District 3 championship: 'Gratitude filled' Delone Catholic loses another tough title game

In a year filled with uncertainty, Delone Catholic found itself in a familiar spot: Back in the District 3 title game, this time versus Steelton-Highspire.

The Squires' last two seasons ended in heartbreak with back-to-back losses in the title game to Upper Dauphin in 2019 and York Catholic in 2018.

Friday, the Squires lost another hard fought title game, 23-13, to the Rollers in Class 1A.

The result was the same, but a different aura surrounded the locker room this year.

A feeling that can only be described as: gratitude. 

"If you would have told me back in the summer we would have a season, but it would end in the district title game, I would have taken that 10 times out of 10," Delone Catholic head coach Corey Zortman said.

"My seniors thought they weren't going to get the chance to play their senior season. They are immensely grateful."

Delone Catholic gave it their all on a cold and rainy Friday night in McSherrystown, but costly mistakes and a good defensive plan by the Rollers cost them a winnable game. 

Delone started off the game with great field position after a bad snap by Steelton gave them the ball back on 30-yard line. Two plays later, the Squires' star running back Tate Neiderer ran it for a 29-yard touchdown.

After that, the Rollers scored 16 straight unanswered points. 

The Rollers capitalized on two costly mistakes by the Squires to get up 16-7 at the half.

The first one was a fumble that put the ball back in the Rollers' hands after they had just tied up the game 7-7 on a 7-yard run by Rollers' running back Odell Greene. The fumble allowed quarterback Alex Erby to connect on a 21-yard pass to Tyrone Moore for a touchdown.

The second mistake was a pass interference penalty right before the half ended. It allowed for a field goal with zero seconds left on the clock to put the Rollers up 16-7.

The third quarter was scoreless for both sides. 

After a field goal and another touchdown by Greene put up the Rollers up 23-7, the game felt out of reach in the fourth quarter. Then, the Squires suddenly showed signs of life. 

Delone Catholic finally managed to march down the field and substitute quarterback Ryder Noel connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Michael O' Brien. 

The 2-point conversion failed.

The Squires found themselves down 13-23 with 2:55 left in the game. 

They got the chance to get the ball back with 1:30 left to go in the game after forcing a Rollers fumble.

Another crucial fumble by Neiderer put the final nail in their season. 

"We couldn't get any cohesion with the offense. We made so many mistakes early. We had the chance to go up 14 points early, and we squandered it," Zortman said. 

Rollers running back Odell Greene had 154 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. 

"(Odell's) a special runner, and he's a difference maker for them." 

The Squires have been a run-focused team all year. In this game, they only managed 45 yards on the ground. 

"They had a good game plan. They forced us to abandon the run, more or less, because they had everybody up in the line of scrimmage," Zortman said. 

Overall, the Squires had three fumbles and 125 yards in penalties. 

"We just imploded. That was the first time we did that. Just one of those nights,"  Zortman said. 

The overall sentiment of the season was a positive one, no matter the end result of this game.

"Everybody likes to talk about the three district title games and it hurts and I want it for the kids, but I am super proud," Zortman said. "There are a lot of people who would just like to play in one."