Lancaster New Era
For 42 minutes Manheim Township was searching for an identity.
The Blue Streaks were trying to figure what exactly it is that they do best on offense.
When they finally did find it, it was 10 points too late in a 37-27 setback to Central Dauphin Friday night in Neffsville.
"We knew that this was a very good football team. In our two scrimmages we didn't run a lot of the things that we did tonight," MT coach Mike Melnyk explained. "Probably a little bit of what we were doing was to find out what will work and what will not."
The Rams (1-0) on the other hand knew exactly what it was that they did best — pound the ball up the middle.
Fronted by Colin Zwally, Artie Rowell, T.J. Zimmerman, Zach Wilk, Jeremy Seaman and Scott Benkovic on the line, Central Dauphin churned out 306 yards on the ground, paced by Zayd Issah's 250 yards on 23 carries.
Issah cashed in on runs of two, 61 and 81 yards.
"First thing we need to talk about is the guys up front," CD coach Glen McNamee said. "They did a great job. They really did. Then Zayd, he took advantage of what those linemen gave him."
Central Dauphin, which scored on four plays of 40 or more yards, previewed what would come when the Rams struck first with a 41-yard pass from Brandon Lavia (7-of-10, 144 yards) to Jon Schnaars (6 catches, 133 yards) late in the first quarter.
