SPRINGFIELD – For Springfield’s football team, fourth time was the charm in a district final.

Luke Valerio ran for three touchdowns and John Hopkins found tight end Shane Kilroy for two scores as top-seeded Springfield defeated No. 2 Chester, 24-12, in the District 1 Class 5A Friday before an overflow crowd at Springfield in a battle of Delco unbeatens.

Springfield (14-0) advances to the PIAA semifinals, where it will take on Roman Catholic next week. The Cahillites beat District 6 champ Hollidaysburg, 55-20.

No. 1 seeds had found it tough sledding in the finals. They entered Friday just 3-5 in finals dating back to 2016 (excluding the shortened 2020 tournament). Three of those losses were by Springfield teams on home turf: to Rustin, 34-2, last year; to Unionville in 2017 and to Academ

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