BY JEFF FALK

ANNVILLE – What comes around, goes around.

You’ve got to take the good with the bad.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

On a sticky Friday night at Annville-Cleona High School, the home-side Little Dutchmen took out seven years of frustration on Northern Lebanon, with a 62-13 thumping of the visiting Vikings. With a seemingly long memory motivating it, Annville-Cleona jumped out to a 34-0 lead in the middle of the second quarter to bring the mercy-rule into effect during the second half.

The result snapped the Little Dutchmen’s seven-game losing skein to the Vikings, during which Northern Lebanon had enjoyed a noticeable advantage in the physicality department. The triumph lifted Annville-Cleona to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in Section Three of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.

On the other side of the coin, the loss was the Vikings’ fourth straight to open the campaign. Northern Lebanon, which has worn three of the last four Section Three football crowns, has now been outscored in those losses by an average margin of 37 points.

“We didn’t say ‘Northern Lebanon’ one time this week,” said Annville-Cleona head coach Matt Gingrich. “We just prepared. I thought this group did a great job of looking past the past. We try to win the right way. We try to teach the right way. But I think a couple of them (his players) had a little extra push to get this done.

“I worry about playing Northern Lebanon,” continued Gingrich. “Our kids have a mental block about them. They’ve had dudes. They’ve had amazing teams. We had two games where I thought we played really well, but they just had kids.”

“We lost nine starters,” said Northern Lebanon head coach Roy Wall. “I have no idea what they’re (the Little Dutchmen) doing. Nor do I care. I only know what we’re doing. We’re trying to get better.

“I’m worried about today,” Wall continued. “The past is the past. These kids had no hand in it.”

Imposing its will on the Vikings up-front, Annville-Cleona unleashed a bruising running game and scored touchdowns on each of its nine possessions on the night. Six different Annville-Cleona players found their way into the end zone.

The Little Dutchmen established a 21-0 bulge in the first 7:17 of the game. Annville-Cleona’s quick start was sparked by two short TD runs from Josh Speraw, a punt block by Logan Wagner and Trevor Porsche’s 44-yard touchdown ramble.

Porsche finished his evening with 23 totes and 214 rushing yards.

“We have in the past and we haven’t won,” said Gingrich of playing the ‘revenge’ card. “It can only backfire so many times. It helped how it started.

“What I thoroughly enjoy more than anything else is the team work with the triple option,” added Gingrich. “I’ve had a couple of games where we didn’t throw the ball. If you don’t have to pass, you’re scoring a lot of points. But that would be a dream of mine.”

“It was a lot of both,” said Wall. “They played well and we didn’t play well. They took it to us. That’s to their credit. They came ready to play. They beat us 62-13, so they’re pretty good.

“We know that offense. I’ve coached that offense,” Wall added. “But we were not physically able to stop it. Our kids didn’t stick to their assignments.”

Annville-Cleona punched in two more touchdowns in a 4:19 span early in the second stanza, courtesy of a 25-yard touchdown hook-up between quarterback Junior Bours and Tyler Long, and Evan Heilman’s five-yard rushing touchdown. Northern Lebanon got on the board in the form of quarterback Ethan Borcky’s 75-yard touchdown toss to Eyan Margut, but the Little Dutchmen responded seven seconds before the break, with Heilman’s eight-yard scoring catch of a Bours’ aerial.

“I hope they’re feeling good about themselves,” said Gingrich of his charges. “But we have to play up to Donegal’s and (Lancaster) Catholic’s standard. If we want to play to that level, then we better start playing. We’re happy where we’re at, but we’ve got a lot to do.”

“This is a group of kids who haven’t had a whole lot of success,” said Wall. “We’re trying to teach them to compete. We’ve got to get better in all three phases of the game. We’re trying to teach them to compete.”

With two more touchdown runs, from Porsche and Bours, Annville-Cleona’s lead reached 55-7 in t he third quarter. Porsche’s came from 45 yards out, while Bours’ was from short range.

Annville-Cleona limited the Vikings to 194 total yards and just 39 on the ground. The Little Dutchmen rang up 395 rushing yards and 434 total yards.

“The kids are living up to expectations, but there’s a lot of opportunity for growth,” said Gingrich. “Our defense hasn’t played well. We have the kids. We have everything we need. We need to focus on the moment, and we’re not there yet. This is not the ceiling. They (his players) really have a high ceiling, but we’ll see if they get there.”

“We have nine new starters,” said Wall. “We have kids who haven’t played. We’re literally starting from scratch. Up until this week we’ve seen progress. But we sort of took a step back.”

 

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Northern Lebanon Football Schedule

  2018 Annville-Cleona Football Schedule