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Harrisburg Cougars Claim 5th Consecutive District 3 Class 6A Title Over Central York Panthers

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

| November 22, 2025

The PIAA District 3 Classification 6A bracket resulted in this juggernaut matchup. The Harrisburg Cougars have been led by their fierce rushing attack and irritating defense. While the Central York Panthers displayed a prolific Air-Raid game throughout the year, this time it failed to be sustainable as the Cougars hoisted the trophy by a score of 38-10.

 

Kicking things off on this cool, breezy Friday night of Championship Football, Harrisburg wasted no time sending a message to the Central York sideline. After forcing the Panthers into an opening punt, Jaiyon Lewis corralled a 33 yard touchdown catch towards the back right of the end zone. On the following drive, Central York responded with 3 points, just a few minutes later.


The start of a long night for the Panthers was just approaching. After several penalties pushing the Cougars back, Jaiyon Lewis caught his 2nd touchdown pass on a back shoulder snag, this time on the back left of the end zone for 25 yards. The Panthers quickly scratched after a 11 yard touchdown reception caught by DeMarcus Murray to make it 14-10. Next drive, ‘Cougars Messiah Mickens had multiple touchdowns called back due to holding, which led to his teammate Elias Coke delivering with a 26 yard touchdown grab with just about 5 minutes to go in the half to make it 20-10.

 


Just shy of the 2 minute warning, Harrisburg was back on offense until Messiah Mickens coughed one up recovered by Central York Linebacker Josh Bahr. Almost immediately after the Panthers forced a turnover, they gifted one right back after Central York Quarterback Brooklyn Nace misfired and was intercepted by Harrisburg defensive back P.J Dent. The Cougars were set up in prime position to add to their lead and they did just that. A few plays later, Messiah Mickens this time, punched it in for six to give his squad a 26-10 lead to end the half.

 

Coming out of the half, Central York’s offense continued to look flat. The entirety of the 3rd quarter revolved around Panthers punts and Cougars chewing clock. Time of possession was heavily in Harrisburg’s favor at this point and it led to Messiah Mickens finally breaking a run loose for 60 yards on the ground. No flags and the Cougars led 32-10 momentarily with 3 minutes to go in the 3rd. Central York failed to weather the storm, trailing by multiple scores and they turned it over on downs.


The rest of this one was wrapped up by clock chewing, an irrelevant Cougars turn over on downs, and finally Harrisburg adding the cherry on top to this one as Sophomore tail-back Ja’aun Johnson joined in on the fun with an 11 yard rushing score to secure Harrisburg’s 5th consecutive District 3 title. 

The Harrisburg Cougars are not done yet and their perfect season is still very much alive as they head back to the drawing board to prepare for their States Semi-Final next week against Pittsburgh Central Catholic. And the Central York Panthers season comes to a close. With many highlights and conspiracies, they could not rise above the star-studded Cougars Friday evening.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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