September 10- Relying on their rock-solid defense and accurate passing game, the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders (2-0, 2-0 in the MidPenn Commonwealth Division) shut out Red Land (0-2,0-1) tonight, 27-0 at West Shore Stadium. The Patriots were held to 82 total yards for the game and never penetrated the McDevitt 25 yard line. The Crusaders registered 5 sacks, recovered 2 fumbles and intercepted 2 passes. The passing attack was led by Junior quarterback Jeremy Ricker, who topped the 200 yard mark for the second week in a row. Ricker finished with 10 completions in 17 attempts, totaling 249 yards and 3 touchdowns with one interception. Junior Aaron Berry had another sparkling game, grabbing 5 of Ricker's tosses for 173 yards and 2 scores. Senior Mike Goldston added 3 catches for 51 yards and a touchdown, while Junior LeSean McCoy led the inconsistent rushing attack with 77 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Seniors Gerard Oliver and John Butler contributed a combined 45 rushing yards to McDevitt's 350 yards of total offense.

Red Land's longest play of the game came 2 plays after the opening kickoff. From his own 27, fullback Luke Cox dashed 46 yards up the middle before being caught from behind by linebacker LaRondo Tucker at the McDevitt 32. The Crusader defense stiffened, though, and Red Land punted to the McDevitt 3. The Crusaders moved downfield quickly on the strength of 4 McCoy runs and Ricker passes to Goldston (8 yards) and Berry (15 yards). Now at their 47, McDevitt's momentum was stopped by a fumbled exchange from center, a problem that plagued the Crusaders throughout the evening. After an incompletion, Ricker's 43 yard punt gave Red Land possession at its own 17. The patriots managed one first down, and then were stopped by defensive end Sebastian Sullivan's tackle of Cox for a 2 yard loss, followed by a muffed pitch, losing another 8 yards. After Red Land's second punt, McDevitt took over at its own 38. Again the Crusaders began moving the ball, using an 11 yard McCoy run and a 6 yard Jimmy Owen catch to enter Patriot territory. But another muffed snap, followed by a McCoy fumble, gave possession back to Red Land as the scoreless first quarter ended.

Linebacker Derek Michtich, who had an outstanding game, began the second quarter with a 5 yard sack of Red Land quarterback John Clouser. The Patriots did manage to advance to midfield before a hard hit by Tucker and safety Eric McGovern forced Cox to fumble. Safety Vince Comasco recovered the loose ball at the McDevitt 42 and Ricker wasted no time in taking advantage of the turnover. He fired a 58 yard strike to Aaron Berry for the game's first touchdown at the 8:18 mark of the second quarter. Mike Comasco's PAT made the score 7-0. Red Land advanced the kickoff to their 30 yard line, but then Cox was dumped for an 8 yard loss by defensive end David Dunn and linebacker Lawrence Edward. On the next play, Aaron Berry dove for a low Clouser pass and made a sparkling interception at the Red Land 34. Again, Ricker struck quickly, this time finding the speedy Goldston 5 yards behind the Patriot secondary for a 34 yard touchdown pass. That made the score 14-0 with 7:20 left in the half. On their next possession, Red Land was thwarted first by defensive tackle Jason Kates, who flattened Josh Coscomb for no gain, then by Tucker's 9 yard sack. The Patriots punted to the McDevitt 37, but McCoy lost 3 yards on 2 carries. Faced with a 3rd-and-13, Ricker dropped back to pass, and then scrambled to his right while looking downfield. He finally uncorked a bomb deep down the right sideline, where it was tipped by Red Land defensive back Colin Resetar. Aaron Berry, who was behind Resetar, alertly plucked the ball from the air and, after putting a series of moves on the befuddled defensive back, strolled into the end zone. It was Ricker's 3rd consecutive touchdown pass and gave McDevitt an insurmountable 20-0 lead. By this time the Crusader defense was having its way with the Red Land offensive line. Dunn began the next series by dropping Cox for a 5 yard loss. Then it was defensive tackle Mike Berry's turn, as he sacked Clouser for another 9 yard loss, back to the Red Land 6 yard line. When the ensuing punt traveled only 26 yards, to the Red Land 32, it looked like McDevitt would add to their lead. Instead, a comedy of errors followed. First, the Patriots jumped offside. Next, McDevitt had a 5 yard procedure penalty. Finally, Ricker suffered another fumbled exchange, and the ball was inadvertently kicked 17 yards backward before Red Land recovered. The Patriots moved to the McDevitt 25 before a 5 yard Michtich sack ended the drive and the half.

