Brady Hughes (photo courtesy Pictures Plus)

CHAMBERSBURG — Harrisburg’s offense gained only 63 yards and had only one first down in the second half.

But the Cougars’ defense limited Chambersburg to just 31 yards in that same half, created three turnovers, returned a pair of interceptions for touchdowns and nailed down a 28-13 Mid Penn Commonwealth victory at Trojan Stadium on Friday night.

“Our kids fought, and that’s all a part of the process,” Chambersburg coach Mark Luther said. “This was a playoff-like game, and we need to learn from this how to not make mistakes.”

The Chambersburg defense played well against a potent Harrisburg attack, allowing just two touchdowns. Cougar quarterback Kane Everson hit Jai Burnley in stride for a 76-yard bomb on their first play from scrimmage, and later in the first period, an Everson-to-Rynell Gantt pass went for 49 yards and a score.

“On the first one, the safeties got caught peaking into the backfield,” Luther said, “and on the other one, our guy fell down.”

In the second half, Everson did not play. It could not be confirmed whether it was because of an injury.

That put a serious crimp in the Cougars’ offense and the Trojans (6-2, 3-2 MPC) took advantage. Gantt was 0-for-4 passing and other than a 32-yard run by Gantt, Harrisburg (7-1, 5-0 MPC) could not move the ball.

But their defense took up the slack.

On Chambersburg’s first five possessions of the latter half, here is what happened:

— QB Brady Stumbaugh was sacked on third down and the Trojans punted.

— Stumbaugh was intercepted when his accurate pass to Garner Funk was knocked up into the air by a timely Cougar hit and Donte Kent snatched it and ran 49 yards for a score to make it 20-6.

— Another sack resulted in a fumble recovered by Harrisburg at the Trojan 26.

— After the defense held, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Stumbaugh was picked off by Elijah Scott, who zipped 48 yards to the end zone and a 28-6 lead.

— After one first down, Chambersburg’s next three plays went minus-7, minus-9 and minus-7, leading to a punt.

The last possession was more successful, thanks to Cougar penalties for a late hit and a hit to the head. Stumbaugh hit Brady Hughes on a 16-yard pass to bring the score to a final of 28-13.

Luther said, “I think it was big to score at the end; that’s got to be a positive. We had a few subs in and that was against their first-team defense.”

Chambersburg caught a break in the first series of the game when a pass deflected off a receiver’s hands and Alex Lapinsky caught it and advanced 45 yards to the Cougar 16. But Harrisburg held and Tyler Luther booted a 39-yard field goal.

Alex Lapinsky (photo courtesy Pictures Plus)

Late in the half, Stumbaugh and tight end Funk hooked up for a 69-yard pass. Funk nearly made it to the end zone, but was brought down two yards short. Two runs netted minus-1 yard, and Stumbaugh’s third-down pass was tipped away by linebacker Andre White.

“That pass was just a half-second late, because Funk was open,” Luther said. “But their kid made a great play.”

Chambersburg had to settle for a field goal of 20 yards by Tyler Luther and a 12-6 halftime deficit.

Stumbaugh, other than two mistakes on interceptions, had a good night, connecting on 14 of 24 passes for 192 yards. That’s the most passes he’s completed in a game this year (by 5) and the second-highest yardage total.

He found a connection with Hughes, who caught six passes for 66 yards and a score, after having only one catch previously.

“I read my (defender) and he was playing a little to the inside, so I’d go down 10 yards and cut back and I was open,” Hughes said. “On the touchdown, I ran a short post. I just looked for the ball and Brady put it there.”

One reason the passing was working more effectively is because the Cougars sold out against the run. They held Keyshawn Jones to just 15 yards on 12 carries, and the team just 20 yards on 30 carries.

“They put eight guys in the box and we couldn’t get he running game going,” Luther said.

Luther saw plenty of positives in a loss to the team ranked No. 6 in the state in all classes.

“I told the kids to keep their heads up because we had nothing to hang our head about,” he said. “We just played that team tough and this gives us something to build on. The kids played hard and fought the whole way through. We’re not done yet.”

The Trojans host Central Dauphin next Friday.

Harrisburg 28, Chambersburg 13
Harrisburg              12   0   8   8   —   28
Chambersburg         3   3   0   7   —   13
First Quarter
C — Tyler Luther 39 field goal, 8:28
H — Jai Burnley 76 pass from Kane Everson (kick blocked), 8:12
H — Rynell Gantt 49 pass from Everson (run failed), 0:19
Second Quarter
C — Luther 20 field goal, 0:36
Third Quarter
H — Donte Kent 49 interception return (Lamir Wigfall pass from Gantt), 4:45
Fourth Quarter
H — Elijah Scott 48 interception return (Kavon Hope pass from Gantt), 11:52
C — Brady Hughes 16 pass from Brady Stumbaugh (Luther kick), 1:08
Team Statistics
                                                Harr                   Chbg
First downs                             9                          12
Rushes-yards                      21-98                    30-20
Passing yards                       204                        192
Passing                                9-14-0                    14-24-3
Total offense                        302                          212
Fumbles-lost                         0-0                           2-1
Punts-average                     2-45.0                    3-34.0
Penalties-yards                  12-112                      3-24
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Harr, Gantt 9-44, Everson 4-33, Jahmir Plant 4-17, Dana Purdy 4-4. Chbg, Keyshawn Jones 12-15, Kyere Morton 7-8, Jayden Jones 3-7, Stumbaugh 8-(-10).
Passing — Harr, Everson 9-10-0-204, Gantt 0-4-0-0. Chbg, Stumbaugh 14-24-3-192.
Receiving — Harr, Burney 1-76, Gantt 2-67, Kent 2-25, Amirh Pittman 1-24, Hope 2-8, Plant 1-4. Chbg, Hughes 6-66, Garner Funk 2-60, Alex Lapinsky 2-41, Kevin Lee 2-20, Tanner Hunt 1-5, Andrew Shetter 1-0.