Manheim Central started off slow. Exeter came out on fire. This resulted in a 36-0 halftime advantage for the Eagles, enroute to a 43-26 victory over the Barons on Nov. 12 at Elden Rettew Field in the District Three Class 5A quarterfinals.

The loss ends Manheim's season with a 9-2 record and a share of the Section Two title in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

Barons' coach Dave Hahn is not one to make excuses, and he certainly heaped credit Exeter's way, but two days after the loss, he was wrestling with some questions and what ifs in his mind. Did his team play the playoff game during the eight practices leading up to Exeter? Did his team peak too soon?

What if his squad held the Eagles, who scored on five of their first six possessions of the game, out of the endzone just before halftime?

"Nothing seemed to go our way at the beginning," Hahn said, "and then once we got our footing, I mean it was almost a little too late. That end of the half drive we needed to stop them so they wouldn't have gotten into that 'Mercy Rule' situation. If we could have kept them from scoring and then regrouped.... We came out in the second half a little bit better. They were a good team. They were ready to play. I thought we were ready to play. We just we just didn't do as well as we thought we could."

The slow start on offense, combined with not having an answer to stop Exeter on defense is not a good recipe. The Eagles (8-3) led 22-0 at the end of the first quarter. Exeter finished with 455 total yards to 265 for Central.

Just as Hahn had hoped, Manheim's coaches made adjustments at halftime and the Barons woke up, outscoring Exeter 26-7 in the second half, but it was too little too late after the electrifying start by the seventh-seeded Eagles. In the end, the running clock in the second half hurt the Barons' comeback bid.

Judd Novak tossed TD passes to Owen Sensenig, Aaron Enterline and Brady Harbach. Enterline hauled in another TD from sophomore QB Zac Hahn late in the fourth.

The No. 2 seed Barons appeared fully recovered from mid-season injuries and mental fatigue. Manheim's players started the season with laser focus, as they maneuvered through a challenging schedule, running the gauntlet of pressure packed games with wins against Cumberland Valley, Hempfield, Susquehanna Township, Perkiomen Valley and Wilson. It was their next game against Warwick, where the Barons mental and physical fatigue caught up with them for their only regular season blemish, the game Hahn wishes he could have back.

They slowly recovered, gaining wins against Solanco, Conestoga Valley and Elizabethtown and Cocalico. Hahn believes his team was completely recovered from the taxing beginning of the year by the time the Barons beat Cocalico to secure a share of the section title. He also believes the bye week at the start of districts helped his team heal, though he prefers to play each week, and Exeter was more ready to go after playing the previous week.

Though his numbers were down - just 48 players this season - Hahn said he had a good group of kids with contributions from every grade level. All his seniors played, more than half of Manheim's juniors contributed and eight or nine sophomores lettered as well.

"They got better and better as we went along," he said. "Yes, we got beat up and got tired, but we kept battling. We were coming off a 3-5 year and no one really expected much out of us at the beginning of the year. Everybody's saying, Cocalico and Warwick are winning the section and there we were at the end, we were right there. So, that says a lot about our kids and the determination and the strength and work ethic that they had. They battled all year long to put themselves in that situation."

Central loses 14 seniors, and Hahn said it is a special group. Two players in particular, stand out among the seniors in Novak and Sensenig. Both started at least two years, and both stared on both offense and defense.

"Judd is just a phenomenal kid," Hahn said. "He was a great quarterback for us, and he was one of the top defensive, secondary kids. Even though we didn't play him there all the time; we played him more at the end of year. But even better than that is his leadership. He's a leader to everybody. He's just a tremendous, likable kid. Every coach that I know he's been associated with, whether it is basketball, football or even baseball, every coach loved him, and I know why. I've followed him since the elementary program, and he did not disappoint."

Sensenig, who made All-State at wide receiver in 2020, shined in all three phases of the game.

"Owen is a just a tremendous, hardworking kid who had a phenomenal career for us," Hahn said. "This is a kid who studied his craft. He wanted to be the best receiver that he could be. He wanted to make plays on every play, and I would have to tell him, sometimes, 'you're getting a little crazy, you're trying to do too much on a play.' But that was just the type of kid he was, he just wanted to make plays for us. He wanted to make plays for the team and help us win. He was a tremendous contributor offensively, defensively, and special teams. He was a tremendous role model."

Hahn admitted that it will be difficult to replace those guys, but the cupboard is not empty. In fact, many younger players got experience this season and the Barons should return five starters on offense and defense, respectively. So, it is a reloading situation next year.

"I think the seniors that we lose they're going to be tough to replace, and when I say tough, they're going to be tough because they were great kids," Hahn said. "They had tremendous personalities, each of them individually and as a group. They were different and they had fun, but they worked hard. They got us back on the map. So, they hold a special place with me."

VOLLEYBALL

The District Three Class 3A All-Star team was announced and two Barons made the squad.

Maddie Knier made First-Team All-District, and Grace Stoltzfus made second team.