MCDEVITT DEFENSE IMPRESSIVE IN OPENING SCRIMMAGE
August 21- This morning’s scrimmage against Conestoga Valley at soggy McDevitt field was dominated by the Crusaders. The McDevitt starting offense scored 4 times in 15 plays, racking up a total of 311 yards against the young and smallish Buckskins. It was the McDevitt defense, however, that was responsible for the smiles on the faces of the few Crusader faithful who braved the constant rain to witness the weather-shortened scrimmage. Led by a powerful and active defensive line, the starting defense held Conestoga Valley to 19 total yards (and only one pass completion) in 20 plays, and added an interception, a sack, 3 fumble recoveries and 5 tackles for losses. Under the leadership of Defensive Coordinator Pat Berry, the defense appears more disciplined than in years past, constantly talking to each other and less susceptible to misdirection. Most of the Conestoga Valley offensive plays were met at the line of scrimmage by a swarming horde of blue shirts. Granted, the Buckskins were hit hard by graduation and started newcomers at most key positions, but the overall confidence of the McDevitt defense was unmistakable.
The scrimmage started under threatening skies that soon let loose with a constant shower. After McDevitt held the Buckskins to 3 yards on the first 3 plays, defensive tackle Jason Kates made back-to-back standout plays, first stuffing a dive play for a 1 yard loss and then caving in the right side of the CV offensive line on the way to a 7 yard quarterback sack. On the following play, strong pressure from Mike Berry and David Dunn led to a wobbly pass attempt that was intercepted by Lamar Crummel. Crummel, who is locked in a tight battle for the right cornerback position, defended the pass well all morning. CV ended their first possession with a quarterback option that Derrick Michtish stuffed for a 3 yard loss, and a fumbled snap that was recovered by Larondo Tucker.
There has been much anticipation concerning this year’s star-studded offense, and they certainly didn’t disappoint today. Starting on their own 30 yard line, the Crusaders lined up with fullback Tucker in the slot right, then he went in motion. Junior sensation LeSean McCoy, lining up in the tailback position, took quarterback Jeremy Ricker’s short pitch and headed wide left. Following Tucker’s kickout block and strong efforts from left tackle Nate Dade and wide receiver Jimmy Owen, McCoy turned the corner, made one move on the befuddled CV safety and cruised to the end zone for a 70 yard touchdown run. After Mike Comasco’s perfect conversion, McDevitt returned to their own 30. Ricker made his only major mistake of the morning, throwing late over the middle for an interception. Ricker then scrambled for 7 yards, and McCoy picked up 7 more. Backup tailback Greg Oliver, who had a fine scrimmage, then broke off an impressive 21 yard gain to the CV 40. On the next play, Ricker, who was given plenty of time by the offensive line, patiently waited for an open receiver then launched a dandy 40 yard touchdown pass to a waiting Mike Goldston in the back of the end zone. After another Comasco conversion, McDevitt finished its first possession with a bruising 11 yard run by Tucker, an incompletion, a 19 yard completion from Ricker to a diving Jimmy Owen, and a twisting 6 yard run from McCoy.
With the rain showing no signs of ending, the coaches decided to go to the reserves to ensure that they received playing time. The McDevitt second unit was as impressive as the first, swarming to the ball and communicating well. Defensive ends David Seiple and Matt Dietz, as well as defensive backs Greg Williams and Matt Vargo all contributed big plays. The second offense, led by quarterback Vince Comasco, moved the ball effectively but didn’t score. A stable of young running backs took turns darting through holes provided by tackle Mike Modica and center Ben McCreary. When the first defense took the field again, Conestoga Valley was plagued by fumbled snaps. The Buckskins did manage to complete one pass, but strong plays by end Sebastian Sullivan and Tucker ended the series. Then the McDevitt starting offense returned for one last series. McCoy began this possession like he did the first one, with a 70 yard touchdown, this time featuring a couple of ankle-turning cutbacks that Crusader fans have come to love. Returning to the 30, Ricker misfired on a short attempt and McCoy was dropped for a 4 yard loss. Then Ricker targeted Aaron Berry on a long fade, but Berry couldn’t handle the accurate throw. Undeterred, Ricker dropped back on the next play and found Berry wide open at the 30. This time the junior wideout made the catch and ended the scrimmage with a 64 yard touchdown play.
McDevitt’s next scrimmage is Friday, August 27th, at Manheim Township. The scrimmage will begin at 7:00 PM.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jeff Weachter
We knew that Conestoga Valley was going to be young. They went 8-2 last year but they lost a lot of Seniors, including Jordan Steffy, so they played a lot of inexperienced kids. We saw some good things but we also made a lot of mistakes. We have to clean those up. The weather did affect our passing game but some of them were mental mistakes. The whole defense played pretty well. Coach Berry and the defensive staff are doing a real good job. I told the guys that we have to practice harder because we have to eliminate the mistakes to be competitive with the kind of schedule we have. On the one interception, we talked about throwing late over the middle and Jeremy didn’t see the check down, but overall we passed the ball pretty well.
Assistant Coach Pat Berry
We did all right. They had a lot of young kids and they were trying to run the option so the weather was detrimental to them. We did a pretty good job getting a push upfield and fortunately no one was injured. Without seeing the film, I think our young kids did OK. We had one jump off sides but I have to see the film to see how we did otherwise. We are supposed to have one of the toughest schedules in the state so, without a doubt, developing the young players may be even more important than developing the starters.
WR Mike Goldston
It was exciting getting that first touchdown catch after working hard at a long summer camp. We‘re still kind of young but we’re starting to come together as a team. On the touchdown catch, we were running “Tulane”, where the outside guy does a fly and the inside guy does a post. Their back dropped over with the wide guy and I was wide open down the middle. I think we’re up for this coming season because a lot of teams have talent but we’re going to work harder every day.
C/DT R.J. Harden
A lot of people had doubts about the offensive line; they said that we had the capability to be good but we had to improve. I guess that when we got out here we decided to do the work. We made the holes and the backs did the rest. To be honest, I’d rate Conestoga Valley about a 3 or 4 out of 10 because they really couldn’t stop us. The rain didn’t really affect us, it was more of a thing that we had to put up with. As far as playing defense, well, I’m not in as good of shape as I thought I was! As far as technique on defense, I just let instinct take over.
QB Jeremy Ricker
Our line blocked really well today. In practice we were worried about our offense a little bit but we picked it up today. Shady did really well running and our receivers caught the ball well. The weather affected us just a little bit; throwing deep and some other patterns the ball was a little slick, but, other than that, it wasn’t a problem.
TB LeSean McCoy
We played, hard and we played well. We’re going to try to run some more to the outside because everybody’s packing it in on us. I felt real comfortable out there today. The wet field didn’t really bother me. I slipped a lot on my moves last year, but I’ve learned from my mistakes.
LB/TE Derrick Michtish
We were dominating on the “D” line; we did a pretty darn good job up front. To be honest with you, we didn’t have to make too many plays because the line was so dominating up front. They were fumbling the snap a lot, which was to our advantage, but we just overpowered them. Am I glad to have Tuck next to me? Absolutely. Playing tight end is something new, but I just have to get used to it. I don’t mind blocking. All we have to do is make a hole and watch our guys go. We have a hard schedule and the only way we’re going to do well is if we all pull together