Wilson makes too many mistakes in loss to Manheim Central

Against a good football team, one mistake can make the difference between victory and defeat.

For Wilson Friday night, it was a slew of errors that prevented the Bulldogs from knocking off undefeated Manheim Central in a Lancaster-Lebanon League intersectional match-up between perennial championship contenders.

Wilson committed four turnovers and stopped itself with six penalties in a 24-21 loss to Manheim Central at Gurski Stadium.

“We  had stupid mistakes after stupid mistakes after stupid mistakes,” Wilson coach Doug Dahms said. “You’re not going to beat a good football team making those kinds of mistakes.”

The downward spiral began on Wilson’s opening possession of the second half.

Brad Hoffman had given the  Bulldogs (2-3) a 14-10 halftime lead with a 1-yard quarterback sneak in the final minute of the first half.

Wilson received the kickoff to start the second half and backed itself up with a false-start penalty and an illegal-block infraction, forcing the Bulldogs to punt from their 12.

It took Manheim Central (5-0) just two plays to take advantage of the short field when Judd Novak threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Owen Sensenig to put the Barons ahead at 17-14.

Wilson was unable to move the football for most of the second half as Hoffman was intercepted three times and lost a fumble on an errant option pitch.

“We’ve got to be able to throw the ball and we haven’t been able to do that consistently,” Dahms said.

The defense kept Wilson in it with interceptions by Cam Jones, Sean Dendall and Gannon Brubaker.

But Manheim Township capitalized on a Wilson turnover by scoring on a 3-yard pass from Novak to Rocco Daugherty on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 24-14 lead.

Just when it looked like Wilson was finished, Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to make it a three-point game again.

But Wilson was unable to get any offense going after that as the Barons hung on.

Jones wore the No. 4 jersey normally worn by his older brother, Jadyn. Jadyn Jones had to sit out his second straight game for a PIAA suspension after being ejected from a game in Week 3.

Hoffman finished just 5-of-17 for 44 yards. Gavin Lenart, who scored Wilson’s first TD on a 3-yard run, was limited to 38 yards on 13 carries taking over for Jadyn Jones.

Source: Berkshire mont