The start of a new rivalry Upper Dauphin Area came into Pine Grove’s territory on Senior Night. Sitting in the locker with my team you could feel the intensity. They were hype, UDA never played a team that was gonna swing back. The first half was back and forth smash mouth football.

Head Coach Frank Gaffney, tells the team before the game, “We have nothing to lose, and the most dangerous man is a man with nothing to lose because he don’t care. He’s gonna get hit but he’s gonna come back a lot harder.”

The papers all expected the game to be one sided in the favor of UDA. Pine Grove came out swinging. Pine Grove went up by 6 early and tried to go for two, but came up short. Then UDA came right back an tied it up they also came up short for the two point conversion. Pine Grove scored one more time and fell short of the 2nd point conversion once again. This makes the score 12-6 Pine Grove. UDA answered right back, but this time they got the two point conversion. This made the score 12-14 UDA having the upper hand.Little time left in the second quarter UDA came up with a defensive stop. Going into offensive drive UDA scored right before the half making the score 12-22. Going into half UDA was up a score with the ball in the 3rd quarter.

Upper Dauphin was running a confusion offense. They had a couple runs break open for a big gain. They eventually went up by 2 touchdowns. It was a back and forth scoring game till the end. UDA won 20-34.

Dalton Kintzel, junior LB/RB, said, “We full sent it, but came up short. All the seniors played their hearts out and I’m glad I got to play with them one last time at home.”

It was a rough night because it was the last time those seniors will play on that field. Vinny LePre, senior Offensive Guard,  said, “Losing the last home game stings, but despite the negatives I will forever be grateful for having my teammates, my coaches, and the community always supporting me and the team the last four years.” With Pine Grove having their ups and downs this season. The team pulled a town/community together this year by improving from last year.