The District Three 4A semifinal game in Manheim Friday, November 18 pitted the Section Two runner-up and No. 2 seed Manheim Central against Lampeter-Strasburg, the No. 3 seed and Section Four runner-up. A close game was expected as both teams gave up fewer than 170 points on the year and had explosive offenses, recording three shutouts apiece. But when the final horn sounded, it was the Barons putting an end to the Pioneers' season with an impressive 42-6 result. It was the fourth time L-S was denied a trip to the 4A title game.

Central, improving to 11-1, set the tone early, scoring on the opening drive of the game with a Zac Hahn 43-yard strike to Aaron Enterline. They made it 14-0 at the half when Brycen Armold, who rushed for 239-yards, scored the first of his three touchdowns.

"We missed a few opportunities early in the game that could have changed the momentum for us," said head coach Victor Ridenour. "Hats off to them, they played a great game. We struggled coming off our double team to the linebacker which is a key component of our zone blocking. You just can't allow linebackers to run free and we did that often. That makes any ground game difficult to get moving."

Armold notched his second touchdown, a three-yard scamper late in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 21-0. The Pioneers finally responded when Trent Wagner found Dean Herr with a 26-yard scoring strike to close the gap. That, however, was as close as L-S (9-3) would get as the Barons went on to find the endzone three more times in the fourth quarter. Armold went over the 2,000 rushing yard plateau with a 19-yard run while Jaden Weit scored on runs of three and four yards, respectively, over the final minutes.

"We gave them short fields in that final quarter," said Ridenour. "We were trying to stay in the game. We weren't going to give up, but we didn't convert, and they took advantage of short fields."

Wagner finished with 192-passing yards on 15-of-26 attempts but the Pioneers, sacked four times, were held to a slim 39 yards rushing. Carson Coleman was Lampeter's top rusher with 68 yards on 14 carries. Dean Herr led with eight receptions (138 yards) while Hunter Hildenbrand, Drexton Frank, and Coleman snagged two receptions each. Defensively, it was Jack Groff with 10 tackles and Ian Bender with another eight that led the way. Jackson Heeter chipped in with six and nine assists.

Last year the Pioneers advanced to the finals before dropping a 7-0 final against this year's top seed, Bishop McDevitt. They were the No. 2 seed. Manheim Central was the second seed in the 5A bracket and suffered a 43-26 second round loss to Exeter Township, the eventual 5A champ.

"Each year is truly its own season," said Ridenour. "When you are trying to maintain a certain level of expectation, you rely on the kids as much as yourself to keep the momentum going. We had a solid senior class this year," he continued. "There weren't many of them, but they were all key contributors. We were a tight team. We had a good locker room, and we were an unselfish group. If no one really cares who is getting all the credit or who is getting all the stats, you can achieve great things. That has been a positive here at L-S for a very long time.

"I really enjoyed watching our senior leadership develop over the season," the coach went on. "It was awesome watching a few kids embrace that roll and making it their team. I am proud of the effort and commitment all of these kids and our staff puts into this program."

Making a loss at the end of the season just a disappointment, not the end of the world, and a start to a new chapter.