As the ball from Central Dauphin quarterback Brandon LaVia sailed through the air, an opportunity to play for a District 3-AAAA championship hung in the balance at the other end.
And for a split second at the end of LaVia’s fourth-down, 40-yard bomb with 1:20 to play Friday night, Harrisburg and Central Dauphin each looked like potential victors.
» View game photos from the Cougars' 27-21 win
At first it looked like Cougars defensive back Kyle Martin had the interception. The ball was in his hands for a split second.
Then as Martin and Central Dauphin wide receiver Jordan Bowman continued to battle, Bowman actually snatched the ball out of Martin’s hands and had it in his possession.
When the duo hit the ground, though, the ball and Bowman’s helmet went flying and the last-gasp incompletion allowed the Cougars to survive a second-half scare from the Rams to post a 27-21 victory at Speed Ebersole Stadium.
Harrisburg (11-2) will play for the District 3-AAAA for the first time since 2007 when the Cougars won it all. Harrisburg gets its second re-match in as many weeks after Wilson (12-1) edged Governor Mifflin 21-14 in the other semifinal.
“I honestly don’t have words to explain it. All I could think as the ball was in the air was please not again,” said Harrisburg coach Calvin Everett, whose Cougars led Central Dauphin 21-7 late during the regular season only to fall 24-21 in overtime.
“This was a heavyweight fight. I knew they weren’t going to go away. I knew they would come back punching. And they hammered us a few times. Luckily, we didn’t go to our knees and stay down. We got back up. I knew they were going to hit us.”
Harrisburg was the one doing all the punching in the first half, though.
The Cougars played power football behind an offensive line that was having its way the Rams up front and rolled to a 27-0 cushion at intermission.
All three running backs, Robert Martin, Dominique Shurns and Darian Davis-Ray, made significant contributions as Harrisburg rolled up 242 yards on the ground by halftime.
“Our linemen said they were hungry in the first half. So all we did was run behind them and we put up points on the board,” said Robert Martin, who had 97 of his 120 yards in the first half. “We knew they were not going to stop fighting. We worked too hard and did too many good things to let this slip away. But it was hard.”
It nearly slipped away, though, and this time it wasn’t Harrisburg miscues that opened the door.
Central Dauphin (10-3) ripped the door off the hinges and came crashing through with the authority of a defending champion that ready to let this magical ride end.
“There’s so much pride among our kids. There’s so much work put in during the offseason and that’s always right there at the surface. In those moments when our backs are against the wall, that’s where you see it. And you saw that tonight,” Central Dauphin coach Glen McNamee said. “It’s still difficult to see it end.”
Four plays in the second half was all it took for Central Dauphin to cut the Harrisburg halftime cushion in half.
Zayd Issah, who earlier in the game left with an injury but did what he’s done all season which is put a brace on and come back, took a throwback screen 45 yards for the Rams’ first score.
After the Cougars went three-and-out, Issah took a fullback draw 40 yards to house that made it 27-14 with still 21 minutes of football to play.
Central Dauphin continued to press the issue, but four scores down ultimately was one too many.
“The first half we came out with a lot of intensity after that last loss to them. We felt we owed them one because we felt we gave it to them the last time,” said Harrisburg LB Chris Britton, who set up a first-half touchdown with an interception. “They put up a fight, but we made sure we held on.
“Nobody expected this from us. It feels good. We’re going after that district title.”
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