Surely it couldn’t happen again, could it? It would be like getting struck by lightning while holding the winning Powerball ticket, right? Right?
Like most every team that takes to the field in the autumnal months, there’s always that one signature win that you can center the story of your season around. For the 2026 Donegal Indians, while they most certainly hope there are many more wins left to be had out there on the remainder of their regular season slate, the green and white from Mount Joy already checked off that landmark victory last week when Leeman Baughman snagged the game-winning touchdown reception with one second remaining off fellow senior classmate, quarterback Chase Marshall, for a pulsating 26-20 triumph over their next door neighbors from Columbia last week to win the “Battle of the Rock”, a victory which saw the Indians surge out of the chute for a 2-0 start on the campaign.
Simply put, if the green-clad fans who had assembled at the Donegal Athletic Complex this Friday were expecting the same type of thrilling show to be replicated on this their home turf, that might be asking a bit too much. Then again, with Donegal’s opponent this week, Annville-Cleona, one of the prohibitive favorites to challenge for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Five crown this year, descending upon Mount Joy, the chances of either team being able to run away and hide from the other in blowout fashion were not all that likely to say the very least. So at least that rose the potential of things perhaps.
Sure enough though, somehow, some way, once those same fans who entered hours earlier were then leaving the stadium gates once this game on Friday night had concluded, there was a sense of agreement upon the masses – this was a rare circumstance where the sequel might here have actually been better than the original version.
Then again, drama figured to be just about the very last element this game would contain given the way in which Donegal made an emphatic first impression on the visiting Dutchmen.
In fact, it took the homestanding Indians, donning their camo colored unis on this, the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, all of two offensive plays to score as Chase Marshall flung a pass out near the sideline to a waiting Jacir Johnson before the senior wideout made a man miss and then promptly trotted home to the endzone after free and clear for the 69-yard pitch and catch touchdown, making it a 6-0 Donegal lead a mere 2:24 into the contest.
From there, after history once again repeated itself in the form of the Donegal defensive troops holding Annville-Cleona to nothing more than three plays and a punt, a second Marshall TD toss in as many drives would follow suit, this of the 33-yard variety to tight end Colton Houck, upping the Indians’ cushion to a baker’s dozen following Houck’s PAT as the senior duo had helped the hosts zoom out to a 13-0 advantage with now 5:37 left to play in the opening stanza and the visitors from Lebanon County knocked back on their collective heels.
But it went from bad to worse as far as the Dutchmen contingent were concerned.
This time around, a punt to conclude A-C’s ensuing offensive possession would not be in the cards. Worse off, a fumble on the first play of the series instead, pounced on by Donegal’s Angel Mendez, saw the Indians’ offensive unit trot back onto the field, this time only 22 yards from paydirt.
And if you’re sensing a theme here, yes, this would indeed be another case of the Donegal offense keeping that high clip of efficiency alive and well as a nice mix of Marshall-designed QB runs, along with some untimely Annville-Cleona penalties added on top, eventually helped set up what would be Chase Marshall’s third touchdown pass of the opening quarter as the Donegal signal-caller hooked up with Nysaiah DeJesus for the 10-yard touchdown toss with DeJesus then promptly running in the subsequent two-point conversion attempt to boot, making it a surprising 21-0 Indians’ buffer in this matchup of two-evenly matched teams once the final 1:57 ticked off the first quarter clock following this latest and greatest Donegal scoring punch.
In some ways though, perhaps the final play of the opening frame was a harbinger of things yet to come.
From Annville-Cleona’s perspective, they certainly hoped so considering the Dutchmen had successfully picked up their initial first down of the entire game on said play once the police siren-style buzzer on the first quarter sounded. Finally, after perhaps just even getting a chance to exhale and breathe deep once they were able to extend a drive for the first time up until that point, the Dutchmen began to author one of their signature processions down the field.
First, a successful fourth down conversion via the legs of junior quarterback, John Ditzler, before a later third down conversion allowed the A-C offensive unit to remain on the field following a Donegal horse collar penalty, all of which preceded a wonderfully-executed option pitch from Ditzler to senior back, Devon Englehart, as the pair’s connection on 3rd & 2 moved the ball down to the Indians’ 5-yard line. For the punctuation mark, those honors would be bestowed upon Englehart as his 2-yard touchdown plunge trimmed the Donegal lead down to a 21-7 difference following a Bennett Putt PAT with 6:52 left in the opening half.
