The Annville-Cleona football team has enjoyed another marvelous campaign. And it’s not over yet.

A Northern Lebanon Cheerleader flips as the Vikings take the field. (Travis Boyd)

It’s been a regular season filled with hard work, growth and camaraderie. Those attributes have really served the Dutchmen well on the field and on game day.

On Friday night at Fred Gahres Stadium in Fredericksburg, Annville-Cleona placed an exclamation point on its fantastic regular season by whitewashing neighbor Northern Lebanon 24-0. The Dutchmen opened a 10-point halftime margin, then tallied a pair of third-quarter touchdowns to put the outcome to rest.

The result, coupled with Lancaster Catholic’s 35-14 home triumph over Schuylkill Valley, gave Annville-Cleona a share of the Lancaster-Lebanon Section Five championship. A week earlier, the Dutchmen had suffered a narrow 14-13 defeat at the hands of Schuylkill Valley.

The victory propelled Annville-Cleona to 7-3 overall, 6-1 in Section Five and into the upcoming District Three Class AA postseason. As the top seed, the Dutchmen will host playoff games at Lebanon Alumni Stadium because of the ongoing construction at Annville-Cleona High School.

Northern Lebanon ended its year 4-6 overall and 3-4 in Section Five.

It was Cael Harter’s eight-yard touchdown jaunt that got Annville-Cleona off on the right foot against the Vikings. That gave the Dutchmen a 7-0 lead with 2:43 left in the opening quarter.

Annville-Cleona’s Cael Harter (4) blasts through a huge hole to score a touchdown. (Travis Boyd)

Then, with less than a minute to go before halftime, Annville-Cleona extended its advantage to 10-0 on a 32-yard field goal from Mina Elzek. The three-pointer resulted from a lengthy Dutchmen possession that chewed most of the second-quarter clock.

Mina Elzek (21) kicks a 32-yard field goal to give the Dutchmen a 10-0 lead. (Travis Boyd)

The Dutchmen defense was stout and steady all evening long. Annville-Cleona held the Northern Lebanon offense to a negative rushing total, as the Dutchmen outgained the Vikings 242 total yards to 43.

The shutout was the Dutchmen’s first of the season.

Annville-Cleona put the game out of reach with a pair of touchdowns 1:20 apart late in the third quarter. First, Cam Connelly scored on a two-yard run. Then, Harter picked off an errant Northern Lebanon pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown.

Annville-Cleonaโ€™s Cameron Connelly (16) looks for running room as the Vikingsโ€™ Brendan Ryan (7) breaks down to tackle him. (Travis Boyd)

On the night, Harter carried 22 times for 115 yards.

Find photos of last night’s game below.

Northern Lebanon’s Brady Ryan (25) is pulled down by the Dutchmen’s Hudson Sellers (24) after returning the opening kickoff. (Travis Boyd)
Cael Harter (4) celebrates after scoring a touchdown for the Dutchmen. (Travis Boyd)
Wyatt Mase (7) misses tackling Brendan Ryan (7) after he broke a long kickoff return. (Travis Boyd)
Myles Watson (29) gets tackled by Cael Harter (4). (Travis Boyd)
Luke Shaffer (8) crushes Dutchmen QB Cameron Connelly (16). (Travis Boyd)
Annville-Cleona head coach Matt Gingrich goes over strategy during a time-out. (Travis Boyd)
Bryce Keller (11) breaks through the Viking defense for a nice gain. (Travis Boyd)
Myles Watson (29) stops Bryce Keller (11) in his tracks with a great tackle. (Travis Boyd)
Brady Ryan (25) gets some good yards on a kickoff return. (Travis Boyd)
Jonathan Shay (41) is wide open, but the ball tips off his hands and is incomplete. (Travis Boyd)
Cael Harter (4) jars the ball loose from Brady Ryan (25), but the Vikings retain possession. (Travis Boyd)
Brendan Ryan (7) catches a short pass and tries to avoid Bryce Keller (11) and Luke Wentling (33). (Travis Boyd)
Vikings head coach Jason Rice gives the next play to Kael Erdman (4). (Travis Boyd)
Tanner Feagley (11) runs through an attempted tackle for a nice gain, but the play is called back due to a penalty. (Travis Boyd)
Cael Harter (4) cruises into the endzone after jumping the route for a Pick 6. (Travis Boyd)
Cameron Connelly (16) prepares to kick off for the Dutchmen. (Travis Boyd)
Brendan Ryan (7) catches a short pass for the Vikings. (Travis Boyd)
Moises Gonzalez (3) makes a great catch across the middle. (Travis Boyd)
Hudson Sellers (24) falls on top of a Vikings fumble. (Travis Boyd)
Moises Gonzalez (3) takes a reverse and finds open space for some good yards. (Travis Boyd)

Annville-Cleona Dutchmen

Read all our coverage of the Dutchmen here.

