Sept. 4- The Bishop McDevitt Crusaders opened the 2004 season today with a hard-fought 34-26 victory over State College at McDevitt Field. The game, played in hot, humid conditions that hampered both teams, saw a series of momentum changes that kept the outcome in doubt until the final gun sounded. Eventually, it was the McDevitt offense, led by Junior quarterback Jeremy Ricker and Junior tailback LeSean McCoy, which thwarted the Little Lion’s fourth quarter challenge. Ricker began the season with a splendid effort, completing 14 of 25 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown. McCoy, the area’s leading rusher in 2003, started the year with 25 carries for 224 yards rushing, scored 3 touchdowns and added 28 receiving yards. The McDevitt defense held State College scoreless on 5 of their 6 first-half possessions, but tired visibly in the second half under the scorching sun. They made some key stops in the 4^th quarter, however, enabling the Crusaders (1-0, 1-0 in the MidPenn Commonwealth Conference) to come out on top.

After forcing State College into a 3-and-out on their first possession, McDevitt moved the ball from their own 30 to the State College 25 on the strength of 4 Ricker completions to 3 different receivers. The drive stalled, though, and the Crusaders surrendered the ball on downs. On the next play, State College fullback Greg Gasparato found running room up the middle and bulled his way to the 35. He was met there by Senior linebacker Larondo Tucker, who cleverly stripped the ball away from Gasparato and returned the theft to the 1 yard line. When Ricker followed center R.J. Harden across the goal line 2 plays later, the Crusaders had a lead they would never relinquish. Freshman Mike Comasco, who showcased a lively leg all day, booted the PAT and McDevitt led 7-0 at the 5:32 mark. The McDevitt defense, sparked by defensive linemen Jason Kates and David Dunn, forced another punt, this time to the Crusader’s 20. After an incompletion, McCoy followed fullback Tucker’s clearing block and burst through the middle of the State College defense. He easily outran the Little Lion secondary for an 80 yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 2:20 left in the opening quarter. After the teams exchanged punts to open the second quarter, the Little Lions got on the board following a 9 play, 73 yard scoring drive that finished with Gasparato’s 22 yard scoring run. State College missed the conversion to make the score 14-6 with 6:10 left in the half. McDevitt wasted little time in answering that score with one of their own. After a touchback and a McCoy run that lost a yard, Ricker dropped back and, enjoying excellent pass protection, fired a strike to wide receiver Aaron Berry. The 5’10”, 173 lb. Junior made a fingertip catch at the State College 40 and cruised to his first touchdown as a Crusader. After Comasco’s 3^rd straight PAT, McDevitt led 21-6. It looked like the Crusaders would expand the lead when, on the ensuing kickoff, Brian Weiser jarred the ball loose from State College return man Justin Masorti and Matt Vargo alertly pounced on the fumble at the State College 28. But the Crusaders couldn’t advance beyond the 25 yard line and had to be satisfied with a 15 point half time lead.

The game’s momentum changed quickly to the State College side at the start of the second half. When McDevitt was forced to punt from its own 39, Ricker (who is also the McDevitt punter) decided to try to get the first down on his own. He took off for the sideline but was stopped for a 3 yard loss. The Little Lions took only 4 plays to cover 36 yards, the final play of the scoring drive being a 15 yard Brady Hart run. When State College’s 2 point conversion pass fell incomplete, the Little Lions had narrowed the McDevitt lead to 21-12. The State College defense, spurred on by a small but vocal visiting crowd, denied the Crusaders again and forced another Ricker punt. Gasparato gathered it in at his own 22 and, following his blockers and aided by poor tackling, made it all the way to the McDevitt 2 yard line. Masorti found paydirt one play later and the Crusader lead had shrunk to 21-19. The McDevitt offense rallied, moving smartly behind 2 Ricker completions and a 22 yard Tucker run, but Tucker fumbled at the State College 30 on his next carry. The disastrous 3^rd quarter ended for the Crusaders with a State College punt to the McDevitt 49, after safeties Eric McGovern and Vince Comasco had denied the State College passing attack. The drive that followed would prove to be the eventual game-winner. After losing 4 yards on 2 plays, the Crusaders faced a 3^rd-and-14 at their own 45. Ricker fired a bullet to Berry for an 18 yard gain and McDevitt was back in business. McCoy had a 4 yard run, and then Ricker targeted Goldston for 11 yards to the State College 22. When Ricker was unable to connect on the next 3 plays, McDevitt was left with a 4^th-and-10. With everybody in attendance expecting another pass attempt, Coach Jeff Weachter called a trap play. McCoy took the handoff and burst through the State College line, benefiting from some crisp blocking by guards Ryan Finney and Kates. The 22 yard touchdown scamper and PAT that followed gave McDevitt a 28-19 lead with 9:25 remaining in the game. But State College wasn’t ready to concede. After an exchange of punts, the Little Lions took possession at the McDevitt 43 after an impressive open field tackle by Jimmy Owen. State College moved to the 29, where Hart hit Robert Albro with a scoring pass to make the score 28-26. On the kickoff that followed, the officials ruled that McCoy’s knee had touched the ground while he was fielding the ball at his own 10. This time, with 3 minutes left in the game, State College crowding the line of scrimmage and everyone was expecting a running play, Weachter called 2 consecutive passes. The first one went to Berry for a 20 yard gain and gave the Crusaders breathing room at the 30. Then Ricker found Junior Brandon Brown on a 14 yard gain. After 2 McCoy runs netted 16 more yards and a 5 yard delay penalty, the Crusaders were at midfield. The amazing Mr. McCoy finished the scoring on a 50 yard blast that left State College defenders sprawled in frustration. The final Little Lion possession was thwarted by a sack by Senior linebacker Lawrence Edward and a game-ending interception by McGovern.

