2008 Hershey

Week 6

Northern Falls at Hershey Park

Stadium

Polar Bears lose early 10 point lead to upstart Trojans

October 3, 2008

Hershey 23 – Northern 16

The last time Northern visited Hershey Park Stadium, they left the field victorious after knocking off #1 seed Lower Dauphin in the 2005 Playoffs. They would not be as fortunate on this chilly, fall evening.

The Trojans, coming in with a 1-4 record after having lost 4 in a row were decided underdogs on their Homecoming night and it seemed their streak would continue after the Polar Bears scored early on a Robert James 4 yard run in the first two minutes of the game. The Bears dominated the 1^st quarter and scored again when Jake Warner hit a 26 yard field goal. Leading 10-0 after the first quarter, the Bears were put back on their heels in the second as Hershey began to methodically move the ball on them with a variety of different looks on the ground. Hershey cut Northern’s lead to 3 when QB Jake Campbell ran left into an open lane and raced 32 yards for the touchdown. The backbreaker came with the half winding down when Northern was driving again. A gadget play resulted in a Hershey interception at their own 3 yard line. In their next series, Campbell threw a bomb to the visitor’s sidelines where a blown coverage resulted in Hershey’s only completed pass of the night. Unfortunately for Northern, the play went for 95 yards. Hershey’s Harry Arndt scored on the next play from one yard out and the Trojans led 14-10 at the half.

Hershey kept the momentum in the 3^rd quarter scoring first on Arndt’s second touchdown but the Polar Bears responded on a beautiful drive resulting in a Robbie Bleiler score. Down 21-16, Coach Mauck called for a fake/2 point conversion but the attempt failed. Northern’s defense stiffened shutting down Hershey’s effective running game after that and the teams continued trading possessions. Unfortunately, the Bears just couldn’t get any rhythm going and as time wound down, Northern faced the reality of their second loss. The loss moves them to 4-2 on the year with Gettysburg on deck at Bostic Stadium next week. Coach Mauck and his team know that they have their work cut out for them but this is a young, resilient team who bounced back after a tough 2 point loss to Mechanicsburg with a 27 point win over West Perry. Gettysburg comes in after struggling early against the Bulldogs of Big Spring before pulling away.