Central Dauphin wins First AAAA State Title

Central Dauphin was making their first appearance in the State Football Championships. North Penn was making their first appearance since winning their last AAAA state title in 2003 when they defeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic 37-10.

In a game that came down to a 2 yard touchdown run by Zayd Isaah with 8:08 left in the game, Central Dauphin (15-1) would win their first Class 4A Football Title in school history as they would defeat the North Penn Knights, 14-7.

In fact, this was District 3’s first AAAA state title since 1992 when Cumberland Valley beat Upper Saint Clair, 28-12, in a game played at Altoona’s Mansion Park.

Rams’ running back Drew Scales started the scoring halfway through the second quarter when he caught a flare from quarterback Brandon VaVia, for a 74 yard score. The Rams lead at halftime, 7-0.

Drew Scales would carry the ball 10 times for 109 yards.

The Knights (13-3) would tie the game up at 7 a piece, early in the fourth quarter, as Knights’ running back James Fielder would burst into the end zone from 5 yards out.

But, the Rams would answer back on their next possession, on Zayd Isaah’s 2 yard touchdown run, for a 14-7 lead.

North Penn would have a chance to retaliate but the drive would stall after three plays and a yard gain, and the Knight would punt and never possess the ball again.

The Rams would get the ball with seven minutes left in the game, and never relinquish the ball to run out the clock for the win.

Central Dauphin would mount 339 yards of total offense on the night, 265 of them coming from the rushing game. The Rams would average 5.6 yards per carry.

Scales’ teammate, Adam Hollinger would tote the pigskin 10 times for 79 yards.

North Penn would earn a total of 193 offensive yards, with most of them coming from the running back – 131 yards to be exact. Knights’ quarterback Corey Ernst would throw for 62 yards on 7 completions.

Central Dauphin quarterback Brandon LaVia would complete 2 passes for 74 yards.

In the special teams department, the Rams’ would earn 98 return yards, while the Knights would only compile 55 yards.

Neither team would have a turnover in the game.

http://www.d11football.com/news/12/18/central-dauphin-wins-first-aaaa-state-title/