Doug Dahms-Wilson

Football coaches often say that speed kills. Harrisburg’s speed was on full display on Saturday afternoon at Don Thomas Stadium. The fourth-seeded Cougars beat second-seeded Wilson 42-14 in the District 3-6A Championship. “Their skill kids are off the charts and they’ve got speed everywhere. Their linebackers are fast, their linemen are fast. They’re an athletic group,” said Bulldogs’ head coach Doug Dahms. Harrisburg claimed its fourth straight District 3 title and seventh overall. The (11-2) Cougars outgained Wilson 306-to-155, including 150-to-26 on the ground. Penn State commit Messiah Mickens had two short touchdown runs to put Harrisburg in front 14-0 early in the second quarter. The 6’, 200-pound junior sacked Madyx Gruber three times from his defensive end position. Nehemiah Ewell broke off a 52-yard TD run down the left sideline with 4:22 left before halftime. The (11-2) Bulldogs responded with a 58-yard drive. Gruber’s 1-yard sneak made it 21-6 with 15 seconds remaining in the first half. The extra point was no good. Jayion Lewis hit Elias Coke over the middle for a 37-yard score on the Cougars’ opening possession of the third quarter. Coke had three catches for 110 yards before leaving with an injury. The 6’3, 200-pound junior was on crutches after the game. Coke has more than twenty Division I offers, including Penn State and Michigan. Lewis was 6-of-8 for 156 yards. D’Antae Sheffey, a Syracuse commit, increased the margin to 35-6 with a 10-yard TD run midway through the third period. Quincy Brannon then took a pop pass from Lewis and raced 30 yards down the right sideline with four minutes left in the third quarter. Brannon, a senior defensive back, added a team-high six tackles. Wilson got within 42-14 on Gruber’s 22-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Mike Glover. That score came one minute into the final quarter. Gruber ended up 12-of-20 for 133 yards and two interceptions. He was under pressure most of the afternoon. Gruber threw for 2,018 yards and 25 TD this year after making the switch from wide receiver. “He’s the reason we were what we were. He was our offense, no doubt about it. Who knew he was gonna be that good,” said Dahms with a smile. Despite returning just two starters on defense and four on offense, the Bulldogs won their 29th Section 1 championship in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. They also completed their 49th consecutive winning season, a state record. “I think we grew a lot from the beginning of the year. Our underclassmen grew a lot and the senior leadership was there,” noted Dahms. He’s (196-44) over 19 seasons in West Lawn. Dahms, who started as an assistant at Wilson in 1976, owns the highest winning percentage in Berks County history.