September 14- In their most
impressive showing to date, the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders dominated the 3rd ranked AAAA
team in the state, Cumberland Valley, 35-8, before a rowdy, partisan crowd at McDevitt
Field this morning. The 10th ranked Crusaders dominated every phase of the game, rolling
to an unofficial 426 yards total offense and limiting the vaunted Eagle Wing-T attack to
161 yards and 6 first downs. McDevitt led 27-0 at the half, then scored on their opening
possession of the second half to invoke the mercy rule. Once again, the McDevitt offense
was led by the trio of Quarterback Marcus Stone, Tailback Jesse Pitt and Wide Receiver
Vince Beamer. Stone led the Crusaders to scoring drives on its first 3 possessions,
finishing with 10 completions on 18 attempts for 141 yards and a touchdown, and added 34
rushing yards on 5 carries. Pitt was a workhorse, running out of a variety of Coach Jeff
Weachter's formations, totaling 223 yards and 4 touchdowns on 27 rushes. Beamer added 5
sparkling catches for 113 yards and a score, and delighted McDevitt fans with explosive
tackles from his Safety position on defense.
The offensive
line of Center Josh Stefanic, Guards C.J. Gruber and Quincy Garfield, Tackles Jamie Thomas
and Justin Crum, and Tight End Michael Mitchell paved the way for 285 rushing yards. On
defense, McDevitt held heralded Fullback Dan Lawler to 18 yards on 8 carries, and attacked
CV Quarterback Corey Bischof all day. The harried Eagle signal caller completed only 2
passes in 14 attempts for 31 yards, was intercepted twice and sacked 3 times by the
aggressive McDevitt "D". Defensive Tackles Quincy Rain and Uriah Aviles led the
charge against the run, and, with Defensive Ends Stefanic, Jed Baker and Mike Trautman,
kept constant pressure on Bischof. Linebackers Josh Martinko, Mike Dawson, Pitt and Doug
Ritter roamed the field freely, delivering sure tackles. Cornerbacks Ryan Williams and
Eddie Rodriguez teamed with Safeties Thomas Dunn, Beamer and Justin Taylor to eliminate
the passing threat.
After limiting CV to 4 yards on the opening possession of the
game, a 9 yard punt had McDevitt in business at the Eagle 42. 9 plays later, the Crusaders
led 7-0, Pitt getting the score on a 4 yard blast, and new kicker Pedro Mora adding the
PAT. McDevitt next gained possession on their own 37. This scoring drive took 7 plays,
keyed by a 20 yard Stone-Beamer hookup on 3rd down. Pitt found paydirt again, this time
after a beautiful, twisting 30 yard run. A blocked PAT left the score at 13-0 with 2:05
left in the 1st quarter. Then, despite moving to the home team's 39 yard line, the Eagles
were again forced to punt. McDevitt set up on their own 23, and took 7 plays to go 77
yards. A 21 yard Stone keeper kept the drive alive, followed by another Stone-Beamer
connection, this time for 27 yards. Pitt's 3rd score of the morning came
on a 26 yard dash through the middle of the weary Eagle defense, thoroughly worn down by
the bulky McDevitt front 7. After Stone hit Beamer on a perfect fade pass for the 2 point
conversion, the lead bulged to 21-0. CV's Ryan Taylor gave the visitors hope with a 42
yard kickoff return to midfield, but, after Baker and Aviles combined for a sack, the
Eagles again surrendered the ball. On the second play of the ensuing series, Pitt broke
free again for a huge gain, but fumbled at the CV 28. Cumberland Valley's Chad Milligan
returned the favor two plays later, coughing up the ball at 24. The Crusaders were held
for the first time, turning the ball over on downs at the CV 17. The visitors then tried
an air attack, but Williams smartly picked off the Bischoff pass at the Crusader 46. 2
more Pitt carries, totaling 44 yards, set up McDevitt's next tally on Stone's 14 yard
throw to Beamer.
Up 27-0 at the half, McDevitt got a break on the opening drive of
the 3rd quarter. An aroused CV defense stuffed Pitt on 3rd down and the Crusaders were
forced to punt from their own 32. When Jeremy Ricker's punt glanced off a CV player at the
Eagle 35, Rodriguez alertly pounced on the ball. 3 plays later, Pitt was in the end zone
again, after a 22 yard jaunt. A sweet conversion pass from Stone to Pitt stretched the
lead to 35-0, leading to chants of "Mercy Rule!" from the delighted McDevitt
faithful. After Dunn snuffed out the next CV drive at the McDevitt 10 with a diving
interception, the Crusaders were content to watch the uninterrupted clock tick away the
rest of the game. The Eagles did manage a meaningless late score, against the McD reserves,
on a 1 yard Lawler dive,
and Bischof's keeper on the PAT made the final score 35-8.. Despite the huge victory, the
unrelenting Mid Penn Commonwealth schedule leaves the Crusaders little time to celebrate.
Surprising Carlisle, sporting a 3-0 record, is next on the docket. The September 13th
matchup will start at 7:30 PM, at Carlisle's Ken Millen Stadium.
Quotes
Head Coach Jeff Weachter
"It was our best overall team effort. I'm so proud of
our coaches. We worked hard on every aspect of the game: offense, defense and
special teams. Our coaches did an excellent job preparing these kids. To hold
a team like Cumberland Valley scoreless for most of the game, I don't know if that
happened in recent memory. The support from the students and fans has been great.
