Manheim Central seniors shine one last time, help Team Lancaster win Tri-County football all-star game

Talk about going out on top.

Manheim Central's football season last fall didn’t end quite like the Barons were hoping, although Central won the Section Two title and went back to the District Three Class 4A championship game for the second year in a row.

But that’s where it ended.

Five Central pigskin senior standouts got one last shot at a little redemption Friday night, and none of them disappointed.

Zac Hahn had a pair of touchdown passes and earned game MVP honors; Sonny Callahan had an interception, setting up Brycen Armold’s TD run; Drew Greiner booted five extra points; and Bode Sipel had a TD catch and he returned an interception for another score.

That’s a lot of damage, and that Barons’ talented quintet helped Team Lancaster blank Team Berks-Lebanon 35-0 in the 22nd Tri-County All-Star Football Game at Central’s steamy Rettew Stadium.

“It’s sad to say goodbye,” Sipel said, “but it was great to play one more game with those guys.”

On their home turf, no less.

“I can’t say my goal going in was to get all of these guys from Manheim Central touchdowns,” Cocalico skipper Bryan Strohl, Team Lancaster’s coach, said with a chuckle. “But those guys are all playmakers, and they have quite a program for a reason. It was fun having them on our side. They were fun kids to work with, too.”

2024 L-L Tri-County football all-star game [photos]

Team Lancaster lit it up through the air; Hahn clicked on 7 of 10 passes for 135 yards, with a 9-yard TD zip to Sipel to get the scoring started at 8:31 of the first quarter. Later, Hahn heaved a 21-yard TD strike to Cocalico’s Aaryn Longenecker to cap the scoring with 7:04 to play.

Garden Spot dual-threat QB Kye Harting also thrived up top. He completed 4 of 5 attempts for 107 yards, including a pair of 40-yard completions to Lampeter-Strasburg’s Dean Herr on the same drive late in the first quarter.

The first pass was for a first down; the second hit Herr in stride for a TD and a 14-0 lead.

On Berks-Lebanon’s ensuing drive, Callahan picked off Fleetwood QB Jack Riffle, setting up Armold’s 7-yard TD run, giving Team Lancaster a cozy 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Team Lancaster had a pair of second-half scores to ice it. Sipel struck first, jumping a route and picking off Riffle. He raced the other way, got a great down-field block from Cocalico’s Bryce Nash on the last man to beat — Riffle — and his riveting 87-yard pick-6 gave Team Lancaster a 28-0 cushion late in the third quarter.

“I just tried to turn it on there,” Sipel said. “I saw the quarterback, and our one corner, Bryce Nash, told me to cut, and I cut. It was all green from there. It was exciting.”

Hahn capped it, finding Longenecker alone in the back of the end zone for a 21-yard TD dart midway through the fourth.

Team Lancaster preserved its shutout, turning Berks-Lebanon over on downs in the waning seconds. Team Lancaster allowed just 184 total yards, and Berks-Lebanon struggled in the penalty department with nine flags — and, in the end, no end zone celebrations.

Sipel got a pair of those, including his scintillating interception return.

“It’s great, especially because it’s the last time I’ll play on this field,” he said. “It’s really sad to leave it now. But ending it with a play like that was amazing.”