Pitt Unstoppable in McDevitt Win

September 7- In an incredible individual performance, Bishop McDevitt Running Back Jesse Pitt led the Crusaders to a 42-23 thrashing of Central Dauphin East tonight at Landis Field. Pitt stunned the Panthers (and a local television audience) by rushing and receiving for over 300 yards and 5 touchdowns in the first half alone. In addition, Pitt was McDevitt’s leading tackler from his linebacker spot and added a 71 yard kickoff return. The Crusaders and their rugged star were unstoppable tonight, unofficially tallying over 500 total yards and 23 first downs, as they improved their 2002 record to 2-0. It was their league first win of the season in the tough Commonwealth Division.

Surprisingly, CD East drew first blood, capitalizing on a Pitt fumble at the McDevitt 20 in the game’s first series. After the Crusaders pushed the Panthers back 10 yards in 3 plays, East kicker Nate Royer boomed a 48 yard field goal to give the home team a short-lived 3-0 lead. On the second play of the next series, Pitt broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and burst up the middle for a 70 yard TD scamper. Freshman Jeremy Ricker converted his first PAT of the year and the Crusaders led 7-3. East answered with an 8 play, 63 yard scoring drive, capped by a 10 yard touchdown pass from QB Josh Robertson to a wide-open Corey Bishop, to retake a 10-7 lead. The Crusaders received a break on the next series. Starting at their own 20, McDevitt’s drive stalled at the East 44 and Ricker was sent in to punt. But the Panthers where called for a roughing-the-kicker penalty, moving the ball to the 29. Pitt then carried 8 straight times, the final run a 2 yard blast into the end zone. After missing the conversion, the Crusaders ended the wild first quarter with a 13-10 lead.

McDevitt put together an impressive 8 play, 80 yard scoring drive to open the second quarter. Wide Receiver Mike Goldston started it off with 30 yards in 2 carries. The running of Pitt and Quarterback Marcus Stone then took the ball to the 2. Pitt bulled in from there, and, after a 2 point conversion pass from Stone to Mike Dawson, the lead stretched to 21-10. The Crusader defense, led by Linebacker Josh Martinko and End Jed Baker, forced a Panther 3-and-out, and a short punt put McDevitt back in business at the East 44. 3 plays later Pitt was at it again, breaking 3 tackles on the way to a 31 yard scoring jaunt. When the Crusader defense stuffed CD East yet again and the Panthers responded with a 58 yard punt to the McDevitt 16, the stage was set for the most remarkable play of the game. Pitt took the handoff deep in the Crusader backfield and slipped through a nice hole to the 25. He then reversed his field twice, leaving Panther defenders spinning, and streaked in the open down the sideline. Pitt had one defender to beat at the East 30, but a brutal stiff-arm took care of him. The 84 yard touchdown run earned the 6’2”, 208 lb. Senior a standing ovation from the McDevitt faithful and gave the Crusaders a 35-10 lead. East scored again before the end of the half, when WR Terrance Williams slipped behind the Crusader secondary and caught a Robertson floater for a 55 yard TD. The half ended with a light-headed Pitt being helped to the McDevitt locker room and the Crusaders holding a 35-17 lead.

The second half was played at a much less hectic pace than the first, with McDevitt content to protect the lead and East generally ineffective against the improved Crusader defense. Interceptions by DB’s Ryan Williams and Thomas Dunn ended 2 Panther drives, but CD East did manage a final score in the fourth quarter on a 9 yard Robertson scamper. McDevitt scored in the third quarter, capping a 7 play, 71 yard drive with a 14 yard, Stone to Vince Beamer touchdown pass. Coach Jeff Weachter was content to run the ball with the reserves in the fourth quarter, with Dawson (4 carries, 24 yards), Cedric Bowling (1 for 5), Lesean McCoy (3 for 7), Jonathan Butler (2 for 8), Anwar Curtis (2 for 6) and Girard Oliver (1 for 9) all contributing.

Pitt’s final statistics were amazing: 27 carries for 315 yards and 5 touchdowns, and 3 receptions for 87 yards. Stone threw for 100 yards and 1 touchdown, completing 5 of 17. He added 48 yards on the ground on 6 carries. Goldston had 2 carries for 30 yards. Beamer had the 14 yard touchdown catch and Tight End Kevin Blackwell had 1 grab for -1. McDevitt’s next game is a crucial one: Cumberland Valley, the defending District 3 AAAA champs, travel to McDevitt Field on September 14. The game, which will be televised regionally on WLYH 15, will start at 10:30 AM.

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

I was a little disappointed in the passing game; our timing was off. I thought we had guys open, but we’ll fix that. I thought late in the second quarter we let up a little bit and let them get back in it, but that offensive line and Jesse Pitt are unbelievable. We feel we can wear almost anybody down, and that’s what our game plan was. You know, I’ve had some great ones (running backs), Tommy Long, Dave Dawson, but man, what did he have, over 400 total yards? Long and Dawson both had games like that but I don’t think the got that much yardage. With Cumberland Valley coming up, we’ve got to get a little bit better defensively, and we have to get the passing game going.

Assistant Coach Dave Weachter

The running game came around. They were taking the pass away from us by playing us in bump-and run. Obviously Jesse did what he did, but our fullbacks blocked and the offensive line did a great job. With Cumberland Valley, what they do isn’t going to be a surprise to us. That’s the toughest thing about playing them: even though you know what offense and defense they’re going to be in, they do everything so well that you’ve got to match all the things that they do.

Assistant Coach Jake Minnich

Coaching at McDevitt is a lot of fun. The kids are great, very polite, very courteous, and I’m having an awesome time. They’re good to work with, very coachable kids. Cumberland Valley should be a tight ball game, a real tight ball game. They’re always very well prepared; Tim Rimphel does a very good job with them.

OL C.J. Gruber

I think we did well, but we allowed too many points on our defense. That’s something we really have to work on, especially with Cumberland Valley coming up this week. But our offense looked sharp; we have to work on the passing game a little bit but the running game is really on target tonight. Their defensive tackles were tough, they come out really low and they have good team speed, but we handled them pretty good.

OL Jamie Thomas

I think we did really well tonight. We had a couple of flaws here and there, but, overall I think we did a good job. We had to send a message tonight that we’re not going to take them lightly and we did that. Cumberland Valley is going to be a tough match. We have to work hard in practice this week and we’ll see what happens next Saturday morning.

WR/DB Vince Beamer

Their offense gave us a tough match tonight. I think we were overconfident a little bit but we came through, we got it together and did what we had to do to win. I can’t wait for Cumberland Valley next week. We’ll see what happens game time.

RB/LB Jessse Pitt

I’m not tired at all. I just kept thinking, run, run ‘till you can’t run any more. I got a little sick at the end of the half. I overate a little, a lot of chicken and stuff, too much grease. The o-line did a great job. There were big holes tonight, especially on the traps. Cumberland Valley is a winnable game. It’s going to be tough, but it’s a winnable game.

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