The Hempfield girls' volleyball team took home the District Three Class 4A championship trophy for a third consecutive year. The Black Knights (18-0) defeated Cumberland Valley 3-0 on Saturday evening at Dallastown with seniors Nyah Smiley, Joslene Morgan and Camille De La Torre helping to lead their team to a 25-17 comeback win in the opening set.

The Knights topped the Eagles (15-2) by a close 25-20 margin in the second set and completed the sweep, holding off the pesky Eagles 25-19 in the third and final set.

De La Torre finished with five kills, and two aces as Hempfield won its 14th overall district trophy. Allison Cummings racked up 15 digs. Sophomore setter Melody Butzer dished out 22 assists and registered kills

Hempfield took its district title to the PIAA 4A state playoffs where the Knights hosted District One third-place finisher Unionville on Tuesday, November 9.

The Hempfield side promptly defeated U-ville 3-0, handing the Longhorns only their third defeat all year while the Black Knights improved to 19-0, earning a ticket to the state quarterfinals.

Having done away with the District One third-place team, the Knights' quarterfinals round opponent would be WPIAL runner up Shaler.

Playing on its home court, Hempfield topped Unionville 25-19, 25-20 and 25-21.

Morgan registered 11 kills while De La Torre served up four aces to lead the team. Butzer led the team in assists with 36 while Cummings again topped her teammates in digs (10) and Sarah Hess notched four blocks.

BOYS' SOCCER

The season came to an end for the boys' soccer team on Tuesday, November 9 in the opening round of the PIAA Class 4A state playoffs. The Black Knights, who entered the states as the number four seed from District Three, traveled to Western Pennsylvania to face Seneca Valley.

The District Seven champion Raiders remained unbeaten (15-0-1) with a 3-0 triumph over the Knights (12-7-1) with Joey Coon scoring a hat trick.

As their season concluded, the Hempfield squad found a number of its members named as L-L League all-stars. Seniors Luke Kramer, Andrew Potter and Gunnar Swanger were named as first teamers in Section One.

Second team all-stars included junior Ben Ammon along with seniors Nate Leisure and Nate Swartz.

Meanwhile, Caden Bonner was one of six players from Section One selected as an Academic all-star.

CROSS COUNTRY

The PIAA cross country championships took place at Parkview in Hershey on Saturday, November 6.

The District Three champ Hempfield team took to the course where the district's individual champ Aidan Hodge pulled off a gallant effort, finishing 20th in a time of 16:32.90

Junior Joe Fahrney finished at 17:41.40 and freshman Sam Meyer registered a time of 17:4.10.

Junior Isaiah Hollinger crossed the line at 17:52.70 - less than 10 seconds ahead of Dale Winand (17:59.90)

Emerson Long (18:08.90) and sophomore Sam Freedman (18:33.50) rounded out the Hempfield team.

The boys' finished tenth in a field of 22 teams.

FOOTBALL

One of the things that the Hempfield football team's coaching staff were trying to limit or entirely avoid on Friday night, November 5, was the big play. That is, allowing Central Dauphin's potent offense from running away with the District Three Class 6A playoff game by pulling off big plays.

Not only did the defense do its job, but the Black Knights offense was also in fact able to put the game out of reach with big scoring plays that led to a 35-2 victory at Central Dauphin.

"In the first half, Grant Hoover broke off for a long touchdown run to make it 14-2," head coach George Eager noted. "We had just given up a safety and it was 7-2. That could have still gone either way."

Hoover broke free for a 55-yard touchdown run. Cannon Biscoe's second PAT kick of the game made it 14-2 in the second quarter. It remained that way until another big play - Andy Garcia's 60-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Cameron Harbaugh in the third stanza.

"It was a huge play on a third down," Eager said. "It was a long pass from Cam Harbaugh to Andy Garcia."

Harbaugh finished with 202 passing yards on 12 completions. Adam Acker caught six of those passes for 84 yards. Garcia's only reception of the night was the 60-yard scoring play.

"Adam Acker was able to make some clutch catches," Eager noted. "He plays everywhere - defense, offense, special teams. He never comes off the field."

The 21-2 lead was still not comfortable enough. The Knights (7-4), who entered the district playoffs as the number six seed, scored on a defensive touchdown with Aidan Shorter picking off a pass deep in the Rams' territory and returning it 14 yards for a 28-2 lead.

"Aiden Shorter's pick six was big for us," Eager added. "With the way our defense was playing that night, it made it impossible for them to come back. It deflated them."

Grant Hoover's three-yard rushing touchdown capped the scoring.

On the ground, Stephen Katch, who scored the game's first touchdown, ran for 60 yards on nine carries. Hoover had 51 rushing yards on eight attempts.

"We knew they were explosive offensively," Eager said. "They are pretty athletic and big up front. We knew their quarterback and running backs were going to run a lot.

"We tried to plug up the holes up front and to account for that they would try and take deep shots. Our defensive secondary was watching film all week, so they knew what to expect. These guys were fully focused. It showed in their preparation."

The defensive secondary did its job while up front the likes of Deyvid Palepale provided the pressure.

"Deyvid Palepale was getting heat on their quarterback, forcing him to make quick decisions," said Eager.