The storied Barons football team came home with its first state championship.

The town went nuts.

"We've lived here 20 years, and I' m happy -- but it's almost relief, because we've been so close. We've been through this so many times before,'' said Brian Weidle, who heads the football team's booster club.

"To have it now, it's just like, wow!'' he said. "This is a unique town. It's very supportive. They've waited a long time for this.'' The Barons defeated the Pine-Richland Rams, 39-38, in a double-overtime thriller played in the middle of a snowstorm at Hersheypark Stadium.

"It was emotional roller coaster -- it was back and forth between two equal teams,'' said Jere Swarr, whose son Tyler is a wide receiver and defensive back.

"It was just unbelievable. I was freezing in the third period, but in the fourth quarter the cold just went away.

"It was that exciting,'' Swarr said.

The Barons won only after Shawn Wilt blocked a Rams point-after attempt that would have tied the game and sent the match into triple-overtime. It will go down as one of the greatest plays in Barons football history.

"It was almost like slow motion,'' said Mike Clair, the team's statistician, who was on the Barons sideline.

"People were jumping up and down and moving, but they really didn't know that they were jumping about for a while.

"It was hard for it to sink in,'' Clair said.

Barons fans knew immediately what happened.

"When that kick was blocked -- pandemonium does not describe what was going on,'' said Kirk Radanovic, a Manheim Central school board member who was in the stands.

"It was the single most incredible sports feeling I've ever had,'' he said. "People went nuts. People just went crazy. People were just jumping.

"You were on the edge the entire game, the entire overtime,'' Radanovic said. "Every play could have been the last play. Then the final play was the last play, and we won -- you can't describe that feeling, especially with the history, being in the hunt eight times before.'' Freezing wind? Wet feet? Snowflakes like silver dollars? Hey, Barons fans were too caught up in the game's ups and downs to care.

"It was like watching the game through a snow globe,'' said Carol Saylor, Manheim Central School District superintendent. "And actually during those two overtimes, I don't think anyone was cold. No one thought about it.'' Only when the breathtaking game was over and Baron fans returned to their cars did they realize just how cold they really were, she said.

"Most everyone was dressed appropriately, although there were a few fans without shirts,'' said Saylor. "More power to them.'' The Barons' undefeated season -- and their big win Friday night -- have certainly invigorated the town. Today, for example, Saylor's home phone was being answered: "State championship house.'' Thousands of Manheim Central fans braved the treacherous, snow-covered roads to attend the game.

"There was no way, no way, we would miss the game,'' said Tom Zern, 48, a lifelong Manheim resident whose voice was raspy today.

"How many times do you go to a state championship and win a state championship?'' Zern, who took his wife Kim and daughter Carlyn to the game, marveled at the Barons and reminisced a bit.

"I thought back when I played for the Barons in the 1960s and 1970s, " he said. "We were co-champions for the league, but we weren't as good as they are now.

"Just seeing them play when it was so cold out there, the snow and wind conditions. I was thinking, "How do they do it?' They played great.'' The Barons' title is something the town will savor for a long, long time.

"It is a win for the community,'' said Swarr. "I don't think the kids will realize how lucky they are until they're older.''

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