RAMS SURVIVE SHOWDOWN, 23-21

October 4- The most highly anticipated high school football game in the state lived up to its billing tonight, as the Central Dauphin Rams scored with 6 seconds left to slip by Bishop McDevitt, 23-21, at jam-packed Landis Field. The estimated 12,000 fans in attendance were treated to an intense, hard-hitting game that featured 4 lead changes in the 4^th quarter. The Crusaders were crippled by the loss of premier Running Back Jesse Pitt to a knee injury in the first quarter, yet managed to keep close to the top-ranked Rams (6-0, 4-0 in the Mid Penn Commonwealth Division) until McDevitt Quarterback Marcus Stone revved up the passing game in the final stanza. Despite their first loss of the year, McDevitt (5-1, 4-1) has a legitimate chance of reaching the District 3 AAAA playoffs, provided they win the remainder of their games.

The game began in an eerie fog, and featured explosive first quarter action. Pitt took the opening kickoff and bulled his way to the CD 48. On the first play from scrimmage, Pitt burst through a big hole on the right side and dashed to the 10, where CD Safety Brett Wise stripped the ball. Michael Mitchell alertly pounced on the fumble on the 7, and then Pitt carried for 2. On the next play, Stone fumbled the snap, a problem that would haunt the Crusaders throughout the night. Zack Stank recovered for the Rams. CD then moved smartly to the 44 on 6 plays, using shifty Tailback Ardon Bransford. From there Bransford took a counter through the Crusader defense for a 56 yard touchdown, and the PAT made the score 7-0, CD. Starting at their own 30, McDevitt answered quickly. After a 6 yard run, Pitt shot through another huge hole and raced untouched to pay dirt. Pedro Mora knotted the score at 7 with the PAT. The game settled down from there as the fog lifted. The Crusaders benefited from an effective pass rush keyed by Defensive Ends Cedric Bowling and Jed Baker, and Linebacker Doug Ritter. Pitt left the game on the Crusader’s second defensive series and, except for one carry in the second quarter, was done for the night. The Rams put together a 9 play scoring drive that ended in a 27 yard Tony Bernatos field goal to start the second quarter to take a 10-7 lead. Then McDevitt, in disarray after the Pitt injury, began to rally. On 3^rd-and-11 from the McDevitt 19, Stone found Wide Receiver Vince Beamer for a 51 yard strike to the Ram 30. On the next play Stone recovered a fumbled snap. Next, Stone hooked up with Beamer for 22 yards to the 8, but the drive ended when the Crusaders fumbled another snap and Stank got his second recovery. After McDevitt held, Lesean McCoy fumbled Bernatos’ punt and CD reclaimed possession at the Crusader’s 35. Aviles and Ritter flattened Mike Probst on a sack to end the threat, and the half ended with Central Dauphin clinging to a 10-7 lead.

Bransford returned the second half kickoff to the 45 for the Rams, and then the officials tacked on 15 yards for a late hit. It took CD 8 plays to move to the McDevitt 10, where Bernatos converted another 27 yard chip shot to stretch the lead to 13-7. The rest of the third quarter consisted of stellar defensive play by both sides, as the teams traded punts twice. The Crusaders found themselves facing a 4^th-and-1 at the CD 45 as the fourth quarter began. Stone ran a keeper for the first down, and then 2 McCoy carries moved the ball to the 41. On the next play, Stone found Beamer along the left sideline between 2 Ram defenders for a 41 yard touchdown pass and, after the Mora PAT, a 14-13 lead. When the McDevitt defense held CD to a 3-and-out on the next series, the Crusaders were looking to work the clock after taking over at their own 11 with 9:03 left. But once again the fumble bug bit the visitors, and the opportunistic Stank gathered his in his third fumble recovery.  3 Ram plays yielded nothing, so Bernatos booted the gift field goal at 8:04 to reclaim the lead for CD, 16-14. McDevitt’s next series was a disaster. After gaining a first down, Stone was sacked 3 times in a row by the inspired CD defense. An exhausted Stone then punted 15 yards and the Rams took over on the McDevitt 35, looking to put the game away. The McDevitt defense rose to the occasion once again, however, denying the Rams and forcing the 7^th Bernatos punt of the night. When the ball rolled dead at the Crusader’s 5 yard line, McDevitt had 2:54 to go 95 yards. They did it in 4 plays. After moving to the 15 for a first down, Stone dropped back and threw a 45 yard strike to Sophomore Wide Receiver Justin Taylor, who had slipped behind the Ram’s prevent coverage. Taylor hauled it in and outraced 2 CD defenders to the end zone for the 85 yard scoring play as the McDevitt fans went wild. After Mora’s PAT there was 1:49 to play, and McDevitt had reclaimed the lead, 21-16.

