Category: Sports

The 2010 boys soccer team was “much more competitive this year,” said Penn Manor’s athletic director, Jeff Roth.

The soccer team went 8-7-3 this year but kept competitive in every match expect for when they were badly defeated by Conestoga Valley. The final score in that game was 4-1.  Every loss except for that was by only one goal.

Although Penn Manor will be losing eight seniors this year, including William Chalfant who will be attending Temple University to play soccer, the team is looking forward to having starting forward Andrew Herr and goalie Taylor Skelly, return for next year.

Skelly, a sophomore who played this year to replace senior Kyle Kann, is looking forward to playing the next two years. Herr, a junior, who suffered with mono throughout most of the season, should be ready to lead the team next year.

Tyler Wilson, a senior midfielder, saw this season as a success, saying “my favorite part of the season was when we beat Township 2-1 at home.”

Wilson said their recipe for success was the fact they had played with each other for quite a long time.

“We actually all played together when we were little, so we played well together this season,” Wilson added.

The boy’s soccer team, who are know

n to be physical, was more productive than dangerous this year.

“I only got four yellow cards and one red card this season,” said Wilson.

Chalfant, who was a leader this year, stated “we came together as a team overall, and put forth a serious effort.”

But senior, Clark Habecker, one of Penn Manor’s senior defenders, said that teamwork was the key.

“As a team when we worked together, we performed well, and when we tried to work alone we performed badly,” Habecker said.

Habecker also added that he is looking forward to Austin Howett starting to replace him next year.

By Brian Dunne

Penn Manor Comets faced a well-performing Manheim Township football team, 3-0 in section play, Friday night. The physical game was a win for the Comets, (2-4) who came away with a 38-20 win.

The game started as expected, the Streaks marched down the field with an open drive touchdown. Township took a 6-0 lead after missing the extra point.

The expected win for Township came to a halt after they fumbled on their own 28-yard line.  The Comets recovered, Garrett Young, (166 yards on 10 rushes)  being the workhorse of the night, busted a 32-yard run to the one-yard line, which gave Sahd the one-yard keeper for a 7-6 lead over the Streaks during the first quarter.

“Outstanding play calling and an outstanding effort from our offensive lineman,” Young said about the Comet’s victorious Friday night.

Turnovers haunted the Streaks all night. Three back-to-back drives resulted in one interception and two fumbles.

“Sticking together on Friday was why we won the game. We knew we were going up against a good team, but we practiced and prepared for the win,” said Errol Hammond, a key asset on the Comets defensive line.

The Comets capitalized on the turnovers, scoring a touchdown on each of Township’s mistakes. The touchdowns included Sahd throwing a 15-yard touchdown, Teon Lee running a 34-yard touchdown into the end zone, and Sahd scoring on a quarterback sneak. This concluded the first half with the score 28-6 Comets on top.

The second half saw the Comets maintaining their lead as they did. Township produced two more touchdowns in the second half, but that wasn’t enough to stop the Comets. Penn Manor quarterback Adam Sahd bolted in on a 44-yard touchdown run. The game already sealed for victory, continued as Garrett busted a 57-yard sprint to set up Brian Sloss for a 28-yard field goal.

The Comets stayed on top,  keeping their composure which led to their 38-20 victory.  Beating section leader Manheim Township bumped the Comets up to a 3-4 record.

They continue fighting their way up the standings.

“I was excited about the game,” said Trevor Troup, a senior player.  “I knew it was our breakout moment.”

By Ryan Mays

Wednesday night at Comet field in Millersville was not only frigid, but a senior night the Penn Manor Field Hockey players will never forget.

The Comets hosted the Hempfield Black Knights in a Section One throw down that would go in the Comets’ favor.

The Comets toasted the Knights leading 4-1 going into half time, led by veterans Renee Suter and Madelyn Hess, and there would be no let down.

The Comets came out in the second half and added two more goals, only allowing one more themselves, ending with a final score of 6-2.

“We played a very good game. I loved scoring all those goals but I wish we could of kept those two goals out of our net,” said Matt Soto, head coach for Penn Manor.

The Comets clinched the Section One race with a win over Warwick, Monday.

“We have to keep getting better,” Soto added. “We need to get better on defense, and really we need to score more goals too.”

The five seniors on the Penn Manor team, Katie Breneman, Renee Suter, Madelyn Hess,  Mikah Farbo and Helen Doolittle, we’re recognized for the contributes to the team.

They knew, however, that it was their final season with Penn Manor.

“It was definitely a bitter sweet feeling,” Hess said.

“The season was a lot of fun, but when it’s over I’m really going to miss it,” said Breneman, a team captain for the Comets.

Soto added, “The seniors are a great class. I love having them around.”

By Jessen Smith

Field hockey, once a girl-only sport, has turned masculine at Penn Manor High School.

Matthew Soto, coach of the Penn Manor’s varsity field hockey team, is offering a chance for guy students at Penn Manor to play field hockey.

“So many guys have come up to me over the years wanting to play field hockey,” Soto said.

