October 23- This morning's game between the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders and the Central Dauphin Rams was over almost before it started. The Rams took advantage of numerous McDevitt mistakes early to cruise to a 41-28 victory at McDevitt Field. The victory virtually assured the Rams (7-1, 6-0 in the Mid Penn Commonwealth Division) a spot in the newly-expanded District 3-6 AAAA playoffs. McDevitt, on the other hand, finds itself in an uncomfortably familiar position: with games remaining against Cumberland Valley and Chambersburg, the Crusaders (5-2, 4-2) need a strong finish to play in the postseason for the first time since 1997. If McDevitt continues to play in such a sloppy fashion, however, (7 fumbles, 11 penalties, an interception, 4 sacks) a strong finish is doubtful.The nightmarish first half began with a fumbled McDevitt snap on the game's second play, which was recovered by quarterback Jeremy Ricker. After an incompletion, Ricker's first punt of the morning netted only 15 yards, to the McDevitt 34 yard line. The Rams used 9 plays to reach the end zone, the finisher being a 1 yard pass from former McDevitt quarterback Kevin Rombach to Jordan Manning. After the ensuing kickoff, CD recovered another fumbled Crusader snap on the first play, this time at the McDevitt 15. The Rams wasted little time taking advantage of the turnover, as Rombach hit Manning in the corner of the end zone for the 15 yard touchdown. A missed PAT left the score at 13-0 with 7:04 left in the opening quarter. The next McDevitt series was short-circuited by a 15 yard Ricker sack and McDevitt was forced to punt again. When Crusader linebacker Lawrence Edward's pressure forced an errant Rombach throw on the next possession and the Rams were forced to punt, McDevitt took over on its own 20. After Ricker hit Mike Goldston for an 11 yard gain and tailback LeSean McCoy ripped off a 14 yard run, the Junior quarterback tried a slant pass. Manning stepped in front of the throw and made the interception, returning it 54 yards for a score that stretched Central Dauphin's lead to 20-0. The kickoff that followed was covered by Matt Vargo on the Crusader 14. One play later, McCoy ran a counter over the left side and, following the block of guard Jason Kates, broke free to the 43, where a shoestring tackle by former McDevitt cornerback Kris Scott kept him from going all the way. Two incompletions stalled the drive there, and Ricker punted to the CD 29. The quarter ended with linebacker Derek Michtich and defensive end Sebastian Sullivan combining to sack Rombach at the Ram 33. On the punt that opened the second quarter, McDevitt's Jimmy Owen was blasted by Steel-Hi transfer Darius Hodge, forcing a fumble. McCoy alertly picked up the loose ball and returned it 24 yards to the Crusader 49. A 15 yard personal foul against CD moved the ball to the CD 37, but another fumbled snap killed the drive. After the two teams exchanged punts, McDevitt was forced to punt from its own 6. The ball was partially blocked, then returned to the Crusader 15. Four running plays later, Manning scored from the 2 and McDevitt was staring at a 27-0 deficit with 4:22 left in the half. The scoring drive that followed was hardly a thing of beauty, but it did get the Crusaders on the scoreboard. McCoy returned the kickoff to the McDevitt 41 and the Crusaders were promptly penalized for an illegal receiver downfield. On the next play, fullback Larondo Tucker made a reaching catch in traffic on a screen pass and rumbled 21 yards. Then McDevitt was hit with a 5 yard penalty for illegal substitution, followed by an intentional grounding flag. When McCoy was dumped for a 4 yard loss and the Crusaders were hit with their 4th penalty of the possession (illegal procedure), they faced third-and-36 at the McDevitt 30. Ricker dropped back to pass but was flushed from the pocket by the CD pass rush. Moving to his left, Ricker spotted Aaron Berry down the left sideline and led the Junior speedster perfectly. Berry was hauled down at the CD 2, a 68 yard gain. Two Ricker sneaks finished the job, and, after the first of Mike Comasco's 4 successful PAT's, McDevitt had made the halftime score 27-7.
The second half began on a much better note for McDevitt. CD's Manning fumbled on the opening drive and defensive end David Dunn fell on it at the CD 35. After an incomplete pass, McCoy circled left end and, following a key block from Owen, raced to pay dirt. The 35 yard scoring run narrowed the Ram advantage to 27-14 and pushed the incredible Junior tailback over 4,000 rushing yards for his career. McDevitt's comeback hopes were dashed by Rombach on the next series. On a 3rd -and-5 play from the CD 35, the McDevitt pass rush appeared to have Rombach pinned behind the line of scrimmage for a loss. He narrowly avoided 2 tackles and ran 21 yards for the key first down. Fullback Donnie Snyder then rumbled 41 yards to the McDevitt 4. On the next play Manning fumbled into the end zone and lineman Richard Kopp recovered for the CD score with 8:40 remaining in the quarter. Another huge sack, this time for 22 yards, had McDevitt punting again and the Rams regained possession at midfield. After moving to the McDevitt 9, the Rams suffered a delay penalty and Kates dropped Rombach for a 10 yard sack. On the next play Rombach found Jordan Mitchell for a 22 yard touchdown pass and an insurmountable 41-14 lead. The Crusaders looked like they were going to answer that score when a scrambling Ricker, who totaled 354 yards passing on the day, hooked up with Aaron Berry for another big gain, this time for 64 yards to the CD 5 yard line. After a delay penalty, Ricker passed to Berry for 9 yards to the 1. Then tragedy struck again, as Ricker fumbled the snap and the Rams recovered inside their 1 yard line. The Crusader defense stiffened, forcing a CD punt out of the end zone to the Ram 39 as the 3rd quarter ended. McDevitt gained a first down on passes to Goldston and Berry, and then Ricker was sacked again, this time for a 14 yard loss. Needing 24 yards for a first down from the Crusader 49, Ricker, from the shotgun formation, sent McCoy in motion to the left and then connected with him on a swing pass. Shady streaked down the left sideline and somehow avoided 2 tacklers