But the Rams, to their credit, responded like champs. Bransford’s kickoff return carried to the Ram 48, and then Bransford took a Probst screen pass to the McDevitt 24. 3 consecutive incomplete passes found CD facing a 4^th-and-10, so Bransford was called on again and he responded. Only a touchdown-saving tackle at the 3 by Mike Dawson kept Bransford from scoring with .51 left. First down: Bransford for 0. Second down: Bransford dropped for a 3 yard loss by Josh Martinko. Third down: incomplete pass. Now, with 11 seconds left, Probst and Scott Moore ended it with a perfect 6 yard hookup for the touchdown.  The crowd rose to their feet at the conclusion of the struggle, honoring 2 teams that gave it their all.

McDevitt’s next game is Saturday, October 12^th, against Chambersburg. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 noon.

QUOTES

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

I’m proud of our kids for not giving up. It would have been easy, when we got down and we lost Jesse, to give up. But our kids are competitors; they did a great job. We came out in a 50 defense and we thought we could surprise them, but I guess unless we close down the Civil War Museum the week of the game, well, I guess we can’t surprise people. We went back to a 4-3, and a 4-4, then we started shutting them down. On our last touchdown pass, we had Justin 1 on 1 with their one corner, and we were throwing some hitches and the kid was squatting on the hitches, so we ran what we call a stutter streak, which is something like a hitch-and-go. Justin did a great job and it was one heck of a throw by Marcus. I’m very proud of our defense, I mean, the whole team. When we lost Jesse, people think it hurts just the running game, but Jesse’s a great blocker, he gets like 85-90% of the reps in practice. When we did things, Jesse knew where to block. They ran different schemes and, to be fair to the other kids, they didn’t know where to pick things up and that’s why they hurt us with blitzes. I hope we can see them again because the other kids will be ready and we can throw all day on them.

Quarterback Marcus Stone

I thought we played very hard but our own mistakes killed us. We had too many turnovers and that can’t happen in a big game. I think we can bounce back, work hard and get our last victories and hopefully get in the playoffs. On that last touchdown, it was a deep ball and I had all day, just stepped up and I had all faith in him, I knew he’d go get that ball. We’ll definitely come back!

WR Justin Taylor

The touchdown catch, it was a nice pass by Marcus Stone, right on the money, he hit me right in the hands. Then I tried to run as fast as I could to get the touchdown to win the game for us. I was covered pretty well most of the game. We’ll come back from this, of course. We’ll see them in the district playoffs.

Tackle Justin Crum

We’ll see them again in the playoffs. I don’t really have that much to say. We just made mistakes.

DE Cedric Bowling

We tried to get pressure on the QB, we gave our all. We played with our hearts tonight and that’s all you could ask for. It was just a letdown in the fourth quarter. With our backs against the wall, we couldn’t produce for our team. It’s something we have to go through. We’ll see the film and come back next week even harder. Our skill guys are as good as their skill guys. Our defense, I mean, we stepped up. We’ll see them in the playoffs. That’s not a threat or anything like that, it’s a guarantee.  

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