Soto has coached field hockey for the last 25 years and is the supervisor of technical operations for the USA field hockey teams.

In 2008, Soto led the Penn Manor field hockey team to state championships and took the win.

“I love being a high school field hockey coach, but working with men is interesting, they’re just so creative and athletic,” Soto explained.

Aaron Lugo, sophomore at Penn Manor, was asked by Soto to compose a team.

Lugo never played field hockey before but is energetic and excited for this opportunity.

“I’m going into the game with a good attitude and will try my best,” Lugo said.  “I’ve been hittin’ up the weight room to get ready for the game.”

Another team is in the process of being made and will be open to any guy that wants to play.

Once that team is made and both teams are ready to play, there will be a big game against the two teams.

Last Saturday, Soto and the guys had their first practice to learn the rules.

“The practice was very fun, but the kids were frustrated with the amount of rules they had to follow,” Soto said.

Matt Slack, sophomore, is on Lugo’s team.  After practice, he noticed that the guys already seem pretty solid.  “I can’t wait until the next practice.”

The winner receives the best prize of all, the satisfaction of learning how to play the game and having fun.

Each team will be composed of 12 players and practices will be held once a week.

To find out more, see Mr. Soto.

By Cree Bleacher

Warwick’s legendary field hockey coach, Bob Derr, would find it beneficial for his team if Penn Manor’s star player, Renee Suter, were somehow off the field for Penn Manor.

Monday night, Renee Suter scored three goals and had two assists in the game against the Warriors.  The game ended with a score of 5-2, the victory going to the comets.

The win was the last one Penn Manor needed to gain the Section One title. Thanks in part to Suter, it was the fourth in a row for the Manor field hockey team

The goals began just 6:30 into the game when Katie Brenneman scored with an assist from Suter.  Then at 21:30, Suter scored her first goal of the night after a feed from Eryn McCoy. The two goals put Manor ahead 2-0.

While the Comets were scoring goals, Warwick’s Emma Rissinger was out on a penalty for her high stick. She was forced to spend five minutes on the sidelines after the yellow card was given.

Rissinger was attempting to protect herself from a ball that was coming straight for her. However, the laws of the game states no high sticks whatsoever, so the penalty was served.

Once both teams were back in full swing, Warwick’s Marissa Lutz scored the first point for her team with just over 4 minutes left before halftime.

Just as Warwick’s hopes were rising, Suter pulled a reverse-stick shot that went right between the legs of the Warwick goalie, Alexis Charles. Suter gave the Comets a two-goal advantage against the Warriors in the first half.

In the second half, Warwick’s Bethany Ashworth netted a ball after it was shot down the field by Alyssa Manley, making the score closer despite the Warriors going down in the end.

Manor’s coach, Matt Soto, was quoted in Lancaster Newspapers saying, “I thought it was really great of Suter sneaking a couple of those (goals) in.”

“We played really well and were able to shut down their strengths,” said Suter. ” We will go into the next games knowing what we have to do and hoping to win.”

Though the Comets have won their fourth Section One title with the win over Warwick, they still have two important games in which to look forward.  One of those is a rematch against Hempfield at Comet Field on Wednesday.

The Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs begin Saturday with the quarterfinal round and are scheduled to end with the championship game on October 21 at Manheim Central.

By Toni Warfel

Friday night’s homecoming game was a beat down, ending in a shutout for the Comets over the Ephrata Mountaineers.

The Comets were coming off a three-game losing streak and aimed to blanket the Mountaineers with their effort.  They did, winning 21-0 and limiting Ephrata to 53 yards in total offense.

The game started out as predicted by sportswriters with the Comets using the workhorse of Garret Young, driving down the field on a few runs. The Comet’s drove flawlessly with a sudden halt to the drive as quarterback Adam Sahd had a missed communication and a fumbled pitch.

And, the Mountaineers recovered the ball.

From there, the game turned into a defense/special team’s battle with Penn Manor dominating. Even though Adam Sahd struggled to move the ball at quarterback in the first half, Sahd managed to clutch his punts giving the Mountaineers no short-field advantages.

Sahd booted a 61-yard punt to put the Mountaineers on their own three-yard line in the second quarter.

The Comet’s defense continued its dominance, holding the Mountaineers to three first downs all game. The Comets got the ball back and drove down field using Teon Lee’s athleticism to steamroll his way to the end zone on a 13-yard run producing the first score of the game. Comets were leading 7-0 into the halftime locker room.

Comet’s offense, run by Adam Sahd, still struggled in the second half before hooking up with his receiver, Demetrius Dixon, on a 28-yard touchdown to boost  their lead to 14-0.

A few minutes ticked off the clock as the Comets accumulated another score with Teon Lee scampering in from a yard out, sealing off the game and bringing the score to 21-0.

The Comets go on with a record of 2-3 dropping the Mountaineers to a 2-3 record as well. The Comets will face the McCaskey Tornadoes who improved to a 3-2 record midway through the season.