Here though, inside the second quarter, the fortunes of the two squads promptly did an about face.
On the ensuing Donegal offensive drive following A-C’s first score, ironically enough the only time during the entire second quarter in which the Indians would have an offensive series as fate would have it, a quick three-and-out helped lay the groundwork for another potential Dutchmen trek with points in sight.
And a successful venture it would prove to be.
In this drive, namely aided by a pair of successful third down conversions, first via the legs of A-C junior running back, Danny Shay, who plowed his way forward to move the sticks on 3rd & 2 at the Donegal 43-yard line, later followed up by Ditzler dropping back and finding freshman athlete, Tyler Gingrich, for the 9-yard gainer on a 3rd & 5 down to the Indians’ 35-yard line, the visitors were rolling downhill. And fast.
So fast in fact that a mere 52 seconds would be left outstanding on the second quarter timer following a 13-yard Devon Englehart touchdown jaunt as Englehart’s second TD run of the quarter was capped off by Bennett Putt’s second PAT as well, trimming the Donegal lead down to a 21-14 difference, and an entirely different wave of momentum and energy suddenly sweeping through the stadium confines.
However, 52 seconds was more than enough time for Leeman Baughman to make a significant imprint on the game’s proceedings. Well, both here and now, but later on as well.
Here, with things beginning to tilt towards Annville-Cleona’s direction, the Donegal senior multipurpose weapon flashed his skills via the kick return game following the A-C score inside of the final minute as Baughman picked up the bounding ball and immediately scooted 70 yards for the kickoff return touchdown which not only helped the Indians’ lead balloon out to a much more comfortable 28-14 margin come the intermission, but it also threw a bucket of cold water on the Dutchmen’s collective psyche as the teams retired to their respective corners for the halftime respite following a fun first half skirmish.
Suffice to say, for as wildly different as the first two quarters had felt with both teams largely taking ownership of one quarter exclusively for themselves without any interest in sharing, the third quarter would be just as wonky in its own kind of way.
13, 9, 21. For those would the Annville-Cleona yard lines in which Donegal would either end or begin drives inside the third frame on Friday night. What’s more impressive though is the fact that the high-flying Indians’ attack found back in the first quarter would be able to net 0 points off any of that very same opportune field position as the Dutchmen defense rose up to each and every challenge, holding Donegal on downs in all three inauspicious scenarios asked of them.
And so, with nearly the entire third quarter of play taking place exclusively inside one quadrant of the field, that same 28-14 Donegal buffer stood in place come the start of the game’s final act. An act that was worth staying for and easily worth the price of admission.
Without much in the way of debate, the Leelan Baughman touchdown trot just prior to the halftime recess figured to always remain an albatross inside the game’s final 24 minutes. Sure enough, look no further than its key difference in the game’s narrative once A-C senior running back, Yama Navarro, dashed his way for a 13-yard touchdown run to make it a 28-21 ballgame with 10:33 remaining, a run which would have knotted things up had the guests not given up that aforementioned Baughman kickoff return.
Then, after once again seeing the Indians’ offense remain stuck in neutral with the hosts going three-and-out on their ensuing offensive series, the Dutchmen went back to work with that actual potential stalemate on their mind.
All told, in a drive that featured all the hallmarks of a prototypical Annville-Cleona drive, leaning on the offensive line with a series of run plays designed to either beat you up mentally and physically by either going up the gut, or expelling even more of your emotion by scheming you up outside and dashing around the ends, the exclamation mark on this eventual 86-yard scoring drive over the course of 3:08 on the game clock came via the air as spectacular play-action call while inside of a terrible situation – 4th & 17 at the Donegal 20-yard line – resulted in John Ditzler finding a wide open Max Ortwien who had escaped all by his lonesome behind the Indians’ defense, as the pair of A-C hoopers helped knot this game up on the football field at 28-28 with 6:08 remaining.
Some call it a two-minute drive. Some call it a four-minute drive. Whatever version you fancy, rest assured that Donegal wanted this to a six-minute drive upcoming that would allow them to win this game in walk off fashion for the second consecutive week if they had their druthers about it.
Finally, after either being held on downs and/or being relegated to nothing more than three plays and out on every series since halftime, Donegal’s offense at long last showed it’s same flash and sizzle that had taken the game by storm back in the opening stanza.