to complete the dazzling 51 yard scoring play. Now trailing 41-21, the Crusader defense rallied, forcing a Ram punt to the McDevitt 24. Ricker then went to work, finding Owen, then Berry for completions for a first down at the CD 42. Another McCoy swing pass netted 3 very entertaining yards, but then Ricker was dropped for a 3 yard loss. After another 7 yard completion to Owen, The Crusaders faced 4th-and-3 at midfield. Aaron Berry, who finished with 6 catches for 172 yards, then went high to snag Ricker's pass for 9 yards to keep the drive alive. After 3 consecutive incompletions, Ricker targeted Owen, and the sure-handed Senior made the grab and broke a tackle on the way to a 28 yard gain to the Ram 13. On the following play, Brandon Brown hauled in a Ricker pass for a 13 yard touchdown play. The score was now 41-28 with 5:40 remaining to play. After the kickoff, Rombach hit Snyder with a short pass that turned into a 43 yard gain to the McDevitt 22. With the clock running down, the McDevitt defense stopped the Rams on 3 running plays. On 4th down, Rombach tried a screen pass over the middle but defensive tackle Mike Berry quickly dropped back and intercepted the ball, and then returned it 15 yards to the Crusader 35. Two plays later, Ricker passed over the middle for Vince Comasco. Comasco made a super one-handed catch, but fumbled the ball after a 25 yard gain. When the Rams recovered, it effectively ended any McDevitt comeback hopes. The Rams ran for one first down and then took a knee to finish the contest.
McDevitt's next game is Saturday, October 30th against Cumberland Valley. This key contest, which is sure to impact the District 3-6 playoffs, is scheduled to start at 10:30 AM at McDevitt Field.
Quotes
Head Coach Jeff Weachter
We knew we had some things to try early against them. The offensive line didn't block very well on the running plays and I'm disappointed in that. And, again, the dreaded fumbled snap is killing us. We know what the problem is and we keep on working on it and it keeps on popping up on us. It took a touchdown away and then gave them a touchdown so it's really frustrating. I'm proud of our kids because they didn't quit. CD gave us a front that they'd never shown before so at halftime we made an adjustment to our pass protection. It worked pretty well in the second half because we knew if we could pass protect that we'd have people open all day. The big thing is that I'm proud of these kids, that they didn't quit. We just have to regroup, try to win these last two games to get into the playoffs and see what happens. When Derek Michtich got hurt we decided to only go with him one way and between that and the score we decided to go shotgun pretty much the whole second half. R.J. Harden got hurt and hopefully it's not serious, and Aaron Berry can get in a full week of practice this week. But, you know, we spot CD 27 points and their longest drive is 34 yards, we can't do that. Cumberland Valley is a must-win game for us. It's a playoff game, it's do-or-die. In the first half today we just lost our confidence. I understand from reading Coach Rimphel's quotes that CV lost some confidence in their last 2 games and obviously they got it back last night so we have to do the same thing. It should be a great game but we have to come out and win it.
LB/TE Derek Michtich
My health is fine. They just landed on my knee and it bent back a little bit but, after running on it, it felt fine. It was frustrating today. We fell apart in the first half but I thought we really played great in the second half and I'm proud of my teammates. For Cumberland Valley we will be here from sunrise to sunset and we'll be working as hard as we can.
G/DT Mike Berry
Coach Deuce always gets on me about my height and when we played Berwick I tried jumping and I didn't get the ball on the screen. And we played Altoona last weekend and I tipped the ball and I told him this week in practice that I was going to get an interception off the screen. We were expecting it. When they don't try blocking, well, it's pretty obvious and I read it pretty well. CD's defensive line gave us a lot of pressure. They're pretty good. Their offensive line was good, too. We just kind of gave them the game in the first half. I think we'll come back good next week. Offensively, I think we'll get things straightened out. Defensively, I think my dad (Assistant Coach Pat Berry) knows a thing or two about the wing T offense so we'll be fine.
WR Aaron Berry
I'm a little sore, this being my first game back from the broken collar bone, but I'll be all right. We didn't give up after that start but we just came up a little bit short. I was open deep a lot but with their pass rush Jeremy couldn't get me the ball. I felt bad for the defense because just about every time CD scored it was from the red zone because of the turnovers. We have to be smart with the ball. For Cumberland Valley, we're going to practice real hard, go to films to see what we did wrong and we'll be ready.
S Eric McGovern
We just made too many mistakes; that's the bottom line. If we make mistakes like that then it's all uphill. We can't do that. We have to come out on top, early, and keep it that way. That will get us into the playoffs. We're going to have to work on cutting back on those mistakes. I think that CD came out here wanting it more than us and now we have to hope that we can get them back in the playoffs. If we don't win against Cumberland Valley then there's no playoff at all so we have to come out hard, get on them early and often.
WR Mike Goldston
We just didn't come out and play like we should have. We can't do that against a team like that. We were all open in the secondary but they had so much pressure on the quarterback. Jeremy did a heck of a job in the comeback. They did a good job of covering our kickoffs. The next week is one we have to get.
QB Jeremy Ricker
We had all of those fumbles and then I threw that interception in the first half. I was just playing bad. The only way to turn this around is with a hard week of practice, definitely. When we went to the shotgun in the second half, when they kept blitzing with their middle linebacker it gave me time to see the open receivers. We expect the Cumberland Valley game to be a tough one.