Mike Goldston started the second half by falling on a bouncing kickoff at the McDevitt 15. After 2 McCoy runs produced 4 yards, Brandon Brown made a fine diving catch for a 17 yard gain. Following yet another fumbled snap, Ricker hit Aaron Berry for a 52 yard pass play that was called back due to a holding penalty. McCoy's 19 yard scamper wasn't enough to move the chains, so Ricker punted to the Red Land 40. The defense continued to dominate when defensive tackle R.J. Harden and Michtich forced a 14 yard loss by Clouser, followed by a fumble. Michtich fell on the fumble, and McDevitt began at the Patriot 38. First Ricker targeted Goldston for 9 yards, then a 5 yard McCoy run got the first down. Gerard Oliver gained 4 tough yards inside, then Ricker hooked up with Aaron Berry for a 13 yard gain to the 7. McCoy gained 3 on a dive then, one play later, scored on a 4 yard blast behind the blocks of Harden and guard Ryan Finney. The score came with 1:19 left in the third quarter. After stopping Red Land and forcing a punt, McDevitt had possession at its own 46. After 2 McCoy runs went nowhere, Ricker found Goldston open for a 58 yard score, but the play was negated by a motion penalty. On the next play Ricker suffered his first interception of the season. Red Land tried throwing the ball, but consecutive pass breakups by defensive backs Greg Williams and John Butler ended the threat. On the Patriot's next possession, defensive end David Seiple dropped Cox for a 1 yard loss and Michtich flattened Clouser for no gain. On the next play, McGovern picked off Clouser's pass at the McDevitt 42 to seal the shutout. McDevitt reserves got some valuable playing time on the game's final drive. Butler and Oliver alternated moving the chains with some tough running, and Vince Comasco saw his first action at quarterback this year. Comasco completed his only pass attempt, a 7 yarder to Senior Tad Romozi, as the game ended with McDevitt at the Red Land 9 yard line. McDevitt's next game is against Hollidaysburg on Saturday, September 25th. Game time at McDevitt Field is 1:00 PM.

QUOTES

Head Coach Jeff Weachter
We had way too many penalties, too many mistakes, called-back touchdowns because receivers were jumping. It was a comedy of errors. We couldn't get the run game going because the offensive line is not coming off the ball. The only plusses tonight were the defense after their first series and the passing game. It shows that we've worked hard on the passing game. At first they caught us a little bit. They came out in an "I" formation in their scrimmages and their first game but they came out in a split back veer tonight. Pat Berry made a great adjustment, even on the first series, we went back to what we did last week against the veer. I'm pleased with the defense, I'm pleased with the passing game. I'm not pleased with the pass protection and the run game. Our offensive line just has to get better or else we have to make some changes. We didn't block well and Shady's still having trouble cutting. Each week his ankle is getting better and hopefully it will continue to improve. A couple of times he may have had a seam and he slipped making the cut. It was nice getting Gerard and John in; they did a nice job and I was happy that Vince got varsity playing time at quarterback. Of course, I was also glad to see Tad Romozi get a catch. Jeremy's throwing the heck out of the ball but we've got some very good receivers. Brandon Brown laid out for a nice ball and Mike Goldston unfortunately had a touchdown called back but he had some nice catches. Of course Aaron Berry had a great game and Jimmy Owen gives us a great job. This week in practice we have to work out a lot of things. It's not going to be fun.

Assistant Coach Jake Minnich
I was pleased with the pass protection but with the run blocking we have a long way to go yet. They threw a defense against us that we'd been practicing for all week and we didn't recognize it. We're going to work on it. We have some inexperienced linemen still, but we'll get it straightened out.

C/DT R.J. Harden
Personally, I think our offense underperformed. 27 points is not enough with the lineup we have. People making mental mistakes, not hustling hurt us and it showed on the scoreboard. As far as defensively, well, we were at the higher level, which was good. Of course we held them scoreless, but we had a bad week of practice and it showed out here tonight. We have to pick it up in practice this week.

TE/DE Derek Michtich
We played great tonight, absolutely. I had a good game but I couldn't have done it without my teammates. We shut them out on defense but we just have to pick it up a little bit more on offense. The running game wasn't there tonight but, luckily, Jeremy was there to back us up with the passing game. We're going to have to work hard to prepare for Hollidaysburg next week, absolutely.

RB/DB John Butler
It feels good to contribute. On offense I just followed my blocks and ran hard. We didn't have a real good practice this week but we came out strong on defense and got a shutout. If you don't have a good week of practice you can try to make up for it in the game with a big hit or something.

S Eric McGovern
In the first quarter we had trouble with our ends crashing just like State College last week but we got that taken care of and took their dive away. Our pass defense was pretty good because we pretty much shut them down. On the interception, we were in "Cover 3"and I have the flat. He rolled out and I think somebody hit the quarterback. I kept my eyes on the ball and made the pick. I saw all green in front of me; I thought I was going but I got tackled! It looks we're going to have tough ones every week, but that's our motto this year, "Taking It One Game at a Time". We're just trying to get to 15-0.

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