The Mechanicsburg Wildcats ended the Shippensburg Greyhounds bid for a perfect regular season with a commanding 42-21 win. The Wildcats ran, passed, and held the Shippensburg run game in check, racing to a 28-7 halftime edge.

Mechanicsburg’s four scoring drives in the first half were plays 3, 3, 5, and 10. The drives gained 40, 99, 66, and 72 yards.

Dorn Baker’s 28-yard run for the first touchdown got the Cats rolling. After a nice Elijah Bailey punt was downed at the one, Reider hit Josh Smith for 34 yards to get some breathing room. Two plays later, Smith went in motion, took a pitch from Reider, and raced 65 yards for score two.

The Hounds stayed in the contest with a 7:53 drive that saw them run 14 plays and 74 yards. Back in punt formation, Bailey kept the ball and ran five yards for the first. It didn’t look to me like it was fake or if he felt the pressure, and if he had punted, it could have been blocked.

Aydin Mentzer (subbing for injured Brady Maciejewski) hit Bailey for 28 yards and another first. It was a fine catch by Bailey as he got shoved in mid-air, but Sill was able to come down with the catch (Mechanicsburg was flagged for pass interference, but with the play being completed, the Hounds declined the penalty). Ja’nye Statum finally found some holes and had three consecutive runs of four, three, and nineteen for another first. But on the last run came out of the game with an injury. Shippensburg faced a fourth and five from the Wildcat six. Mentzer faked the handoff and sprinted right to find Derek Lynch in the flat for a six-yard scoring strike.

Mechanicsburg scored two more touchdowns to end the first half. Reider hit Smith for 30 and Baker for 15 on a screen pass. The screen pass started with Baker running left. He handed it off to Smith, coming back to the right. Smith flipped it back to Reider, who hit Baker on the screen for an easy touchdown on fourth and 10 from the Shippensburg 15.

In the second half, it was much of the same for the visitors. They opened with a three-play, 55-yard drive. Reider hit Smith for 40 to open the second half and found Baker for another 15-yard score.

Mechanicsburg put the mercy rule in play with an eight-play 73-yard drive capped by Reider’s nine-yard run.

The Hounds scored two in the fourth as Chase Holtry plunged in from seven yards out for his first score of the year. Mark Carothers Jr. capped the night with a five-yard run.

Mechanicsburg put up 468 yards of offense (276 rush and 192 pass). Out of the 45 plays, only one play (42) did the Wildcats lose yardage. Shippensburg had 237 yards of offense and was held to just 85 in the first half.

More bad news for the Hounds: Starting DL Daniel Ketron left early in the second half with an injury, and a starting lineman left late with another injury.

Shippensburg’s season is not over, as they have a first-round game this week at home, but they will need to get healthy. Pairings will be released on Sunday.

Barring a change in the rankings, Shippensburg would host Warwick at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Greyhounds are ranked #5 and Warwick #12. The top four teams in 5A receive a first-round bye.