Emptying the notebook: William Penn-Wilson

First, a bit of a humorous note to pass along.

One of the more memorable -- albeit ultimately meaningless -- plays during Friday night's District 3 quad-A playoff opener between William Penn and Wilson came on the opening kickoff, when the Bearcats sprung a successful onside kick on second-seeded and heavily favored Wilson.

Ethan Fair's dribbler was perfectly executed, and gave William Penn a shot of momentum that lasted for about a half. The Bearcats trailed by a touchdown at halftime before eventually falling, 31-7.

William Penn coach Tim Hibbs said he and his staff detected a flaw watching tape of Wilson, and decided Sunday to gamble with the onside kick.

"We were going to do it the first time we kicked off," Hibbs said.

But if you listen to Wilson coach Doug Dahms, the Bulldogs weren't caught off guard at all.

"We told them 'They're going to onside kick' before the game," Dahms said. "Because they feel they have to take that chance. And what do they do? They onside kick."

Which makes you wonder how in the world the kick still worked.

Doby shines

Most of William Penn's offense came courtesy of junior running back Steffonte Doby. He accounted for more than two-thirds of the Bearcats' production, rushing for 95 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

Few could have expected such production from Doby -- he came into the game with 252 rushing yards on the season.

But with tailback Maurice Williams out with a leg injury suffered last week against Central York, Doby had to step in.

"What was effective for them was No. 30 (Doby) was running like a madman," Dahms said. "He's a tough runner. ... He's a stud. He was just breaking tackles. We weren't finishing our tackles."

Doby was also on the spot on defense and special teams. He recovered a fumble on defense to set up his own touchdown run, and then recovered a mishandled squib kick on the ensuing kickoff.

Eaton on the move

Senior Roger Eaton took on an unusual -- and extremely difficult -- task when he agreed in Week 9 to move from center to quarterback in place of the injured Kelvin Parker.

On Friday, he endured the even more difficult task of playing both positions.

Eaton took snaps at quarterback (he finished 3-of-18 passing), but also moved back to center when William Penn shifted into a Wildcat formation with receiver Jordan Zackery taking snaps.

In reality, that Wildcat -- with Zackery and Doby serving as running options -- proved to be William Penn's most effective formation.

"We saw that on tape," Hibbs said. "Manheim Township had give them some problems with that, so we tinkered with that a little bit. ... I think we came out and at least gave them something to think about with that."

Wilson waiting

The second-seeded Bulldogs will host another YAIAA team at John Gurski Stadium next week.

Wilson will face the winner of tonight's clash between No. 10 Dallastown and No. 7 Central York.

Looking back

Hibbs on his team's roller-coaster season (the Bearcats started 6-0, and finished 6-5):

"We look back on it. Bill Parcells says you what your record is, and we're probably a 6-5 team.

"I don't think we're a 6-0 team and I don't think we're an 0-5 team. You are what your record is, and we're a slightly above average team."