Manheim Township Takes Down Central York 31-27

Tagged under: District 3, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

Davin Ridall | September 12, 2026

YORK – It wasn’t perfect play in the first or second half for Manheim Township, but they still got the result they were looking for. The Blue Streaks showed their resilience against Central York, going into Central Panther Stadium and knocking off Central York 31-27.

Manheim Township was coming into this matchup with a big chip on their shoulder, losing to this same squad a season ago by a final score of 36-28. This game was the fourth time since 2021 that these two sides have met.

“We definitely were coming into this game with a chip on our shoulder,” Manheim Township running back PJ Meyers said. “Even though I didn’t play a lot last season when we lost, I still felt something. Coming in here with anger in my heart, and we took that out on them.”

Early on in the game, both teams were trading chunk plays. Central York opened up the game’s scoring with a 54 yard catch and run from Ben Zeigler. Then on Manheim Township’s first play of their opening drive, Dane Byler connected with Chase Fletcher over the middle, before he turned it up field and sprinted down the sideline for the score.

Central York’s offense was explosive in the first half of this game, largely thanks to sophomore quarterback Jamin Ilgenfritz. The second year starter threw for 176 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half, including Central York’s next score which came on a beautifully thrown 80 yard connection with Demarcus Murray.

Ilgenfritz also ran in a touchdown in the first half, taking it straight up the middle from just a yard out. After that touchdown run, Central York found themselves ahead 20-10 with just over four minutes to play in the first half.

The Blue Streaks’ final drive of the first half began at their own 20, but was ultimately backed up to their own 10 thanks to a false start penalty and a 5 yard sack. Just 7 plays and 90 yards later, Dane Byler delivered a pass to Aiden Zulick right at the goal line for the touchdown, cutting Central York’s lead to just 3 as halftime rolled around.

That final drive of the half for Manheim Township featured 72 of Dane Byler’s 176 first half passing yards, including 2 touchowns. Byler, much like Ilgenfritz, was not afraid to extend plays with his legs during the game, which was a big part of the Blue Streaks’ offensive success.

“I believe we beat ourselves a lot in the first half,” said Manheim Township head coach Mark Evans. “We were making the tackles but we weren’t running our feet. We aren’t staying on it, we weren’t swarming to the ball. Those are little things that have to be done all the time against good teams. You’ve got to be perfect in your details with the little things.”

The Blue Streaks’ first drive of the second half stalled after just after just four plays, forcing a punt. Central York took this as an opportunity to flip field position, as Demarcus Murray hauled in the punt at his own 39 yard line, cut to the left side of the field and raced down the sideline before finally getting shoved out of bounds at the 15 yard line.

The return proved to be huge for the Panthers, as just two plays later, Jerome LaRue took an end around into the end zone from 3 yards out, extending Central York’s lead up to 27-17.

On the ensuing series, it seemed like Central York had completely captured the momentum. After a promising start to Manheim Township’s next drive, Dane Byler tried to connect on a throw to Chase Fletcher, but Central York’s Josh Bahr read the play perfectly, picking off Byler and returning it to their own 40 yard line.

“Yeah it was just a case of event and response, this is what happened, so now we go respond,” said head coach Mark Evans. “One of the things we needed to make them do that we weren’t able to do in the first half was bend but don’t break. You can move the ball in between the goal lines all you want, you just didn’t want to break.

Central York only completed one pass the rest of the game, as Manheim Township’s defense tightened up in the second half after the Panthers’ touchdown drive.

The Blue Streaks turned to their dynamic running back duo for majority of the second half to power their offense. Junior PJ Meyers and senior Dehvyn Lauano combined for 158 rushing yards in the second half of the game.

“Those guys are a nice tandem for one another,” head coach Mike Evans said. “Kudos to the offensive line who’s really starting to come around, they were coming off the ball and they were making the plays. PJ’s second effort running, just refusing to go down was impressive.”

Lauano capped off Manheim Township’s next drive with a 9 yard carry up the middle which cut Central York’s lead back down to just three points late in the third quarter.

Trailing 27-24 early in the fourth quarter, Manheim Township’s defense held the Panther offense to a three and out, forcing them into a punting situation. Ilgenfritz, who had executed on punts nicely all game long, in the most crucial punt of the game, had the kick tipped which forced it out of bounds at their own 32 yard line.

Manheim Township took immediate advantage of this, as just four plays later, PJ Meyers drove straight into the end zone from 3 yards out, giving the Blue Streaks their first lead of the game since early in the second quarter, leading 31-27 with just over seven minutes remaining.

Central York drove up to about midfield on their next drive before coming up on a 4th and 7 situation, where Ilgenfritz’s pass ultimately fell to the ground incomplete.

After that incompletion, Manheim Township bled out the final 5:34 that left on the clock, not allowing Central York’s offense to see the ball the rest of the game, closing out the 31-27 victory.

With the victory, Manheim Township improves to 3-0 on the season and will be chasing the program’s 500th win next week against Wilson. After the loss, Central York drops to 1-2 on the season, and they will be back on the road next week against Spring Grove.