Cedar Cliff is victum #8, 40-6
October 26- The Bishop McDevitt Crusaders and newly-crowned Homecoming Queen Renee Williams celebrated a 40-6 victory over Cedar Cliff at McDevitt field today. The Crusaders were buoyed by the news that the District 3 AAAA playoff picture had cleared up considerably: McDevitt victories in their last 2 games would earn them their first playoff appearance since 1997, and first in Class AAAA. Given the circumstances and the Homecoming festivities, the hapless Colts (1-8, 1-6 in MidPenn Commonwealth play) didn’t have a chance. For the third week in a row, the Crusaders began the game with a scoring flurry and cruised the rest of the way. Cedar Cliff Coach Vince Pantalone decided to open the game with an onside kick, a strategy that backfired immediately. The kick didn’t travel the required 10 yards and McDevitt (8-1, 7-1) began their first series at the Colt 47. Aided by 2 Cedar Cliff penalties, The Crusaders scored in 9 plays, all on the ground, the final one a 3 yard scoring run by Mike Gohlston. A missed PAT kept the score at 6-0 with 8:27 left in the quarter. On Cedar Cliff’s first possession from their own 27, the Crusader defense swarmed Running Back Ryan Acri, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Defense End Jed Baker on the 23. After McDevitt moved to the Colt 5, Quarterback Marcus Stone fired a scoring strike to Wide Receiver Vince Beamer to stretch the lead to 12-0. The Colts failed to advance on their next possession and were forced to punt. The dynamic Beamer fielded to ball at the McDevitt 17, made 2 quick moves near midfield, then glided down the visitor’s sideline for an 83 yard touchdown return. It was the 5th scoring return for Beamer in the last 3 games (2 kickoffs, 3 punts), and, after the successful Pedro Mora conversion kick, pushed the margin to 19-0 with 3:14 remaining in the first.
For the remainder of the quarter and well into the second, the game settled down, as both teams had drives ended by interceptions. The McDevitt pick came after Cedar Cliff had moved to the Crusader 7 yard line on a 12 play drive. Colt quarterback Andrew Shaffer lobbed a pass near the goal line, but Linebacker Doug Ritter alertly stepped in front of the Cedar Cliff receiver and returned it to the 31. From there, 2 Gohlston runs advanced the Crusaders to the Colt 48. The next carry went to Tailback Lesean McCoy. The talented Freshman took a deep handoff and darted through a huge hole on the right side, courtesy of guard C.J. Gruber and Tackle Jamie Thomas. Once in the Colt secondary, McCoy headed for the sideline, then made a beautiful cutback at the 10 to leave a Cedar Cliff defender grasping at air. The impressive 48 yard scoring jaunt and subsequent Mora PAT mad the score 26-0 with 4:53 left in the half. But the Crusaders weren’t done scoring yet. On the second play of the next Colt series, Wide Receiver Mike Klaiber was flattened by Linebacker Josh Martinko at his own 37 and fumbled. Martinko recovered the drop, and McDevitt was back in business. This time, Stone fuelled the drive with a 14 yard pass to Beamer and a 7 yarder to Thomas Dunn. Reserve Running Back Jonathan Butler contributed 16 yards on 3 tough runs, and the versatile Mike Dawson finished the drive with a 2 yard scoring blast behind Tackle Justin Crum and Guard Quincy Garfield. Mora’s PAT allowed McDevitt to head for the locker room with a 33-0 lead.
After the Homecoming ceremony, highlighted by the crowning of Ms. Williams (brother of McDevitt Cornerback Ryan Williams), the second half was anticlimactic. The third quarter saw the McDevitt defense repeatedly thwart Cedar Cliff scoring attempts. The Crusader secondary was kept busy by 16 Colt pass attempts. The defense was up to the challenge, forcing Cedar Cliff to end 3 possessions on downs and ending another on a Marc Accorsi interception. The McDevitt offense was plagued by turnovers until late in the quarter, when they launched a 7 play, 72 yard scoring drive. The series was keyed by a 23 yard Dawson run and finished with another Stone-to-Beamer connection, this time from 35 yards out, on the second play of the fourth quarter. After Mora’s kick made it 40-0, invoking the “mercy rule”, McDevitt began substituting liberally. The Colts managed to get on the board on a 35 yard, Shaffer-to-Klaiber scoring pass to make the final 40-6. Stone finished with 7 completions in 17 tries, for 84 yards 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Beamer caught 5 passes for 69 yards and 2 scores, and added the 83 yard punt return for a touchdown. McCoy had his second successive 100 yard rushing game filling in for the injured Jesse Pitt, ending with 117 yards and a TD on 13 carries. Dawson contributed 57 yards and a score on only 4 rushes, and Gohlston added 8 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown. McDevitt’s final regular season game is a crucial one: the undefeated Lower Dauphin Falcons visit McDevitt field next Saturday, November 2, at 1:00 PM. A victory over the Capital Division champions would qualify the Crusaders for the District 3 AAAA playoffs.
QUOTES
Head
Coach Jeff Weachter
It’s been tough the last three weeks because it’s almost been too easy. In the first half we were excited for the game, knowing we control our own destiny for the playoffs. In the first half we scored so easy that in the second half we lost a little focus, but I’m not going to browbeat them for that. The muddy field took a lot away from what we wanted to do on offense; we still want to work on the counter game and sharpen up the passing game a little bit. I haven’t seen Lower Dauphin yet, but I hear their players and fans have been doing a lot of talking, so we’re up for it because we’ve played 3 really down teams the last 3 weeks. Hey, they’re undefeated; they’ve got the chip on their shoulder. We welcome it, because I think you’re going to see some playoff intensity out of us next week.
Assistant Coach Dave Weachter
I think our kids lost a little bit of intensity after we went in at halftime. It’s a problem we’ve had all year, when we get up on teams. That’s a difference with us and Central Dauphin: they finish teams off and we lack a little intensity. The playoff situation is a lot different than 2 years ago! It’s nice. We told our kids, hey, if we don’t get in now it’s our own fault. We don’t have to count on anybody else; it’s in our own hands. Lower Dauphin is good. We haven’t seen them a whole lot yet. We expect a real hard game.
Assistant
Coach Jake Minnich
The second half was a tough time because the kids had a hard time staying focused. Hey, we were up 33-0 at halftime. We need to play a full game against Lower Dauphin. They are going to show up to play. They’re coached by a good guy, they’re in the playoffs, they’re 9-0 and I’m sure they want to keep their undefeated record going. It’s a good feeling, knowing we control our own destiny. It was laying pretty heavily on everybody’s minds when things were still in doubt.
RB/LB
Mike Dawson
The line played well again. They stayed on their blocks and the holes were open, so I just ran for it and had some long gainers today. Every game now is a playoff game for us, so we have to work hard this week.
WR/DB
Vince Beamer
I like returning kicks. I’m just filling in for Jesse, but I’m starting to like it, while I’m waiting for Jesse to get back. I got some good blocks. Basically, I just look for lanes; there’s always a lane. Coach told us this week that every game from now on is a playoff game and this game was the first. Next week is big with Lower Dauphin because they have a good team and have an undefeated season.
WR/DB
Marc Accorsi
They played right into us today, on defense. We
are looking forward to the next game, which is just like a playoff game. It’s good to
know that we control what we do. Lower Dauphin is a good team, but we need that “W”
to get us into the playoffs