COLONIAL PARK — For the second straight season, Chambersburg needed to beat a Central Dauphin team with a worse record in order to qualify for the District 3 Class 6A football playoffs.

And for the second consecutive year, the Rams ended the Trojans’ season with a defeat.

Davonte Scott

On Friday night, in a Mid Penn Commonwealth contest at Landis Field, CD outgained Chambersburg 238 to minus-14 on the ground and for the second straight year returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

“We just have to find a way to get over the hump against these guys,” Trojan coach Gary Carter said. “I think we’re a better football team on paper, but the last two years they took away a chance for us to make the playoffs.”

Central Dauphin (4-6, 4-5 MPC) ended up in the No. 10 spot in the rankings and will make the playoffs. Chambersburg (4-6, 3-6 MPC) was stuck in 11th place and is out.

didn’t do anything fancy in the first half, just kept handing the ball to Isaac Hodgson up the middle, and he kept moving the pile. The Rams started with a 15-play, 70-yard drive that featured 8 runs by Hodgson, including a scoring run from 6 yards out.

CD made it 14-0 in the second quarter by going on a 17-play, 92-yard drive, with Hodgson running 8 times, including a TD from 9 yards out.

Carter said, “Our defense has been playing lights out, but we did not play well in the first half.”

The Rams were driving again late in the half, looking for perhaps a knockout punch. From the Chambersburg 29 with 0:29 left, QB Mark Lebo threw a little high and Tavian Ferguson picked it off, returning it to the Chambersburg 45.

With only 19 seconds left, it took the Trojans only two plays to get back into the game. QB Cam Green flipped a screen pass to Malachi Tasker good for 18 yards, then hit Davonte Scott down the seam. Scott broke one tackle and took it 37 yards for a score with the clock at 0:04. The extra-point kick was blocked, but Chambersburg had gotten back in the game, trailing 14-6.

Cam Green

“We thought they might try to run a lot,” Carter said, “but in the first half it looked we were playing on skates. We did stop them some in the second half.”

A critical play happened when the Trojans had to punt on their first possession of the third period. A low snap caused punter Devon Nalewak to touch his knee down and the Rams took over on the 24. It took 6 straight runs by Hodgson to make it 21-6.

Chambersburg tried to get back into it. Green was 4-for-5 on a 66-yard drive, which ended on an 8-yard pass in the left flat to Scott, who cut toward the middle and crossed the line. A failed two-point try left it 21-12.

But only 13 seconds later, it was 28-12, when CD’s Jadyn Johnson returned the following kickoff 85 yards.

Carter said, “They like to run a back wedge on returns and we knew that. We just didn’t cover it.”

For the second time in the half, CD ended a Chambersburg drive with an interception, and when the Rams moved downfield to the Trojan 13, facing 4th-and-7, it appeared that a field goal would close out the game.

The Rams then got a little greedy, trying a trick play. However, a pass attempt by kicker Robby Jimenez was picked off by Kobe Penick and returned 95 yards for a touchdown with 3:48 left. A pass from Green to Seth Gilliam for two made it 28-20.

Chambersburg did get the ball back with 1:32 left, but ended up losing 6 yards in 4 plays.

“We have to be better at the two-minute offense,” Carter said. “Our line just didn’t block well.

“I think we made some great plays. But they came out and punched us in the mouth early and we can’t let that happen.”

Scott had his best game — the senior wideout caught 11 passes for 117 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns. He finished the season with 56 catches for 692 yards and 7 scores.

Green, a sophomore, was 18-for-23 for 208 yards. He finished the season, playing only 7 1/2 games, with some pretty decent stats — 115-for-188 (61%), 1,266 yards, 9 TDs and 9 picks.

Carter said, “We fought all the way despite all of the injuries we had — a lot of kids stepped up. The seniors are a great group. Most of all, I think the kids played for each other this year, which is a really good thing.”

Central Dauphin 28, Chambersburg 20
Chambersburg                   0     6     0     14     —     20
Central Dauphin                7     7     7      7      —     28
First Quarter
CD — Isaac Hodgson 6 run (Robby Jimenez kick), 9:37
Second Quarter
CD — Hodgson 9 run (Jimenez kick), 6:07
Ch — Davonte Scott 37 pass from Cam Green (kick blocked), 0:04
Third Quarter
CD — Hodgson 1 run (Jimenez kick), 8:27
Fourth Quarter
Ch — Scott 8 pass from Green (pass failed), 11:11
CD — Jadyn Johnson 85 kickoff return (Jimenez kick), 10:58
Ch — Cobe Penick 95 interception return (Seth Gilliam pass from Green), 3:48
Team Statistics
                                                   Chbg                    CD
First downs                                 12                      17
Rushes-yards                            15-(-14)            52-238
Passing                                      18-23-2             8-13-2
Passing yards                             208                    93
Total offense                               194                  331
Fumbles-lost                               0-0                    2-0
Punts-average                           2-25.0              2-27.5
Penalties-yards                          4-34                   8-60
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Chbg, Malachi Tasker 7-15, Green 7-(-18), Team 1-(-11). CD, Hodgson 25-121, Kah’mani Garcia 18-85, Mark Lebo 9-32.
Passing — Chbg, Green 18-23-2-208. CD, Lebo 8-12-2-93, Jimenez 0-1-0-1.
Receiving — Chbg, Scott 11-117, Bryson Murray 3-33, M.Tasker 2-31, Penick 2-27. CD, Johnson 3-27, Brandon Cooper 1-27, Mason Wydra 2-23, Hodgson 1-9, Garcia 1-7.
Interceptions — Chbg, Tavian Ferguson, Penick. CD, Peyton Wylie, Johnson.