The momentum of an historic District Three 4A first round win was not enough to propel Big Spring past Lampeter-Strasburg Friday, November 12. The hosting Pioneers rolled to their tenth straight victory with a crushing 62-13 quarterfinals victory. Ironically, the Bulldogs last trip to the district playoffs was in 2010 where they lost 41-13 to, you guessed it, the Pioneers.

"We were able to get many of our players into the game on Friday," said head coach Victor Reidnour. "Any time you can get those kids reps throughout the season it only helps."

The No. 10 seed Bulldogs upset No. 7 Conrad-Weiser for the program's first-ever district playoff win, in the first round while the No. 2 seed Pioneers were awarded a bye. While the game played out closely early on, L-S, making its 12th trip to the playoffs, would not be denied. Berkeley Wagner threw three touchdown passes, and tailbacks Giovanni Malatesta and Payton Cunningham combined for 157 yards and five scores as L-S broke open a 21-13 game with six unanswered touchdowns to advance to the semifinals.

Malatesta opened the scoring with a one-yard jaunt and scored twice in the second half with a seven-yard burst and a 30-yard sprint. Cunningham scored Lampeter's third TD of the night, a two-yard scamper in the second quarter and capped the halftime score at 34-13 with a three-yard run.

Wagner's first touchdown strike came in the first quarter when he found Beau Heyser with a 37-yard heave that pushed the lead to 14-6. Ian Bender snagged a 16-yarder in the second quarter and Drexton Frank, who led the defense with six solo tackles, hauled in a 30-yard toss in the middle of Lampeter's 21-point third quarter. Heyser finished with three catches for 113 yards and Wagner added 205 aerial yards, pushing his season total to just over 1,350.

Trent Wagner's six-yard run in the fourth quarter capped the scoring.

"I was impressed with our offensive line," Reidnour said. "They were able to sustain blocks that allowed us to have explosive plays in both the running and passing game. And in the second half, our three running backs (Carson Coleman, Julian Lopez, and Jonathan Mellinger) along with back up quarterback Trent Wagner, all played well."

L-S rushed for 316 yards and piled up 522 yards of total offense. Cunningham finished with 114 yards on nine carries, Wagner rushed for 97 yards and Malatesta added 43 yards.

The Bulldogs came in averaging 367 yards a game with running back Dylan Wakefield (21 TDs) leading the way. Wakefield, who was held to 98 yards, broke the school's single season rushing record with 1,395 yards.

"They had some explosive offensive players," noted Reidnour. "Our game plan was to try to minimize their production as much as possible. They were a pretty balanced team. But I thought our whole defense played extremely well. They are such a great unit this year and are playing great responsibility defense right now."

The Pioneers, with four shutouts this season, were the top defensive team in the L-L League at 183 yards.

Lampeter-Strasburg is currently ranked fifth in EasternPAFootball.com 4A states. Bishop McDevitt is the top ranked team.

VOLLEYBALL

The Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association recently announced its District Three 3A All-District Team and Lampeter-Strasburg's Emily Mullin was one of 30 players selected. The 5'9" junior, a setter and outside hitter, was voted as a Second Team selection. She joins Garden Spot's Lucy Stern and Manheim Central's Grace Stoltzfus with that second team status.