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HERSHEY -- No Brandon Real? No problem.
Despite playing without its injured offensive sparkplug, third-seeded West York won the District 3 Class AAA football championship in impressive fashion tonight, beating fifth-seeded Manheim Central, 15-7, at Hersheypark Stadium.
The victory pushes West York into the PIAA semifinals next Friday or Saturday at a site and time to be announced against Thomas Jefferson (13-1). The defending state champion Jaguars beat Erie Strong Vincent, 35-21, tonight.
Trailing 7-0 early, the Bulldogs (13-1) held the Barons (11-3) off the scoreboard the rest of the way for their first district football crown since winning Class AA titles under coach Terry Bupp in 1988 and 1991.
Manheim Central opened the scoring on a 64-yard pass from Justin Gorman to Dan Trafford just 18 seconds into the contest. Taylor Groff's extra point made it 7-0.
West York answered with a 10-play drive, featuring 38 yards rushing from Corey Harris. Quarterback Alex George plunged in from a yard out, but Drew Shaffer's conversion kick was blocked, and the Bulldogs trailed, 7-6.
A long pass from George to Blaine Fissel covering 64 yards put West York ahead for good with 10 seconds left in the first quarter. Shaffer's extra point was good, and the Bulldogs held a 13-7 lead.
The score remained the same deep into the third quarter before West York turned the ball over as it prepared to score. Manheim Central recovered deep in
The Bulldog defense scored the game's final points on a safety. West York's pass rush duo of Nick Clingan and Jordan Rinehart forced Barons QB Justin Gorman to step out of his own end zone with 1:02 left in the third, and the Bulldogs held a 15-7 margin, which held up through the final 12 minutes of play.