By Ryan Mays

Where have all the fans gone?

Although many Penn Manor school sports are becoming a bright spot in the Lancaster-Lebanon League in recent years, other sports remain rather unnoticed – and their fans are scarce.

Unlike the more popular sports like football, field hockey, lacrosse and basketball, where  hundreds attend the games, girls tennis, girls volleyball, softball and cross country can hardly round up more than a handful of loyal fans.

Sometimes a tennis match has less fans than a football practice.  Why?

Some players from the unnoticed sports believe that people don’t know about their sport.

“Nobody knows anything about girls tennis,” senior Laura Revelt, from the girl’s tennis team, said.

Words short and sweet to define the feeling these quiet sports players sometimes feel.

A member of the Penn Manor Girls Volleyball team for her fourth year, Alicia Burns, agrees with Revelt.

“The lack of support and pride for these teams are said to be lowering the performance because it doesn’t always feel like a big game,” said Burns. ”There are few people that know. It would make a bigger impact on the game if we had more people cheering us on and following us.”

“Like football,” Burns continued.  “I want to see that pride and encouragement through a sport like volleyball.  Two years ago Penn Manor Girls Volleyball were fifth in states. Who hears about that?”

The school was buzzing when the football team made it to states last year but other sports do the same with less spotlight.

Another team whose members sometimes feel “left out” is girls softball where, Brittany Wright, a senior, said she doesn’t feel students support the team.

“The school doesn’t know crap about softball,” said Wright.

Wright said the people who come and watch their softball games are parents and rarely ever students.

“I think that students coming to our softball games would have an impact on our play and make us go from a 9-11-0 season last year to at least a .500 season,” Wright added.

By Ryan Mays

Friday night’s come from behind victory for Hempfield may have given former Penn Manor coach Bob Forgrave the win he needed to turn his winless and scoreless Black Knights around.his job.

The game started out as predicted, with the Comets leading the way 7-0 with speedy Dalton Palmer’s punt return for the only score in the first half. With eight minutes left on the clock in the third quarter, tragedy struck. The Black Knights charged their way into the Comet end-zone for their first of what would eventually be 27 points.

Turnovers, missed passes, injuries and a field goal just wide of the mark all contributed to Penn Manor’s shocking 27-10 loss.

All in all, the Comets fought a hard game, on two fronts. The Penn Manor student section kept loyal fan’s spirits high, while the Comets on the field were feeling the heat.

Rivalry between the two schools has always been high, and Friday night’s game was no different. At times, the students may have seemed to be too rowdy to handle, but luckily no brawls or scuffles ensued.

Penn Manor coach Todd Mealy was contemplating reasons for the upset loss by the Comets.

“There are only 38 students playing on our team, and a number of them have injuries. I’ll be re-evaluating the team as a whole, and I will also be re-evaluating myself as a coach,” said Mealy “Maybe there was more I could have done as a coach to have won.”

By Brian Dunne, Ben Embry, Kyle Hallett, Cree Bleacher and Ryan Mays

A red hot Penn Manor field hockey squad crushed a well-ranked Hempfield field hockey team Thursday night in Landisville.

The Comets put up a big statement on Thursday with a 6-0 win, something no one saw coming.

Team captain Katie Breneman said regarding the blowout, “I didn’t expect that.”

Important players for the Comets included Shannon Sloss, who had two goals, Renee Suter who added three assists, and Emily McCoy who added a goal, 5:19 into the game.

Penn Manor Coach Matt Soto said, “We just had a heck of a good  day. We clocked on corners and on circle entries. We did a lot of good things.”

The Comets (6-0 L-L, 9-1 overall) are looking to be the favorites to win the L-L and showed that Thursday night against one of their biggest rivals.

By Jessen Smith

A Penn Manor sophomore is at the top of his high school golf team, but unfortunately its not helping the team climb to the top of the league.

At least not yet.

Mark Dano, 15, began playing golf at the age of 5 when his dad took him out with his brother.  From there, Dano played often, always getting better and better.  His dad helped coach him while Dano learned from his own mistakes.

“My brother was a big motivation for me to get better,” Dano said.

Dano’s brother, Frank, played for the Penn Manor golf team and graduated two years ago.

Dano has been playing for Penn Manor’s high school golf team since his freshman year and “wishes his team would compete.”

His skill is well ahead of everyone else, according to his own teammates.

“Our team is young and we lost six seniors last year,” said Dano, “and our skill is just not up to par.”

He says his team gets along very well, but thinks nervousness overwhelms his teammates or “they just don’t take it seriously enough.”

Nick Hartley, captain of the team, describes his team as being laid back and inconsistent.

“Some teammates don’t put forth the effort to compete.  Our team needs discipline,” Hartley said. Although he doesn’t let the blame fall on coach, Trevor Pope.
“Its up to us as a team to perform well.”

The team’s record is 6-30 and is likely to stay on their rocky course for this year, but Hartley sees a successful season from Penn Manor’s golf team in the upcoming years.

By Cree Bleacher and Kyle Hallett