Sparked by a handful of designed quarterback runs via Chase Marshall that paired quite nicely alongside totes by Nysaiah DeJesus, whatever had recently ailed Donegal offensively became an afterthought, especially once the Indians converted a 3rd & 4 play at the Annville-Cleona 36-yard line, from Marshall to DeJesus no less, giving the hosts a fresh set of downs and time quickly becoming the foremost factor.
Ironically, just as A-C had down on the drive previous, the shoe was on the other foot in due time as it was then Donegal’s turn to ante up and covert a critical fourth down conversion, this of the 11-yard variety, once Annville-Cleona senior interior lineman, Jaxon Speece, burst through the Indians’ offensive line and devoured the 3rd & 4 play before it could get started, setting up a 4th & 11 following Speece’s 7-yard tackle for loss.
And just as ironically, there too was a void left in the middle of the defense in this instance as well considering how Chase Marshall scanned his options on said 4th & 11 play before taking off and running without much resistance in the immediacy of the moment, allowing the Indians to prolong this drive with the ball now resting at the A-C 20-yard line following Marshall’s scramble with now just a tick over one minute left in regulation.
Exactly seven days prior, a Marshall to Baughman TD toss in the game’s final minute served as the eventual difference-maker. And sure enough, probably almost eerily similar to even the time of day found seven days prior, a Chase Marshall to Leelan Baughman touchdown strike would yet again be the reason in which Donegal would end the game with more points than their opposition by the end of the night.
For this round of dramatics, a wheel route lobbed up from Marshall to Baughman in the back corner of the endzone that fluttered perfectly into Baughman’s waiting mitts from 11 yards out saw the home stands understandably erupt into a tizzy as their team had just found ownership of a 34-28 lead with all of 21 seconds remaining in this wildly dramatic contest.
Needless to say, while maybe labeling it as a “miracle” required of Annville-Cleona to try and extend this game might be a bit of much, the Dutchmen certainly had opportunities left that could only be described as few and far between given the circumstances. One option though – the hook and ladder.
However, while the Dutchmen’s best laid plans would indeed net points, it would be for the other side as Donegal senior lineman, Chase Cornelius, took the pitch that quite literally was thrown directly to him in the fracas of Annville-Cleona trying any last ditch measure of potential heroics, with Cornelius’ fumble recovery for the score on the game’s final play being the capper on a 40-28 Donegal triumph over A-C for the Indians’ second straight heart-stopping win in as many weeks at the office to vault them out to a 3-0 record.
Without much in the way of debate, absent of these three victories to begin the season, two of which came on the Indians’ final offensive play from scrimmage, the Donegal Indians are quickly becoming maybe the foremost darling of the initial stages of Lancaster-Lebanon League football story in 2026. Keep in mind, this is the same program that up until Friday night has not only failed to start a season at 3-0 in over two decades, but this is the same program that just two years ago was forced to forfeit its game against Twin Valley at halftime while down by a 49-0 count due to a lack of adequate bodies able to compete for the remainder of the contest. And while the Indians’ roster size in terms of the actual numbers still won’t make you do a double-take or anything these days, it’s what you can’t see that is making all the difference.
With first-year head coach John Manion steering the Indians’ ship these days, the same coach that turned Lampeter-Strasburg into the perennial powerhouse that it still is after 23 years at the helm of the Pioneers’ program, the size of fight, will, and sheer determination that has been instilled – along with a revamped and updated offensive scheme — is something that cannot adequately be measured when assessing Donegal. Or, perhaps it can, considering how the Indians are now off to the program’s best start since anyone currently playing for it had even been born, and how all their victories thus far have come within one possession games.
On the other side, for Annville-Cleona, a 1-2 start was most certainly not on the preseason plans for Matt Gingrich’s squad coming into the year. That said, with a new lease on life upcoming in the form of section play, which will start next week in earnest with Lancaster Catholic traveling north to tangle with these same Dutchmen, A-C nonetheless remains a key cog in that divisional discussion. With highly-talented skill position guys the likes of which are paired nicely with big bodies up front in the trenches that quite frankly most any team in any section would love to have at their disposal, there’s no reason not to believe that even despite this somewhat slow start, magnified perhaps by the way in which A-C saw its record morph into 1-2 by the end of the Friday night as opposed to what could have been 2-1, these same Dutchmen can rightfully stake their claim as one of the L-L’s five best programs come seasons’ end — by calling itself a section champion.