Hempfield Prevails Over Rival Greater Latrobe to Win the Lincoln Trophy

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Phil Myers | October 24, 2026

Quarterback Carden Lippmann led his Hempfield Spartans to a convincing 35-14 win over the Greater Latrobe Wildcats at Memorial Stadium in downtown Latrobe at Legion Keener Park Friday night.  Hempfield takes back the rivalry Abraham Lincoln Trophy which is a wooden carving of the bust of our 16th President, named after the Lincoln Highway (Route 30) that connects Latrobe and Greensburg where Hempfield High School is located.  “Pretty cool to win that,” a very happy Carden Lippmann stated.  Lippmann finished with 253 yards passing and 2 touchdowns, plus he ran for 87 yards and another score.

Player of the Game, Hempfield’s Carden Lippmann with the Lincoln Trophy.

It was the home team that actually drew first blood though.  Latrobe’s defense, which played well against the run most of the night, stopped a fake punt by Hempfield on a 4th and two at midfield.  From there the Wildcats managed a first down but then QB Dom Scarton was sacked for a 7-yard loss bringing up a 2nd and 17 situation.  Dante Durigon found a seam up the middle on the next play and raced 45 yards to the end zone, giving Greater Latrobe the short-lived 7-0 lead.  Durigon led the Wildcat offense with 97 yards rushing on only 8 carries. 

 “Their first touchdown was not what we expected,” Lippmann mentioned, “but we bounced back.”  Hempfield methodically built a 28-7 advantage over the course of the 27 minutes of the game.  

Latrobe (in the dark uniforms) with the ball.

First of all, the Spartans responded by tying the game by driving 84 yards on 9 plays.  Lippmann found an open Deron Hunter over the middle which covered the last 46 yards of that possession with 1:43 left in the opening quarter.  “When they rush three, I have as much time as I want and my receivers are going to get open,” said Lippmann.  He also gave a lot of credit to his offensive line, “I love those guys.”  

The second quarter found Hempfield scoring two more times.  Leroy Corey barged into the end zone from a yard out to send the visitors into the lead with just over four minutes left in the half.  

In last night’s game between @HempfieldAreaFB and @LATROBEFOOTBALL this is Hempfield Spartan QB Carden Lippman connecting with Lucas Simmons. @PaFootballNews @CardenLipp12 @LucasSimmons25 https://t.co/O6PZ6KAjee

— Protime the H.S. Football Prophet (@Protime_PFN) October 24, 2026

Then disaster struck for the Wildcats.  They had just moved the chains to the Spartan 43 with under 1:30 remaining when quarterback Dom Scarton’s short pass over the middle slipped through his receiver’s hands and into the hands of Hempfield’s Lucas Simmons for the interception.  

Spartan head coach, Nick Keefer, and his staff decided not to play it safe and take a one score lead into the half.  So, they allowed Lippmann to do his thing.  On the first play he ran for 6 yards and followed that up with a perfect pass to a streaking Terrance Vaughns down the field that resulted in a 54-yard TD toss and a Spartan lead at the intermission of 21-7.  

“I thought Carden played outstanding again,” said Hempfield’s coach, Nick Keefer, “He’s always so poised back there.  He’s able to avoid the pass rush without going down field and then finding wide open receivers.” 

Both squads battled hard in the third quarter, but it was a quarter for the defenses as each team’s ‘D’ stood tall.  A total of 61 yards were gained and one first down between the two teams in that third stanza.

Early in the fourth, Hempfield more or less put the game away.  Lippmann, on consecutive plays, threw two passes to Simmons for 30 yards and 9 yards.  A 10-yard penalty moved the ball back to the Latrobe Wildcat 41-yard line.  The very next play Lippmann got himself loose and took off on a touchdown trip.  Hempfield had now answered Greater Latrobe’s opening score with 28 straight points.

Hempfield’s (in white) offense ready to attack the Latrobe defense.

The Wildcats, under second year mentor, Tom McIntyre, did not give up.  They marched 63 yards, scoring when Ty Wisniewski took a handoff in what appeared to be an end run.  He stopped and lobbed a nice back across the field pass to a wide open Dom Scarton who ran the ball in for the 21-yard touchdown to complete a successful bit of trickery.

Hempfield tallied the game’s final points on a 10-yard Anthony Carello run with a little over two minutes left in the game.  Carello was the work horse of the Spartan running game with 15 carries for 58 yards.

“To win on the road is always tough.  We’ll always take a win against a great opponent like Latrobe, a playoff team and especially a rivalry,” stated Coach Keefer.  He added, “they have a great offense and for us to hold them to 14 points, I think it was a huge day.  Credit to our defensive coordinator, my brother, Zach Keefer.” 

Hempfield will take its 6-3 record and go on the road again next week to play the #1 team in the state, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, who is 8-0 and also nationally ranked.  “We are playing for a conference championship next week and we’re really, really excited,” commented Coach Keefer.  Both Hempfield and Central Catholic are Class 6A teams.

Greater Latrobe’s record dropped to 6-3 and they will play host to the #8 team in Pennsylvania in Class 5A when 9-0 Penn-Trafford comes calling to Memorial Stadium.

NOTES: 1) Hempfield now leads the all-time series with Latrobe 30-18-3.  2) Both the Greater Latrobe Marching Wildcat Band and the Hempfield Spartan Marching Band put on excellent halftime shows.  To witness the bands, in itself, was worth the price of admission.

Score by Quarters:

Hempfield – 7 14 0 14 – 35

Greater Latrobe – 7 0 0 7 – 14

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter:

GL – Dante Durigon 45-yard run, (Levi Porvaznik PAT), 5:44

H – Deron Hunter 46-yard pass from Carden Lippmann, (Sawyer Leuthold PAT), 1:43

Second Quarter:

H – Leroy Corey 1-yard run, (Leuthold PAT), 4:18

H – Terrance Vaughns 54-yard pass from Lippmann, (Leuthold PAT), 0:42 

Third Quarter:

No Scoring

Fourth Quarter:

H – Lippmann 41-yard run, (Leuthold PAT), 10:47

GL – Dom Scarton 21-yard pass from Ty Wisniewski, (Porvaznik PAT), 6:44

H –  Anthony Carello 10-yard run, (Leuthold PAT), 2:13

Individual Stats:

Rushing: Hempfield – Carden Lippmann 8-87, Anthony Carello 15-58, Riley Evans 5-13, Leroy Corey 1-1, Team 1-(4). Totals: 30-155.  Greater Latrobe – Dante Durigon 8-97, AJ Yeboah 14-57, Drew Blossey 9-23, Dom Scarton 2-(2). Totals: 33-175.  

Passing: Hempfield – Lippmann 15-18, 253 yards, 2 touchdowns.  Greater Latrobe – Scarton 4-16, 20 yards, 1 interception; Ty Wisniewski 1-1, 21 yards, 1 touchdown; Drew Blossey 1-1, 3 yards. Team 6-18, 44 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception.

Receiving: Hempfield – Lucas Simmons 7-89; Deron Hunter 3-50, 1 touchdown; Terrance Vaughns 1-54, 1 touchdown; Dom Giannilli 1-36, Riley Evans 1-11; Troy Sebring 1-9; Leroy Corey 1-4. Totals: 15-253 yards, 2 touchdowns.  Greater Latrobe – Wisniewski 3-18; Scarton 1-21, 1 touchdown; Alex Amond 1-3, Yeboah 1-2.  Totals: 6-44 yards, 1 touchdown.

The Greater Latrobe Marching Wildcat Band.

The Hempfield Spartan Marching Band.