It's always a challenge to play the same team twice in one season. That challenge becomes even bigger when it comes down to the 'win or go home' portion of the schedule. Solanco faced that exact scenario Friday, November 18 when they hosted No. 12 seed Cocalico in the District Three Class 5A championship.

The Mules, longtime rivals of the Eagles when they were in Section Two, defeated Cocalico 21-7 in a non-league game on September 2. But that was 11 weeks ago. The Eagles were in attendance when the Mules survived Shippensburg in the district quarterfinals.

"It is difficult to play a team twice," said head coach Tony Cox. "It was a battle the first time. It was a chess match this time."

And this time around, it was Cocalico with the upper hand. The Eagles ended the top seeded Mules' historic run with a 32-8 victory, and their hope for a first-ever district final appearance.

The Eagles held a slim 7-0 lead at the half after a Josh Myer three-yard touchdown run.

Sam Steffey, however, was the deal-breaker in the second half. The junior rushed for a total of 251 yards on 31 carries, scoring a hat trick of touchdowns, including two in the third quarter. His rushing total is 1,728 to date.

Steffey opened the second half scoring with a 12-yard carry and added a 45-yard touchdown run later in the frame. Solanco (11-1) blocked the extra point kick and denied the Eagles on the two-point conversion.

Holding a 19-0 lead to start the fourth quarter, the Eagles made it 25-0 before the Mules, who captured the school's first-ever undefeated regular season, finally got on the board. Elijah Cunningham snagged a 35-yard strike from Brody Mellinger and Josiah Forren, who finished with 60 all-purpose yards, converted the two-point run with 4:46 left in the game, but it wasn't enough. The Eagles, winning its sixth straight game and improving to 10-4 overall, capped the scoring on Steffey's six-yard run. Forren and Nick Defrancesco highlighted the defensive efforts with 13 tackles each.

Despite the season ending loss, both Forren (1,008) and Cole Harris (1,001) capped their careers with over 1,000 rushing yards on the season.

After the game, with the team huddled together, Cox said, "Don't hand your heads. You had a phenomenal season. No one expected us to get this far."

And then Solanco's 22 seniors took their final walk across the field and handed the reins over to the underclassmen. "Now we get back to work," said Cox.