HERSHEY — It all came down to hoping Carter McCauley could work some magic one last time.

Greencastle-Antrim trailed Milton Hershey 30-29 with about 40 seconds left. The Blue Devils faced fourth-and-9 from the Spartan 14. To that point, McCauley, G-A’s star receiver, had caught 13 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns.

Carter McCauley

So everybody knew where the football was going. And it did, as QB Lane Barry lofted the ball into the left corner of the end zone. Milton Hershey had one player blatantly face guard McCauley and another knocked him down before the ball got there, yet no penalty was called.

So the Spartans (3-4, 3-2 MPC) hung on to take a Mid Penn Colonial win at their school on Friday night.

“I can’t believe we somehow lost this game,” G-A coach Devin McCauley said. “Carter just got manhandled on that play. The only was way they could stop him was to tackle him.

“We had in the high 400s (495) for yards gained, but we spoiled a couple of scoring chances — one with an interception in the end zone — and we gave up too many big plays on defense. We just can’t seem to find a way to win.”

Carter McCauley scored his two TDs in the first quarter, both on passes from Barry. Noah Shifflett, who gained 85 yards, scored twice, one each in the third and fourth periods. Blake Reuter ran for 91 yards and Lars Galinanes added 65.

Barry completed 15 of 23 passes for 209 yards for Greencastle (1-6, 1-5 MPC)..

McCauley said, “We went with the hot hand at quarterback. The passing game was set up because we ran the ball well and they couldn’t stop us. The offensive line played really well.”

Before the final pass to McCauley, coach McCauley decided against trying a 31-yard field goal, which could have given the Blue Devils the lead. His kicker, Andrew Bowers, suffered an injury the previous night while playing soccer, and his backup was not available Friday.

Milton Hershey 30, Greencastle-Antrim 29
Greencastle                         14     0     7     8     —     29
Milton Hershey                    6    12    6     6     —     30
First Quarter
MH — 13-yard run (kick failed)
GA — Carter McCauley 13 pass from Lane Barry (kick good)
GA — McCauley 19 pass from Barry (kick good)
Second Quarter
MH — 27-yard pass (kick failed)
MH — 50-yard run (run failed)
Third Quarter
GA — Noah Shifflett 2 run (kick good)
MH — 12-yard run (run failed)
Fourth Quarter
GA — Shifflett 7 run (run good)
MH — 6-yard run (run failed)
Greencastle Individual Statistics
Rushing — Blake Reuter 14-91, Shifflett 11-85, Lars Galinanes 13-65, Sean Marshall 2-5, Asher Whitson 1-2, Barry 2-(-6).
Passing — Barry 15-23-1-209; Marshall 1-3-0-34.
Receiving — McCauley 13-223, Reuter 2-30