With the exception of two years ago, we haven't seen that kind of support and we
appreciate it. We wanted to show them a lot of differnet formations. We didn't
show much the first 2 weeks and right now I would say we have shown about 60% of our
offense.
C/DE
Josh Stefanic
"I thought we played pretty well. Jessie Pitt is an
exceptional running back. If we can make holes for him, he will go all day, every
day. After the game the CV kids were stunned. They haven't lost like this
since....I don't remember. The students and atmosphere was hyped this week, really
amped. It's the most fans I have seen out here in a while."
DE Jed Baker
"They were tough, but we were prepared; hard work pays off.
We were expecting the buck sweep; their offense is real complex.. We were
well prepared, we were really well coached this week. The fans are real supportive
and, as far as the team is concerned, we are real focused and working hard."
WR/DB Thomas Dunn
"Basically all we had to do was line up correctly (on
defense), and, once we did that, there was no way they could run on us. We practiced
all week staying at home, looking for cut backs and bootlegs, and it worked.
Offensively, I didn't have any trouble getting open. They left the middle wide
open. It was just a matter of of the line blocking and Marcus getting us the
ball."
DT Quincy Rain
"We were expecting them to be real physical (CV offensive
line), but we had to to outplay them and really practice hard this week. Practice
wasn't that physical this week, it was more mental, we had to listen to what the coaches
said. The fans and school were realy hyped. Some of them were more hyped than us.
I'm proud of our school this week for coming out and supporting us. I hope
they come out next week for our away game."
QB Marcus Stone
"Definitely my biggest win at McDevitt and I feel great.
Getting a win over Cumberland Valley makes us feel awesome. On the TD pass to
Vince, I had faith in him, I just threw it up there and he'll go get it, there's no doubt
about it. We have a lot of school spirt this year and it's great that we (the
school) are all together.
DB Ryan Williams
"On the interception, we were in cover 1. I turned to look
back, the ball was right there and I got it. Before the game I was very nevous.
We had a lot of fans in the stands and I hope they keep on coming."
TE Michael Mitchell
"They were big up front, but we were bigger. I
thought we dominated on the O-line. Now we have to get ready for Carlisle."
OT Justin Crum
"I thought we were going to be all right, but we ended up
dominating them a lot more than I thought we would. It was a tough game; the line
broke down a few times but we came back. All week long we knew it was going to be a
tough game, but we were confident and we came out here and did our best."
September 14- In their most
impressive showing to date, the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders dominated the 3rd ranked AAAA
team in the state, Cumberland Valley, 35-8, before a rowdy, partisan crowd at McDevitt
Field this morning. The 10th ranked Crusaders dominated every phase of the game, rolling
to an unofficial 426 yards total offense and limiting the vaunted Eagle Wing-T attack to
161 yards and 6 first downs. McDevitt led 27-0 at the half, then scored on their opening
possession of the second half to invoke the mercy rule. Once again, the McDevitt offense
was led by the trio of Quarterback Marcus Stone, Tailback Jesse Pitt and Wide Receiver
Vince Beamer. Stone led the Crusaders to scoring drives on its first 3 possessions,
finishing with 10 completions on 18 attempts for 141 yards and a touchdown, and added 34
rushing yards on 5 carries. Pitt was a workhorse, running out of a variety of Coach Jeff
Weachter's formations, totaling 223 yards and 4 touchdowns on 27 rushes. Beamer added 5
sparkling catches for 113 yards and a score, and delighted McDevitt fans with explosive
tackles from his Safety position on defense. 
The offensive
line of Center Josh Stefanic, Guards C.J. Gruber and Quincy Garfield, Tackles Jamie Thomas
and Justin Crum, and Tight End Michael Mitchell paved the way for 285 rushing yards. On
defense, McDevitt held heralded Fullback Dan Lawler to 18 yards on 8 carries, and attacked
CV Quarterback Corey Bischof all day. The harried Eagle signal caller completed only 2
passes in 14 attempts for 31 yards, was intercepted twice and sacked 3 times by the
aggressive McDevitt "D". Defensive Tackles Quincy Rain and Uriah Aviles led the
charge against the run, and, with Defensive Ends Stefanic, Jed Baker and Mike Trautman,
kept constant pressure on Bischof. Linebackers Josh Martinko, Mike Dawson, Pitt and Doug
Ritter roamed the field freely, delivering sure tackles. Cornerbacks Ryan Williams and
Eddie Rodriguez teamed with Safeties Thomas Dunn, Beamer and Justin Taylor to eliminate
the passing threat. 
yards. Pitt's 3rd score of the morning came
on a 26 yard dash through the middle of the weary Eagle defense, thoroughly worn down by
the bulky McDevitt front 7. After Stone hit Beamer on a perfect fade pass for the 2 point
conversion, the lead bulged to 21-0. CV's Ryan Taylor gave the visitors hope with a 42
yard kickoff return to midfield, but, after Baker and Aviles combined for a sack, the
Eagles again surrendered the ball. On the second play of the ensuing series, Pitt broke
free again for a huge gain, but fumbled at the CV 28. Cumberland Valley's Chad Milligan
returned the favor two plays later, coughing up the ball at 24. The Crusaders were held
for the first time, turning the ball over on downs at the CV 17. The visitors then tried
an air attack, but Williams smartly picked off the Bischoff pass at the Crusader 46. 2
more Pitt carries, totaling 44 yards, set up McDevitt's next tally on Stone's 14 yard
throw to Beamer. 
C/DE
Josh Stefanic