McDevitt continues to Roll.

Danny Lansanah and Harrisburg coach Earl Mosley sat alone on the bench following yesterday's city championship game with Bishop McDevitt.  Mosley was consoling the obviously dejected Cougars senior as the Crusaders celebrated their 42-0 Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division victory at Severance Field. The game wasn't all that competitive or close in football terms. But, in terms of emotion, the fire between these two schools burns red-hot no matter what. Lansanah, whose Cougars are 1-7 compared to the Crusaders' 7-1 record, is one of the few seniors on a painfully young Harrisburg team. And he took the loss extremely hard. That shows you how much this game means to those who play it. "Danny is a proud kid. He took it very hard," Mosley said. "It didn't matter to him that he didn't have the stats he normally does. He just didn't want to go out this way as a senior against McDevitt, and he took it personally." When Vince Beamer returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a score, it was a harbinger of what was to come. By halftime, McDevitt led 35-0 and had outgained Harrisburg 234-minus-1. The Crusaders stumbled through the opening quarter, then exploded for 28 points in the second. "We had a good week of practice, and our defense played another great game," Bishop McDevitt coach Jeff Weachter said. "All in all, considering the difficult field conditions, I was real pleased our kids bounced back after the way they played Monday." With star tailback Jesse Pitt sitting out a second straight game with a knee strain, freshman Lesean McCoy flourished behind the Crusaders' massive offensive line. McCoy carried 17 times for 140 yards and scored one touchdown in an impressive performance. "We worked all week with Lesean on not dancing and told him to just run," Weachter said. "He's not playing midget ball anymore, so we focused on making sure he didn't dance. He's getting better and should help us out for years to come." McDevitt scored on four of its five second-quarter possessions. Quarterback Marcus Stone's 7-yard TD run made it 14-0 early in the second quarter. Then the Crusaders took advantage of a pass interference call to march 51 yards in seven plays to grab a 21-0 lead. Stone hit tight end Mike Mitchell from 8 yards out on a fourth-and-6 play to cap the march. McCoy's nifty 39-yard TD run with 2:09 left in the first half came courtesy of great downfield blocks by wideouts Justin Taylor and Thomas Dunn and gave the visitors a 28-0 lead. When Stone hit Mark Accorsi with a frozen rope just 19 seconds before halftime for an 18-yard strike, it pushed the bulge to 35-0 and made sure the second half would breeze along courtesy of the mercy rule. "In the second quarter, our third-and-longs killed us against a very good defense," Mosley said. "Plus we had some penalties that killed us. There was one pass interference call that gave them a second life. And, like one of the best teams in the state, they took full advantage of it." Beamer closed the book on this one by returning his third punt for a touchdown in the last two games. This one covered 63 yards, and once again he was hardly touched. Harrisburg sophomore Mikell Simpson led a limited offensive output with 35 of his team's 63 yards. He rushed for 10 yards on four carries and caught three passes for 25.

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