Manheim Central coach accuses Penn Hills of ‘cheap shot’ after player injured on final play

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, December 8, 2018 | 4:00 AM

An injured Manheim Central player left Hersheypark Stadium’s turf on a cart Friday night, and afterward his coach accused Penn Hills players of taking cheap shots.

Barons junior Clay Bedi was injured with 3 seconds left as Manheim Central attempted an on-side kick. Penn Hills recovered the kick and won the PIAA Class 5A championship 36-31.

However, the game was halted for an extended period as medical personnel attended to Bedi. The final 3 seconds were eventually erased from the clock.

“He took a headshot from one of those (Penn Hills) guys,” Manheim Central coach Dave Hahn said. “There were a couple of headshots from those guys. That (ticked) me off. That was (expletive). He’s hurting. Hopefully he’ll be OK. He’ll be OK.”

Asked if he thought the hit was a cheap shot, Hahn said yes.

“Not thought, I know it was a cheap shot,” Hahn said, “and I’m not happy about it. … We had a kid that ran straight across the field and just plugged him in the head.”

Hahn also accused Penn Hills of targeting his quarterback’s head.

“If one of my kids did that, his (butt) would be off the field,” Hahn said.

Penn Hills coach Jon LeDonne said he didn’t see the hit on the kickoff, but believed there was no intent to injure Bedi.

“We tell our guys if the ball’s over your head, go block somebody,” LeDonne said. “I’m told that’s what we did. It’s unfortunate the kid got hurt but it’s not like anything was intentional.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Penn Hills