Little Dutchmen hang on for first win of season

ANNVILLE - In high school sports, anything can happen. Such was the case Friday night when the Annville-Cleona Little Dutchmen hosted the Biglerville Canners.

The Little Dutchmen got on the board on the first possession of the game and seemed to be poised to go wire-to-wire, but late in the fourth quarter, the Canners swung the momentum and the lead to their favor on a 64-yard run by Reggie Adams with 1:07 left, less than a minute after teammate Miles Hughes ran in from the 30.

But that was the only lead for the night for Biglerville (0-1), because just 21 seconds later, the home crowd erupted once again when Noah Myers hit Griffin Hertz on a 35-yard fade for a touchdown with 46 seconds left and completed a 35-32 victory.

The scoring play was set up by a penalty on Biglerville on the kickoff that gave the Dutchmen (1-1) the ball at Biglerville’s 35. On first down, Myers attempted to hit Hertz, who had beaten his coverage, but the ball sailed just out of bounds. The Little Dutchmen dialed up the play again, and this time, the two connected for the game-winning score.

Annville-Cleona coach Matt Gingrich said, “I was just hoping Myers would keep it on the field. He didn’t the first time, but I knew if he keeps it on the field, we’re going to score.”

Scoring wasn’t a problem for either team on the night as Biglerville’s Adams managed to break through the line for four long touchdown runs. He finished with 15 carries for 303 yards, but Annville-Cleona had its own success with long touchdown scores, including a pair from Caleb Turner, who carried the ball 19 times for 166 yards.

After Turner’s second, a 51-yard run to open the fourth quarter for a 28-18 lead, Annville-Cleona’s Dominic MacMillan picked off a pass from Gabe May on the first play of Biglerville’s next possession.

“Every turnover we get, we think that we’ve got the game, and every turnover we give, we just think it’s an example of adversity that coach tells us we have to face in order to win,” MacMillan said.

Annville-Cleona then faced some adversity in the form of a pair of costly penalties and its drive stalled on the Biglerville 3. The Canners then mounted back-to-back scores from Hughes and Adams that gave the visitors the lead until the late-game heroics of Myers and Hertz.

“We’re a young team,” said Gingrich. “We have six or seven sophomores playing now that next year will be ready to go. We’re really happy with how they are getting better.”

Annville-Cleona will travel to Camp Hill next week; Biglerville (0-1) hosts Big Spring.

Annville-Cleona 35, Biglerville 32

Biglerville _6 _0 _ 12_ 14_ — _ 32

Annville-Cleona _ 6 _ 15 _ 0_ 14_ — _35

First Quarter

AC — 6:05, Cameron Hoch 12-yard pass from Noah Myers (kick failed)

B — 3:07, Reggie Adams 35-yard run (kick failed)

AC — 10:19, Hoch 7-yard run (Dylan Bomgardner run)

AC — 2:41, Caleb Turner 45-yard run (Anthony Frattarole kick)

Third Quarter

B —  3:15, Adams 55-yard run (kick failed)

B — 0:00, Adams 50-yard run (kick blocked)

Fourth Quarter

AC —  10:44, Turner 51- yard run (Frattarole kick)

B — 2:03, Miles Hughes 30-yard run (Hughes kick)

B — 1:07, Adams 64-yard run (Hughes kick)

AC — 0:46, Griffin Hertz 35-yard pass from Myers (Frattarole kick)

Team Statistics

_ Bigl_A-C 

First downs _ 14 _15

Rushes-yards _ 44-470 _57-330

Passing _ 2--8-2  _ 4-9-1

Passing yards _ 24_65

Total yards _494 _395

Punts _ 0-0_1-31

Fumbles-lost _ 2-2 _ 4-1

Penalties-yards 7-61 __ 7-50

Individual Statistics

Rushing —   Biglerville:  Hughes (9-72), I. Manzo (6-25), Adams (15-303), Getz (6-46), Weaver (4-13), May (3-8), Showers (1-3). Annville-Cleona: Turner (19-166), Myers (15-36), Chappel (1-3), Bomgardner (11-55), Hoch (7-56), Hertz (3-17), MacMillan (1--3).

Passing — Biglerville - D. Manzo 1-3-1-6; May 1-5-1-9. Annville-Cleona: Myers 4-9-1-65

Receiving — Biglerville - Stough (2-24). Annville-Cleona - Hoch (2-25), Hertz (2-40).