It seemed fitting that Joe Gamble's final two carries of the game would earn Hempfield a much-needed win.

Gamble's 26th carry of game tied the contest with 27 seconds left while his 27th touch proved to be the game-winner.

The junior running back finished with 226 yards, and scored all four of the Black Knights' touchdowns, in a 28-21 overtime win over Penn Manor in the Section One opener for both teams Friday in Millersville.

"He worked for it. We run a one-back offense and that back is him," said Hempfield coach Ron Zeiber, who earned his first win as the Black Knights boss.

"He did a great job all night and I'm really proud of him. He ran behind good blocking and our defense came up when they needed too. It was a great, great finish."

"He's a good player," PM coach Todd Mealy said of Gamble. "We knew what was coming and we couldn't stop him."

Gamble's final two scores also acted as redemption.

With the score knotted at 14-14 in the fourth quarter, Hempfield (1-0 Section One, 1-3 overall) drove the ball to the PM 33 but Gamble fumbled and Adam Hess fell on the ball for the Comets (0-1, 2-2).

Seven plays later Adam Sahd (14 carries, 105 yards) raced in from 21 yards to give PM a 21-14 lead with 3:58 left in the game.

"I told (Gamble) that he owed me one after that fumble," Zeiber recalled with a laugh.

The Knights marched to the Manor 35, with 39 seconds left in the game, on the ensuing possession before Daulton Parmer intercepted Michael Murr on the 2 for what appeared to be a game-winning stop by the Comets.

Not quite.

On Penn Manor's first play from its 2, the center-quarterback exchange was botched and Hempfield recovered the ball.

"We never got the snap back," said Mealy. "We were going to kneel it."

Gamble tied the game on the next play with a two-yard plunge making it 21-21 with 34 seconds left.

Sahd led the Comets to the Hempfield 27, with a pair of throws to Daulton Parmer for 22 yards and one to Hess for seven, to give his team a shot at the win. Brian Sloss' 44-yard field goal attempt, with 2.3 seconds left, had the distance but missed slightly left to send the game into overtime.

Gamble, behind linemen JD Aument, Bryan Pyle, Joey Goodhart, Harry Shenberger and Matt Sollenberger, powered in from 10 yards on the Knights' first possession of overtime.

Penn Manor, on the other hand, went backwards on its overtime possession.

Sahd's eight-yard run on the first play was negated by a hold. After an incompletion, the snap skidded on the turf and Comets recovered but faced a third-and-goal from the 23. Dereje Woldemariam ended the game with an interception of Sahd.

"We deserved to lose the game. We didn't execute on offense and then we acted really immature throughout the game," Mealy said of his team's nine penalties, four of which were unsportsmanlike fouls. "There was attitude, where I don't know where it comes from, a million penalties that included holding and personal fouls."

The teams traded scores in the first half with Gamble sprinting 77 yards to paydirt in the first quarter before Sahd matched him with a nine-yard jaunt in the second quarter.

The win snaps a five-game skid for the Knights, dating back to Week Eight of 2010, and Zeiber hopes his team got the spark it needed.

"This is going to help a lot I hope. It's tough coming in and trying to change the culture in getting kids to believe," Zeiber said.

"When overtime hit, our kids lit up. I hope we can carry this spark for the rest of the season."

mblymier@lnpnews.com