It was fitting that the milestone came on a cold November night with the wind whipping through Rettew Stadium.
Media Center
Related Topics
Related Stories
Ever since Mike Williams took over as football coach at Manheim Central, this has been the Barons' time of year.
They added another chapter to their storied history, the 300th win of Williams' career, when they knocked off Conrad Weiser, 42-7, in the District Three Class AAA semifinals Friday night.
"I realize that many things went into the 300 victories," said Williams, whose record is 300-59-3. "We have a great coaching staff, great kids to coach, great community support. I'm proud I could coach 29 years and get 300 wins. Not too many people can do that in this day and age."
Top-seeded Central (13-0) advanced to face No. 2 Susquehanna Township, which squeaked past West York, 7-6, in the other semifinal. The Barons will try to claim their 16th district championship at Hersheypark Stadium Friday at 7 p.m.
Although Central used its big-play offense to cruise past Conrad Weiser with relative ease, there were two key turning points in the first half that helped turn this into a rout.
After Conrad Weiser went on a bruising, 10-play, 80-yard drive to tie the score at 7 in the first quarter, the Barons answered on their first play from scrimmage on their ensuing drive.
Halfback Tyler Griffith ripped through Weiser's defense for a 49-yard score as Central regained the lead.
Later in the second quarter, Dakota Royer made a spectacular diving catch for a 19-yard touchdown on a third-and-goal play to stretch Central's advantage to 21-7.
That was a huge boost for the Barons, who nearly stalled on the drive because of a penalty.
"It wasn't the Xs and Os call," Williams said. "It was the catch. That ball thrown to a lesser player could have hit the ground and been incomplete, but he went and he dug it out. That was a great play."
Conrad Weiser had a chance to respond before intermission, but Jarryd Heisey intercepted quarterback Zachary Guiles in the end zone to end the drive and take the steam out of Weiser's hopes.
The Scouts never scored again.
"Our defense was out there a lot tonight," said Conrad Weiser coach Alan Moyer, whose team ended its season at 10-3. "We tried to control the ball. The conditions were tough on both sides of the ball with the wind, so when we fell behind a little bit, it was tough to throw."
Central's defense bent but didn't break. Although the Barons allowed 302 yards, including 184 in the first half, they limited the big plays and blanked the Scouts over the final three quarters.
Conrad Weiser, which entered this game coming off nail-biter wins over Lampeter-Strasburg and Hershey in the first two rounds of the Class AAA playoffs, ran out of magic in Manheim.
Quarterback Justin Gorman completed 7 of 9 passes for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead Central. Royer had five receptions for 92 yards and a pair of scores. Griffith had 73 yards rushing and two TDs.
Central held a post-game ceremony to honor Williams. Players from each team during his 29-year tenure returned to Manheim to celebrate. They held up cards with the number of wins from each season to show how all the years added up to 300.
Williams was touched by the tribute.
"The elation is not so much No. 300," he said. "The elation is seeing all these kids back. The elation is that we're going back to Hershey to play for a district championship."
PA man Joe Wells announced each of the win totals for the past three decades to a cheer from the crowd. When he got to 2009, he mentioned the 13 victories before adding two important words.
So far.
This year's Barons hope they have a few more wins still ahead of them.
(2619)
