Pioneers stop Comets, 15-9

It's one thing to ask a defense to make one fourth down stand.

 It's quite another to have that unit do it four times.

That's was the job Lampeter-Strasburg's defense was tasked with in the second half of its nonleague game against Penn Manor Saturday night in Lampeter.

The Pioneers D was up to task, stopping the Comets four times — two in the red zone — to secure a hard fought 15-9 win.

"I couldn't be prouder of the defense," L-S coach John Manion said. "Proud of how well our linebackers and defensive backs tackled and the pressure on line put on Penn Manor tonight."

The Pioneers (2-0) first defensive stand came early in the third quarter after the Comets (1-1) began the half with an onside kick and marched to the L-S 16 with the Pioneers clinging to a 12-7 lead.

On fourth-and-1, linebacker Jason Lindsley shot through the A-gap to stop Brandon Stone for a 4-yard loss. The Comets thought they scored five plays earlier when Adam Hess took a lateral from quarterback Adam Sahd and fired a pass to a streaking Sahd down the left sideline for 35-yard score. The play was negated by a hold.

"That definitely swung the momentum," Penn Manor coach Todd Mealy said. "They then took the ball down the field, took time off the clock, and got three points."

On the ensuing possession, L-S took seven off the clock and settled for a Matthew Wright 25-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in the third and a 15-7 lead.

Penn Manor responded when Stone took the kickoff 59 yards to the L-S 26. Eight plays later, though, Sahd's fourth-and-goal pass to end zone was incomplete. The Comets did get a spark when L-S running back Matt McCrudden was tackled in the end zone after recovering a Nate Shank fumble giving PM two points and cutting the deficit to 15-9 with 8:11 left in the game.

Penn Manor couldn't capitalize and was forced to punt on its next possession. After holding L-S to a three-and-out, the Comets were stopped again on fourth-and-goal at the 26 on an incompletion.

The Comets had one last crack at scoring with under a minute left in the game and facing a fourth-and-15 on their 38. Sahd fired a pass down the right sideline that fell incomplete. There appeared to be contact with an L-S defender and the receiver and Penn Manor's sideline erupted after no call was made.

"I won't comment on the officials," Mealy said. "But I will stand by for someone to tell me where to the send the film to. But, despite any of that, L-S was the better team tonight."

L-S struck early on its first play of the game when Shank kept it on an option and raced 37 yards down the left sideline. The PAT was wide and the Pioneers took a 6-0 lead.

"In retrospect that play was very important," Manion said with a grin. "It was a play that we thought we could get something on coming into the game."

The Comets took their only lead in the second quarter when Brandon Stone rushed in from 10 yards out. The score capped off a 10-play, 35-yard drive, that spanned 3:40. Brian Sloss' kick gave Penn Manor a 7-6 lead with 7:31 left in the first half.

"This was a game of momentum," Mealy said. "They had it at times and we had it time. That's what high school football is about."

Things got ugly for L-S on the ensuing drive. The Pioneers started on their own 24 and moved to the 48, in three plays, before a conduct penalty drove them back to the 33. Facing first-and-25, Shank appeared to get his team out of trouble to pass to Ray Lopez at the Comet 35, but a holding penalty negated the play and eventually stalled the drive.

"Most of those penalties were because we weren't working as hard as Penn Manor," Manion said. "We were playing tired mentally in the second quarter. We lost our focus."

L-S refocused at the right time as the first half came to an end.

Shank took over on the Pioneers' final possession of the half. The senior signal caller accounted for 68, of the 70 yards, by rushing for 19 yards and throwing for 49, and Groff ended the drive with a 3-yard run. The two-point run failed giving L-S a 12-6 lead at halftime.

"Nate's a great leader," Manion said. "He makes great decisions whether it's running or passing."