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THE GAME: District 3 champ Manheim Central Barons (15-0 overall; Lancaster-Lebanon League Section outright champs) vs. District 4 champ Selinsgrove Seals (15-0 overall; Heartland Conference Division 1 champs), PIAA Triple-A state championship game.
WHERE: Hersheypark Stadium.
WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.
LIVE BLOG: I will be blogging live from this game at LancSports.com. So if you can't make it to Hershey Friday night, please come and find me online for updates, analysis and your questions and comments.
ON THE TUBE: The game will be broadcast live by PCN-TV. The game will also replay on Dec. 18 (9:30 p.m.), Dec. 20 (5 p.m.), Dec. 21 (6 p.m.), Dec. 25 (6 p.m.) and Jan. 1 (3 p.m.).
ON THE RADIO: The game will be broadcast live by WPDC-AM 1600.
NOTABLE: Third state-championship game appearance for Manheim Central, which won the Triple-A crown in 2003 (Pine-Richland) and lost in the Triple-A title game in 2004 (Thomas Jefferson). … First state-championship game appearance for the Seals, who are No. 1 in Triple-A in the latest Harrisburg Patriot-News state rankings. Manheim Central is No. 2. … Manheim Central and Selinsgrove will play a home-and-home non-league series starting next year in Week 3, so two of the Barons' next four games will be against the Seals. … Manheim Central leads the all-time series 2-0. The Barons and the Seals met in Eastern semifinal games in 2000 and 2001, and Manheim Central won both: 51-35 in 2000 and 36-0 in 2001. The Barons went on to lose to Strath Haven in the Eastern final the very next week in both instances. The third meeting between the Barons and Seals will be for state gold. … Selinsgrove has played three other L-L League teams over the years: Columbia (2-0), Donegal (1-1) and Lebanon (2-0).
THE COACHES: Manheim Central is coached by
Mike Williams (29th season; 303-59-3 overall). … Selinsgrove is coached by
Dave Hess (2nd season; 28-2 overall).
KEY STATS: Manheim Central's key stat is 383.1 — the Barons' 'Spread Gun' offense is cranking out 383.1 yards per game. … Selinsgrove's key stat is 89 — the Seals have given up 89 points (5.9 per game) all season.
MANHEIM CENTRAL STAT PACK: Leading rusher — RB
Joe Gruber (232 carries for 1,510 yards, 6.5 avg., 22 TD); Leading passer — QB
Justin Gorman (143-of-246 for 2,161 yards, 19 TD, 10 picks); Leading receiver — RB
Dan Trafford (35 catches for 563 yards, 16.1 avg., 5 TD).
SELINSGROVE STAT PACK: Leading rusher — RB
Kyle Reinard (145 carries for 1,236 yards, 8.5 avg., 14 TD); Leading passer — QB
Cory Briggs (142-of-257 for 2,055 yards, 30 TD, 8 picks); Leading receiver — WR
Ryan Keiser (57 catches for 1,089 yards, 19.1 avg., 16 TD).
ABOUT MANHEIM CENTRAL: Barons have outscored their opponents 609-167 (plus-442), which is an average score of 40.6 to 11.1. … 254 first downs. … 34 punts for 43.3 average per boot; did not punt in the West Allegheny game. … 86 penalties for 768 yards. … 25 giveaways and 34 takeaways for a plus-9 in turnover ratio. … Offense has produced 3,459 rushing yards and 2,287 yards, and defense is second stingiest in the L-L League with 1,874 rushing yards against and 1,348 passing yards against (214.8 yard per game against total). …
Justin Gorman is the first QB in Manheim Central history to pass for 2,000 yards (2,161) and rush for 1,000 yards (1,113) in a single season. He's rushed for 20 TD and averages 6.7 yards per keeper. … K
Taylor Groff is 12-for-13 on field goals and 62-for-66 on extra points. … DB
Casey Ebersole has a team-best six interceptions, including one against West Allegheny in the state semifinals. … Barons have 31 sacks and 21 picks. … LB
Lowen Johnson has team-best 181 tackle points, including 59 solo stops, three fumble recoveries and 6 ½ sacks. … LB
Brett Barber is second with 159 tackle points and 44 solo stops. … S
Dan Trafford has 124 tackle points, 43 solo stops and two picks. He's also blocked two field goals. … DE
John Fair, who hobbled off in the first half against West Allegheny and did not return, has 123 tackle points and 4 ½ sacks. He was on crutches in the second half and
Williams said
Fair (knee) will not play vs. Selinsgrove.
Shaun Buller will get the start at DE. … LB
Joe Gruber has 118 tackle points, 33 solo stops and 5 ½ sacks. … LB
Dakota Royer, who made a game-icing 73-yard TD catch against West Allegheny, has 108 tackle points, 42 solo stops, three fumble recoveries and a team-best eight sacks. He's also caught 29 passes for 608 yards (21.0 per grab) and seven TD. … DE
Eric Drake has a team-high 73 assisted tackles. …
Ebersole is second with 30 receptions (12.3 per catch), and he caught his first TD pass this season in the state semifinals against West Allegheny — a 49-yard catch-and-run on a well-thrown deep slant. … 16-time District 3 champs making third state-championship appearance in the last seven years. … Six shutout victories this season, including four in a row from Week 7-10.
ABOUT SELINSGROVE: Seals have outscored their opponents by a whopping 670-89 (plus-581), which is an average score of 44.6 to 5.9, and they've given up 7 points in the third quarter — all season. … 281 first downs. … 99 penalties for 867 yards. … Plus-8 in turnover ratio with 24 giveaways and 32 takeaways, including 18 interceptions on D. … Offense averages 379.4 yards per game (3,358 rushing yards and 2,333 passing yards total), and unrelenting 3-5 stack defense has allowed just 1,052 rushing yards and 872 passing yards total (128.3 yards per game). "They scare the heck out of us with the 3-5 stack defense,"
Williams said. … Seals have won six District 4 championships in a row and 11 overall. … QB
Briggs will play football for Harvard next year. …
Hess is the reigning Associated Press Triple-A Coach of the Year; Seals have only lost just twice under his watch. … Selinsgrove's last loss: To Archbishop Wood in last year's state semifinals. …
Keiser, the top receiver and an All-State pick at safety last season, is a preferred walk-on recruit to Penn State. "The most impressive player on both sides of the ball, to me, is
Kreiser,"
Williams said. … The 670 points this season are a school record; Selinsgrove's lowest output in a game this season was 28 in last week's 28-0 win over Archbishop Wood. … Top defenders are LB
Seth Lauver, DT
Spencer Myers (a Second-Team All-State pick last season) and safety
Kreiser (a First-Team All-State pick last season). … Six victories via shutout this season, and Seals have allowed just 20 points in the postseason.
QUOTABLE: Selinsgrove coach
Dave Hess — "Prepping for Manheim Central is a nightmare. They have a very diverse offense and they'll line up in any number of formations. They have athletes all over the place and they have a big offensive line. This is the scariest team we've seen all season - by far. It's just amazing how much size and how many athletes they have all over the field. … (Manheim Central QB Justin Gorman) I don't know if we've ever seen a kid do the kinds of things he does. The way he runs the spread is amazing. He's a smart runner; when he pulls the ball out and goes, he's scary. In my mind, he's the best quarterback we'll see this season."
Sports writer Jeffrey Reinhart can be reached at
jreinhart@LNPnews.com or 291-8777.
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