Call it fortitude; call it character; call it growth - the Garden Spot football team demonstrated any or all on Friday night, October 22.

Having had their modest two-game winning streak - a span in which they outscored opponents 92-0 - the previous Friday, the Spartans won their second Lancaster-Lebanon League game of the season.

Quarterback Kyle Harting paced the offense as the Spartans defeated Lancaster Catholic 45-27 on the road in a Section Three contest. The sophomore signal caller ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more.

The win improved the Spartans' league record to 2-1 (3-5 overall) while the Crusaders fell to 1-2, 4-5.

Harting capped Garden Spot's first two scoring drives with his rushing touchdowns. He scored from three yards out and from 10 yards out - both in the first quarter. Walker Martin's extra-point kicks made it 14-0 Garden Spot before Catholic responded on a Will Cranford touchdown pass to Tony Cruz, cutting the lead to 14-7.

Always dependable, Walker Martin not only nailed each of his six extra point attempts, but he also split the upright on a 25-yard field goal with the three-pointer coming during a 17-0 run. In the second stanza, Martin's field goal was sandwiched between Zecheriah Nagle's three-yard rushing TD and Harting's 11-yard scoring pass to Blake Weaver. Garden Spot led 31-14 at the half.

Tristin Sadowski's 27-yard touchdown catch from Harting in the second half briefly gave Garden Spot a 24-point lead. Briefly in that LC's Mason McClair ran back the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a Crusader score.

Following a Tyler Gillenwater's 15-yard rushing touchdown for the Spartans, McClair capped the scoring with a 30-yard TD reception from Will Cranford - one of two scoring passes for the Lancaster Catholic quarterback. McClair had four receptions out of Cramford's seven completions, amassing 102 yards.

FIELD HOCKEY

Garden Spot played host in the opening round of the District Three Class-AA field hockey playoffs, welcoming Donegal. The Section Two champ Spartans (13-5) came in as the number seven seed in the district brackets. Donegal came in as the 10th seed.

The match stayed scoreless into overtime with the Spartans denying the opposition any shots on goal.

"They definitely made us work hard between the 25's," Garden Spot head coach Katy Eby said, giving credit to Donegal despite the no-shots statistic. "Bryna Kelly didn't have to make any saves.

"We had quite a few opportunities with shots that were either wide or their goalkeeper saved," continued the coach.

Garden Spot (14-5) prevailed with a 1-0 overtime victory. Lauren Horning's goal with 3:11 left in the extra period advanced the Spartans to the quarterfinals at Twin Valley.

"Erin Gonzalez had two shots in a row," Eby explained. "One of them came off the keeper right to Lauren Horning."

Twin Valley, the number two seed in district rankings. Improved to 19-2 with its victory over Berks Catholic in the opening round. The format of the District Three Class AA playoffs includes three consolation matches.

"There are eight teams left," Eby noted, following the Donegal match. "And seven of us move on [to state playoffs]. So, the girls are very excited."