If the West York football team is going to become the first YAIAA squad to win a Class AAA championship, the Bulldogs are going have to do it without their star player against the most successful program in District 3 history.

A few hours after senior running back Brandon Real received the official word he had suffered a broken collarbone and would be unable to play in Friday's 7 p.m. title contest at Hersheypark Stadium, No. 5 Manheim Central earned a 26-21 victory at undefeated top seed Mechanicsburg.

The Barons, who improved to 11-2 on the season with the victory, will be playing for their 16th district title since 1989.

Real suffered his injury on his first carry of the second half of Friday's 20-0 victory over Garden Spot. He finishes the season with 2,513 yards on 252 carries, rushing for 41 touchdowns and scoring 10 more on kickoff and punt returns. For his career, Real picked up 3,974 rushing yards on 413 carries and scored 74 touchdowns.

Coach Ron Miller spoke with Real on Saturday, a conversation Miller described as "depressing." Miller said Real was "so disappointed" he won't be able to play against Manheim Central, which beat West York, 57-13, in the first round of the 2006 district playoffs when Real was a sophomore.

"I just feel terrible for him," Miller said of Real, who picked up 180 yards and scored two touchdowns on 25 carries before leaving Friday's game. "To have it end like this for him is a shame because I would have loved for him --

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just for his own sake -- to have the opportunity to play on the big stage next week.

"I think he would have obviously performed at a high level as he always does and as he did last night. Even his last carry of his career for us was a 17-yard run."

The Bulldogs met briefly for a Saturday morning practice, and Miller said the mood remained optimistic despite the bad news concerning Real.

"As upset as they are that he won't be playing, they also know that we have enough talent on this football team to get the job done next week," Miller said. "We can't have that woe-is-me attitude going into it."

Third-seeded West York (12-1) has recorded two shutouts in the first three rounds of the playoffs and defeated its opponents by a combined score of 114-30. The Bulldogs won district titles in Class AA in 1988 and 1991, but have never reached this far in the playoffs in Class AAA.

Manheim Central won 13 titles in 14 years between 1992 and 2005, but failed to even reach the district title game during the last two seasons. This year, the Barons' only losses came to a Lancaster Catholic squad that won the District 3 Class AA title on Friday and an undefeated Wilson squad that will play in Saturday's district title game in Class AAAA.

"I talked to Coach (Mike) Williams earlier this week, and he mentioned the Manheim magic and they definitely had some of that going," said Miller, who was in attendance for the Barons' 26-21 victory on Saturday. "They returned a punt, then obviously they returned a kick to basically win the game and made a great play on fourth-and-two, and their linebacker (Travis) Ebersole made a great interception. They're good, it's Manheim Central. It's a machine."

In Miller's first meeting with the Bulldogs before his inaugural season in 2006 he said he wanted West York to become a program like Manheim Central. They all experienced the Barons' strength firsthand in that 2006 playoff loss, which remains the most lopsided defeat of Miller's tenure. The coach said his group this year full believes they belong on the same field as their district title game opponent.

"They really took it to us and a lot of those sophomores that played in that game that year -- and we had a bunch -- are now my seniors, and they'll tell you they were intimidated," Miller said. "I don't think there will be that Manheim intimidation factor. We're excited to play them."

smclernon@ydr.com; 771-2045