The Hagerstown football team made the long trip to Berne on Friday, Nov. 8, to face South Adams for the 1A No. 44 sectional championship. It was the first meeting between the two schools in football. The Starfires, members of the Allen County Conference, entered the contest as the 10th-ranked team in the final 1A coaches poll.
The Starfires are a pass-first team behind the arm of their senior quarterback, Tytus Lehman. Lehman entered the game with 2,474 yards passing for the season and 5,324 yards for his career.
Knowing that the Starfires planned to throw the ball and stopping them from doing it was a huge challenge for the Hagerstown defense. Playing on their home field, the Starfires were confident and aggressive from the opening kick.
On the fourth play from scrimmage, slightly less than 90 seconds into the game, Lehman threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Wes Summersett. Manny Juarez added the extra point to give South Adams a 7-0 lead. Six minutes later, Lehman again connected with Summersett on a 49-yard touchdown pass and Juarez added the PAT to extend the lead to 14-0 while the Tigers struggled to generate any offense.
Nine seconds into the second quarter, Lehman threw his third TD pass, a 10-yard strike to Will Patterson to make the score 20-0 but the PAT kick was blocked.
The Tigers started to fight back. Graham Vinson threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Schmitz with 9:05 remaining in the second quarter. Cale Schmitz added the PAT to make the score 20-7.
The Tigers tightened their defense attempting to slow the Starfire offense. The Starfires knocked on the door with a first and goal twice during the game, but the Tiger defense made goal-line stands both times, taking over on downs on the one yard line. The Tigers were forced to punt the ball away with 56 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Starfires started at the 20-yard line and methodically marched down field, finally scoring on a pass from Lehman to Jax Wanner with 11 seconds remaining in the first half. Lehman tossed a pass to Noland Colpaert for a two-point conversion to propel South Adams to a 28-7 halftime lead.
The Tigers lined up to receive the third quarter kick, but the ball touched a Hagerstown player and the Starfires recovered. On the next play, Lehman threw a 32-yard TD pass to Derek McKean. Juarez added the PAT to extend the Starfire lead to 35-7 only seven seconds into the period.
Three plays later the Starfires intercepted a Tiger pass, and four plays later Lehman threw another TD pass to Patterson. Juarez added the PAT to make the score 42-7 to trigger a running clock. The Starfires never scored again. Vinson threw a touchdown pass to Isaac Schmitz with six minutes remaining in the game. Cale Schmitz added the PAT to make the final score 42-14.
Lehman was the star of the game. The 6-foot-3-inch senior completed six touchdown passes and threw for a total of 370 yards. Summersett and Patterson both caught two touchdown passes. McKean and Wanner each caught one.
Isaac Schmitz scored both Hagerstown touchdowns and his brother Cale Schmitz kicked both extra points.
The Starfires will continue their quest for a state title when they travel to Denver, Indiana, on Friday, Nov. 14, to play North Miami for the regional title.
Hagerstown head coach Scott Snodgrass reflected on the game. “For us to win this game, we would have had to be error-free and keep momentum for four quarters, and we couldn’t do it,” Snodgrass said. “South Adams is a very good team. Our kids played their hearts out and I am very proud of them. There are hundreds of teams around the state who did not have the opportunity to play for a sectional title tonight.”
It was the last game in a Hagerstown football uniform for seniors Leyton Berger and Isaac Schmitz.
“I cannot say enough about our two seniors,” Snodgrass said. “They are fine young men who will accomplish whatever they choose to accomplish in life. They are both honest, trustworthy kids with integrity. It has been an honor to coach them.”
South Adams (9-3) 14 14 14 0 42
Hagerstown (5-7) 0 7 0 7 14
A version of this article appeared in the November 12 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.