With the regular season winding down, the Garden Spot football team took care of business with a dominant 66-21 defeat of Elizabethtown on the road Friday night October 21. The victory over their Section Three rival improved the Spartans' record to 4-1 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League (7-2 overall) with a regular-season finale scheduled against unbeaten Solanco.

After surviving a wild second quarter in which the two opponents scored three touchdowns each, the Spartans led 42-21 at the half. The Spartans' 21 points in the second stanza included a 67-yard interception return by Blake Weaver.

"We executed consistently on all fronts Friday night," Garden Spot head coach Matt Zamperini stated. "We played with confidence in ourselves and in each other."

Jadon Burkholder's 70-yard dash to the endzone opened the scoring. Kye Harting, who passed for 121 yards and two touchdowns, ran for 133 yards on 15 carries. Harting threw touchdown passes to Burkholder and Zac Nagle while also running for three TD's of his own.

Josh Rudy completed 18-of-36 pass attempts for 176 yards and one touchdown.

The Spartans defense had two interceptions, including Weaver's pick-six.

In Section Three scoring, the Spartans have the highest points total (339) and the fewest allowed (156) through the nine games.

"We have five sophomores starting on defense," Zamperini pointed out, referring to Cullen Witmer, Alex Horst, Maxwell Davis, Cole Humphreys and Trent Hoober

"While a few names stood out in the statistical categories, everyone on the field contributed - Diego Portales on special teams, for instance," added the coach. "It is incredible to take part in a game like this with a group of young men so committed to a singular mission."

VOLLEYBALL

The Garden Spot girls' volleyball team, ranked number 15 in the District Three Class 3A playoff seedings, visited second-ranked Twin Valley on Tuesday, October 25, for an opening-round district playoff match.

The Raiders (14-3) ended the Spartans' season at 8-9 by posting a 3-0 sweep. The Raiders won by scores of 25-13, 25-10 and 25-8 to advance to the district quarterfinals.

FIELD HOCKEY

The field hockey team suffered a tough 4-1 loss at Ephrata on Wednesday night, October 26. In the opening round of the District Three 2A playoffs, the Spartans came up short against L-L League opponent Ephrata, ending their strong 2022 campaign at 14-4. The Mountaineers (12-5-1) advanced to the quarterfinals.

Karis Minninger scored for the Spartans, capitalizing on an assist from Lauren Horning in the fourth quarter.

The Mounts kept the Spartans from mounting a comeback as Marie McCracken scored twice in the fourth. Alise Althouse also scored in the fourth quarter, which meant that the game went into the final stanza with Ephrata holding only a 1-0 lead.