Roster

Head Coach: Matt Gingrich

Assistant Coaches: Joe Heckard, Greg Keener, Joe Shay, Jon Bopp, Drew Speraw, Cody Dodson, Jonathan Lum, Mike Miller

Jersey NumberNameGradePosition
1Miles Riehl11WR/DB
2Cash Watson12WR/DB
3Carson Grow12WR/DB
4Cael Harter12RB/DB
6Noah Riehl10WR/DB
7Wyatt Mase10QB/DB
8Liam Pulaski12WR/DB
9Gavin Martens10WR/DB
10Jonas Cupak11WR/DB
11Bryce Keller11RB/DB
13Ryan Barrientos11RB/LB
14Jonathan Moran10RB/LB
16Cameron Connelly12QB/DB
17Kaeli Pennington11WR/DB
19Yamaliel Navarro9RB/DB
21Mina Elzek12K
22Aidan Blauch11WR/DB
24Hudson Sellers10RB/LB
31Dominic Casciotti11WR/DB
33Luke Wentling10RB/LB
35Jack Getty11WR/DB
36Ivan Kreider11TE/LB
41Jonathon Shay11RB/DL
44Levi Heckard10TE/DL
50Dan Bright-Walck10OL/DL
51Alex Hemperly11OL/LB
52Damien Miller12OL/DL
53Anthony Gardner12OL/DL
54Malacai Victa11OL/DL
55Travis Wilk10OL/DL
59Jordan Nickens10OL/DL
64Armani Santos10OL/DL
68Nathanael Sanchez10OL/DL
70Blake Meyer10OL/DL
72Alec Tetzlaff12OL/DL
75Carter Smith12OL/DL
76Preston Bomgardner11OL/DL
77Jaxon Speece9OL/DL
87Darrian Holloway12TE/LB
89Timothy Montijo12RB/DL

Northern Lebanon Vikings

Read all our coverage of the Vikings here.

Roster

Head Coach: Jason Rice

Assistant Coaches: Mark Rice, Josh Thompson, John Heisey, Josh Wolfe, Rusty Wallace, Hunter Wallace, Collin Wall

Jersey NumberNameGradePosition
2Bryan Mitzel10WR/DB
3Moises Gonzalez12WR/LB
4Kael Erdman10QB/LB
5Julian Rivera9QB/WR/DB
7Brendan Ryan11WR/DB
8Luke Shaffer12TE/LB
10Bryce Yocum9TE/LB
11Tanner Feagley12WR/DE
12Kaleb Barr10WR/DB
14Riley Messinger11K/P
17Owen Dohner9WR/DE
18Sincere Perez10RB/LB
19Garrett Bohn11K
20Jack Kleisath9RB/LB
21Corey Jackson11RB/DE
22Kade Erdman12WR/DB
23Eli Ostermayer12RB/LB
25Brady Ryan9WR/DB
27Jaxin Bush9WR/LB
29Myles Watson11RB/DB
30Raheim Rushton11WR/DE
42Joe Billig9WR/DB
43Jasper Uhler10WR/DB
51Matthew Chernich10OL/DL
52Russell Beers11OL/DL
55Kyle Hitz12OL/LB
57Eli Thompson11OL/DE
60Christian Peiffer10OL/DL
62Hayden Adams11OL/DL
66Caleb Wright10OL/DL
68Bryce Wimer11OL/DL
73Ethan Hughes11OL/DL
74Kale Loser11OL/DL
77Andrew Stohler11OL/DL

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Jeff Falk is a seasoned journalist based in Lebanon, PA. He's a graduate of Cedar Crest High School, Penn State University, and a lifelong resident of Lebanon, born and raised. Currently, he is a feature writer for Engle Publishing in Lancaster, the editor of LebCoSports.com, sports director at WLBR...

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