Penn Manor Rally's For a Strong 2nd Half

Friday night the team honored Jamal McCaskell a 2016 graduate who passed away this past year from complications from Lupus.  The family was honored during the coin toss.  Friday night was also Military Appreciation Night.  Time was spent honoring special quest on the sideline who severed our great country in one of the military branches. 

After falling to a pair of Lancaster-Lebanon League Section One teams the first two weeks of the season, Dallastown scored 23 first-half points and held off Penn Manor's late rally for a 23-20 nonleague win over the Comets on Friday night in Millersville.

Trailing 23-6 at halftime, Penn Manor (1-2) cut Dallastown's lead to 3 midway through the fourth quarter. Max Jessberger sacked Gabe Hall for a 12-yard loss on fourth-and-7 from Penn Manor's 39. On the next play, Comets' quarterback Luke Braas hit Josh Gibson for a 49-yard touchdown with 1:22 left in the third quarter.

Penn Manor forced the Wildcats (1-2) into a three-and-out on their next drive and took over at Dallastown's 37. Fourteen plays later, and after the Comets benefited from a pass interference call on an incomplete fourth-down attempt, Brass hit Kyle Murr for a 6-yard touchdown.

But the rally ended quickly on the Comets' next possession, as they ran three plays for negative 10 yards and punted the ball away with 3:18 left in the game.

Turning point: Trailing 7-6, Penn Manor had a 68-yard touchdown pass called back by a penalty. After that drive stalled, Dallastown took advantage of a short field and covered 41 yards on five plays, capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by Vinnie Jones (18 carries for 128 yards; both game highs). The Wildcats extended the lead to 16 by halftime on a 32-yard field goal by Mitchel Groh and a 12-yard touchdown reception by Connor Schumann.

Star of the game: Colt Barley had three sacks and kept Wildcats' quarterback Gabe Hall under pressure as the Comets' defense shut out Dallastown after halftime.

Key statistic: Penn Manor had just 147 yards of total offense but scored two of its three touchdowns on the first play from scrimmage on those drives. In addition to Braas' 49-yard toss to Gibson in the third quarter, Isaiah Stoltzfus tallied a 12-yard touchdown after Murr had a 24-yard punt return to Dallastown's 12.

Up next: Penn Manor kicks off its Section One slate with a visit to Manheim Township.