Harrisburg continued its winning tradition in the District 3 Class 6A playoffs as the fourth-seeded Cougars defeated second-seeded Wilson 42-14 at Reiffton on Saturday afternoon.
Penn State commit Messiah Mickens, a junior, had a strong game on both sides of the ball, scoring two rushing touchdowns, as well as three sacks and four tackles for losses on defense.
Playing for its fourth straight title, Harrisburg scored the first three touchdowns before taking a 21-6 lead at halftime.
Despite getting the ball first to start the second half, the Bulldogs (11-2) could not score on the first drive of the third quarter, and the Cougars (11-2) scored three touchdowns over the span of five minutes to put the game away.
“Despite this loss, I’m so proud of my guys,” Wilson sophomore Mike Glover said. “The seniors especially. We fought. This game got away from us and it’s not the outcome we wanted. But we’re gonna get back in the lab, the juniors and sophomores, and we’re gonna get back to work and come back stronger next year.”
With 8:12 left in the third, Jaiyon Lewis completed a 3-play 47-yard drive with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Elias Coke. Coke had a fingertip grab streaking over the middle after beating out the Bulldogs’ secondary
Then, with its back close to its own end zone trailing 28-6, Wilson went for a fake punt pass on fourth down from their own 10 that fell incomplete, resulting in a 10-yard touchdown run by D’Antae Sheffy moments later to make it 35-6 with 6:42 remaining in the third.
Mickens’ third sack of the day on fourth down of the Bulldogs’ ensuing drive gave Harrisburg the ball once again. This time, Lewis connected with Quincy Brannon on a pop pass near the line of scrimmage before Brannon took the pass 30 yards for the touchdown.
In the fourth, with 10:56 to go in the game, a 22-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Madyx Gruber to Glover, followed by a two-point conversion run by Monty Greer closed out the scoring.
Gruber finished the game 12-for-20 passing for 133 yards and two interceptions.
“Madyx, man, he’s my guy,” Glover said. “He’s got a really bright future ahead of him, whether it’s football or basketball. And his basketball season is coming up and I know he’s gonna do great things. He did great things on the field this year so I’m proud of him.”
In total, the Cougars outgained Wilson 306-155 with Harrisburg recording 180 rushing yards while the Bulldogs had just 26. The Cougars had four different rushers gain 30 or more rushing yards and Nehemiah Ewell had a team-high 52 rushing yards off his 52-yard touchdown run.
“We just dug ourselves some holes that we couldn’t get out of,” Wilson coach Doug Dahms said. “And give it to them they have athletes across the board.”
The Cougars posted the opening touchdown when Mickens scored a 7-yard touchdown run with 2:59 left in the opening quarter.
The play completed a 7-play, 45-yard drive. A bad snap on a Wilson punt from their own 49 on the drive prior gave Harrisburg solid field position.
After a second consecutive three-and-out for the Bulldogs, the Cougars took over and quickly advanced down the field before a 4-yard touchdown run by Mickens added to the lead on the first play of the second quarter.
Trailing 14-0 midway through the second quarter, the Bulldogs put together a strong drive that ended with a turnover. After starting at their own 34, Wilson advanced to first and goal from the 5. Two runs for no gain, followed by a 2-yard run made it fourth and goal from the 3.
Gruber dropped back and under heavy pressure rolled out to the right. With multiple lineman in his face Gruber attempted a pass to Glover in the back middle of the end zone that was intercepted by Trays Walker.
Following the interception, a 52-yard run by Nehemiah Ewell completed a 5-play 80-yard drive for Harrisburg, making it 21-0 with 4:22 left in the first half.
“We knew we had to play a really good game and get some breaks,” Dahms said. “We played well at times, but we couldn’t get any breaks.”
The Bulldogs put together another promising drive to close out the first half and put points on the board. A 13-play, 58-yard drive culminated with a 2-yard touchdown run by Gruber with 14 seconds left. The drive took just over four minutes off the clock.
Greer had a team-high 37 rushing yards on six carries and Cam Zullinger had a team-high 31 receiving yards on three catches. E.J. Brownback led the Bulldogs’ defense with 7.5 total tackles.
“I told the kids, ‘This hurts, but you can’t overlook what you did this year,’” Dahms said. “You beat a lot of teams that nobody expected. We just let this one get away. We didn’t play our A game, and you needed your A game for this.
“The seniors did a heck of a job. It was a great senior group. They did everything that was asked.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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