McDevitt’s next game is Friday night, September 10^th against Red Land. Game time at West Shore Stadium is 7:30 PM.

QUOTES

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

We started out well. We played well defensively. LeSean was rusty. He hasn’t practiced much in the last 2 weeks. There were times when he was impatient or he would have had more big plays, but that’s what happens when you can’t practice. As great a player as he is, if you’re not sharp, those things are going to happen. They made some nice adjustments on offense at the half. Instead of running their veer they started running midline veer, where the quarterback tucks it up instead of running around the corner. That hurt us a little bit. On their first touchdown run Larondo Tucker was out with cramps and the inexperience hurt us. I happy with the kids, that they persevered. I need to see the film but I think our young defensive ends did pretty well. The only thing is, they weren’t coming down hard enough on the quarterback on that midline veer. But, for the most part, they played well. Aaron Berry is a great cover corner and he’s a great receiver. I thought that, other than his fake punt, Jeremy Ricker played really well. He was under a lot of pressure but he made some good reads and threw the ball very well. I was happy with our passing game for the most part; we need to pick up the blitz just a little bit more. On our last possession they were stacked for the run. On the series before that we were down there and we tried to run the clock but they stopped us and then scored, so we knew we had to pass. Jeremy made a couple of good throws and Aaron and Brandon got us out of there. They called timeout and I told our offensive line that State College only had one timeout left. We looked at the scoreboard and there were only 2 minutes left, so if we get 2 first downs we win the ballgame. I was happy that the line came off the ball better. The offensive line has things we have to work on but this weather is tough on the big guys. Don’t forget, State College is a pretty darn good football team. They’re well coached, they have a lot of kids, they play a lot of kids and they got some momentum going in the second half. But I’m proud of our kids and how they reacted.      

Assistant Coach Pat Berry

All-in-all I think it was a good football game. We sort of let down there a little bit in the third quarter. As far as defense, the defense did all right. We had a couple of missed assignments that hurt us but we played a very good game. We held up against a team that, it seemed like, had a hundred guys coming in and out of the game, compared to our 5 or 6.

WR/DB Aaron Berry

My first McDevitt game was great. Everybody did well. We had a lot of cramps but we had to do our jobs; we stuck it out and came away with the win. I did cramp up a little bit, going both ways, so I guess I have to do a little more conditioning. On the touchdown pass, we saw that I could beat the back so it was easy after that. The coaches know that we have confidence in them and in the quarterback and they have confidence in us to get the ball when they throw it to us.

CB Gerard Oliver

My first start was a good experience for me. I think did pretty good. I need to work on my back peddle. The coaches are helping me with it but I feel that I still have to get better, with me playing on the outside. State College was running pretty hard but the defensive line showed up and gang-tackled the fullback. I think we’re going to have a good season. We have a lot of leadership, a good defensive line, a good offensive line. I think we’re going to be real good overall.

LB/FB LaRondo Tucker

It was a good game, but we wanted to score more than we did. They were a pretty good team but we should have scored more points. Their fullbacks ran hard; they kept switching them so they were fresh. I liked my one run; I made a good cut and got a couple of yards out of it. On my fumble recovery, it looked like he was going to fumble so I just snatched it from him. I almost made it into the end zone. We have a tough schedule but if we practice hard we could go undefeated.

QB Jeremy Ricker

In the off-season, when we were scrimmaging and doing 7-on-7’s and stuff like that, we knew that sometimes teams were going to put 9 in the box so we have to be able to throw anytime from anywhere. So we worked on that. I’m happy that the coach has trust in me to go for it on 4^th down and situations like that. We were surprised a little by State College. We thought that we could handle them but they never gave up. We’re happy to come away with the win. Except for a little bit in the 3^rd quarter it was a good effort.

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