Page 6—SUSQUEHANNA TIMES
September 27, 1978
‘“‘We can’t peak too
soon. It’s like a rocket that
goes up—when the fuel
runs out, you've got to go
down.
‘““We have the potential
to be the best team in the
county, but we’ve got to
keep working on it. We
could as easily have lost
the game [to Manheim
Central, last Friday] as won
it. We've got to get ready
for every game.’”’—Indian
offensive tackle Floyd
Runkle
With a lot of help from
Lady Luck, the Donegal
Indians football team ex-
tended this year’s winning
streak to 4-0 last Friday,
edging previously unde-
feated section 2 contender
Manheim Central 14-12.
Central won on the
ground, with 168 rushing
yards to Donegal’s 72.
They also won in the air,
with 122 yards to the
Indians’ 74. Donegal, how-
ever, won the game both
mentally and on the score-
board, during the space of
about five furious minutes
right after halftime.
Jeff Keener saves the day for DHS. He’s the slightly blurred figure descending on the unfortunate Baron punter.
Keener slapped the punt into the end zone where Scott Jones grabbed it for a touchdown.
Indians eke out 14-12 win over Manheim Central to extend win record
The first two periods of
the game were painful to
watch. Donegal played very
weak defense, and almost
no offense. By halftime,
they were losing 0-12.
How did the Indians,
who, when they are playing
their usual game, are
clearly the county’s best
team, get themselves into
this jam? ‘‘“We weren’t
right mentally,” said
Runkle. “We were just out
of sync.”
It was the fourth game of
the season, and the Indians
seem to be jinxed on game
number four. Last year, a
usually inferior Solafco
team beat the Indians in
game four, which cost
Donegal the official cham-
pionship. (The Indians will
get a chance to avenge that
game next Friday, at
Solanco).
Pete Splain was sick. He
had missed half a day of
school. His running game
was not up to par, which
did not help.
~ At halftime, the coaches
talked calmly and quietly to
the team, pointing out their
Jubilant Indians celebrate their narrow victory.
mistakes. ‘‘We sat there
and thought about what we
had to do,”’ Runkle recalls,
“‘because we didn’t want to
lose it. The line fired off a
lot faster in the second
half. We were psyched up
to do it, because we knew
we had to do it.”
When the team marched
back onto the field, they
looked different. The ath-
letes were grimly deter-
mined.
Donegal kicked off, and
the coaches began leaping
around as energetically as
the cheerleaders.
Coach Funk’s only advice
to the team, as they man om
the field was, ‘‘Get fired
up. All you've got to do is
get fired up.”’
That seemed to be the
only advice the Indians
needed.
On the third play of the
second half, Frank
Brommer grabbed a fumble
for the Indians on Man-
heim’s 26 yard line. Four
plays later, Brian Ney
passed 21 yards to Scott
Adams for Donegal’s first
touchdown.
Splain (whose feet
seemed as healthy as ever)
kicked the PAT, then
booted the kickoff into
Manheim’s end zone. The
Barons, still trying to
figure out some halftime
changes in Donegal’s de-
fensive alignment, went
nowhere, and were forced
to punt.
Led by Jeff Keener, the
Indian punt return team
smashed through the Man-
heim line. Jeff swatted the
punt attempt into the end
zone, where Scott Jones
scooped it up for another
touchdown. Splain kicked
the PAT, and Donegal, two
timeclock minutes into the
half, suddenly led 14-12.
After they got the lead,
the Indians failed to take
complete control of the
game, and both sides
rocked back and forth,
unable to score, for the rest
of the game. There were
plenty of potentially costly
mistakes on both sides.
Central's weak kicking
game ultimately lost the
day for the Barons. Not
only were they unable to
convert extra points after
their touchdowns but, with
12 seconds on the clock,
they managed to com-
pletely bumble a field goal
attempt from the 14 yard
line. The snap was bad,
and Donegal blocked it.
The dramatic ending left
Donegal fans in a euphoric
mood, but the DHS coaches
had trouble smiling, after
the initial thrill of victory
had worn off.
Central may well be the
best team in section 2 this
year, but they are not as
good as they looked in the
first half last Friday.
Donegal’s game had been
way off.
“This was the worst
. : d bea
Cheerleaders Deana Germer [left], Nancy Boulton [center] and Dalene Hummel
game we've played since
Solanco beat us last year,”
said coach Deshler.
Donegal’s 27-0 rout of a
top-notch Lebanon Catholic
team proved that the
Indians have the potential
to overwhelm any team in
the county—but last Fri-
day’s game proved that, on
an off night, they are far
from invincible.
On the other hand, the
team has also proved that
it can cope with severe
pressure, and can come
from behind to win—some-
thing they were not very
good at last year.
Splain gained 54 yards
on 10 carries, Mummau
gained 31 yards on 10
carries, Jones rushed 18
yard in 6 tries, and
Meszaros was dropped in
his backfield for an 8 yard
loss in his lone attempt to
run the ball.
Ney threw 17 times,
completed only S, and was
intercepted for the first
time this year. His re-
ceivers were Splain (3
catches for 43 yards),
Adams (one 23-yard touch-
down pass), Mummau (one
7 yarder) and Jones (one 3
yarder). Ney was sacked
twice, losing 18 yards in
the process.
If the Indians get their
revenge against Solanco
next week (and they
should, unless the jinx
reappears), it will be the
first time since 1963 that
[right] watch the_ref raise his hands after Keener’s big play.
Donegal has won more
than five games in a row in
one season. (The Indians’
two-year winning streak
now extends to 7 games—
which means that a defeat
for the Golden Mules will
tie the old ’'62-’63 season
record).
Solanco has been a very
erratic team this year. They
have tended to beat their
best opponents, and to lose
to theoretically poor teams.
Since Donegal is, in the
minds of many, the best
team in the county right
now, the Mules will pro-
bably be in top form.
The Indians will have to
stop Solanco’s huge (6’-3"",
215 1b.) fullback, Jay
Gicker, who has been
steamrolling defenders ever
since the Mules moved him
back from tackle position
and started handing him
the ball. ‘““They’ll be up for
us,”’ says coach Deshler,
Maytown
Fire Co.
From the period August
Ist to August 31st, The
Maytown Fire Company
responded to eight emer-
gency calls, two structure
fires in Marietta, one
dumpster fire at River-
moor, two car wrecks, on
plane crash, one recall to
plane crash, one search
party. There were also
three training sessions,
seven public service calls
and one false alarm.
Property damage for
East Donegal Township
was $1,000. for the month
of August 1978.
Births
Mr. and Mrs. James
Weaver (Laura Obetz),
Harvest View Apartments,
Mount Joy, a daughter, at
General Hospital.
Mr. and Mrs. John Kruel
(Donna Crossland), Mariet-
ta R1, a son, at St. Joseph
Hospital.
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Book
(Tammy Neese), 129 The
Meadows, Mount Joy R2, a
daughter, at St. Joseph
Hospital.