proud that we accomplished one of the goals we've had since the start of two-a-days.

"But we have bigger goals in mind."

Such as?

"Go to Districts, get to the finals, win the district title and make a run in States," De La Rosa declared.

Township earned the No. 2 seed in the 16-team District 3 Quad-A bracket and will host No. 15 Red Lion next Friday in Neffsville at a time to be determined.

It is the first step in what Township hopes will be a long playoff journey.

At this point, who can doubt the Streaks? Few people outside the program expected them to win the section after the graduation of last year's senior class, which included current Pittsburgh University starting quarterback Pat Bostick.

Conventional wisdom said the Streaks were due to take a step back.

Instead, they took a step forward, accomplishing something last year's star-powered team could not.

Township ran the table in Section 1, annihilating its two closest foes —runner-up Warwick and third-place finisher Wilson — by a combined score of 64-7.

The only team to beat the Streaks this season was Section 2 co-champ Elizabethtown, which handed them a 20-10 loss back in Week 3.

A week later, they squeaked out a 9-7 win over arch-rival Hempfield, winning the game on a last-second field goal from kicker David Soldner.

No one has come close to them since. Township has won its last five games by an average margin of 33 points and has posted three shutouts.

None of it seems all that surprising to Melnyk.

"We've changed the mindset here at Township," he said. "Before it was more of a worry about whether we could get a winning season. Now the kids come in with loftier goals."

That's because Melnyk has spent the last nine years building a solid program from the ground up. These days, players come up through the ranks expecting to win.

It all turned around five years ago, when Melnyk — frustrated by his team's 10-30 record in his first four seasons — revamped his coaching staff, bringing in a group of assistants more in tune with what he wanted to accomplish.

Since then, Township has gone 38-14, winning a share of the section title in 2005 to go along with this year's crown.

"(The changes) brought some continuity to the staff, and I think at that point the kids bought into what we were trying to do," Melnyk said. "From there it was just a matter of building a foundation, one block at a time.

"So in a way this (section title) is for all the teams that have played and won for me before this. They all share in this, because they set the table."

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Friday night's victory over Penn Manor was the businesslike way Township approached it. The outcome never seemed to be in doubt, even if the Streaks were far from perfect.

Township was penalized eight times for a total of 70 yards, including two pass interference penalties and an unsportsmanlike conduct call. The Streaks also gave up two plays of more than 50 yards.

Still, the defense stepped up when it had to, forcing four Penn Manor turnovers — including a fumble at the Township 3-yard line and an interception at the 17.

The Streaks scored on seven of nine possessions. Dan Wertz provided most of the offensive highlights, carrying 20 times for 148 yards and four touchdowns. His fourth score — a 30-yard sprint on a draw play — put him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

Soldner's 27-yard field goal on Township's first possession gave him 14 for the season and set a state record.

Township led 24-0 at the half, and when it scored two touchdowns in a 31-w-minute span to open the second half — a 49-yard run by Dan Kauffman and a 2-yard dive by Wertz — the Mercy Rule kicked in.

The game was nothing more than an extended playoff tuneup for Township, which took care of business without breaking a sweat.

And now the Streaks can turn their attention to Districts, where they hope to erase the sting of last season's stunning first-round loss to McCaskey.

"We don't want to lose in the first round like last year," said senior Nick Sizemore. "I remember how awful I felt for our seniors, who left with nothing — no section title, no district title. It was terrible.

"Our goal is to get to the district championship — and win it."

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