November 12- The Bishop McDevitt Crusaders began defense of the District3/6 Class AAAA football championship today with a resounding 33-0 win over the Central Dauphin Rams, at Harrisburg’s Severance Field. The Rams had been thoroughly whipped in their last encounter with the undefeated (11-0) Crusaders, losing 42-0 on October 22nd. CD coach Paul Plott, determined to avoid a similar fate this time, radically changed his offensive and defensive formations and had the Rams fired up for the rematch. It was a futile effort, however, as the McDevitt defense once again held CD out of the end zone. Defensive end Brian Weisser led the charge with 2 sacks, while Dave Seiple, Jason Kates, Chris Henderson, Sebastian Sullivan and David Dunn fortified a defensive line that allowed only 74 rushing yards. Linebackers Keith Davis, Leon Black and Pat Berry added to their reputation as the midstate’s finest. In the secondary, Aaron Berry, Vince Comasco, Matt Vargo and Eric McGovern prevented the long gain and constantly frustrated the Rams in the red zone.

After initially struggling, the McDevitt offense accounted for 406 total yards behind the near-flawless play of quarterback Jeremy Ricker. The Maryland-bound senior completed 8 of 16 passes for 238 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sophomore running back Mike Jones led all rushers with 113 yards and a score on 20 carries, and Dave Onorato chipped in with 39 tough yards on 5 attempts. Aaron Berry continues to look uncoverable, catching two of Ricker’s scoring tosses for a total of 76 yards. His counterpart, Brandon Brown, had 2 acrobatic catches for 61 yards, and Mike Comasco had a 22 yard scoring reception. The offensive line of Sullivan, Kates, Black, Tucker Baumbach, Ryan Finney and Carlos Mera continued to improve as they dominated the line of scrimmage.

An inspired Central Dauphin defense held McDevitt to a 3-and-out on its initial possession, and then the Rams moved into Crusader territory behind the passing of QB Mike Dietz and the running of Alan Wynne before McDevitt stiffened and forced a CD punt. McDevitt failed to advance, and when Ricker could only manage a 19 yard punt to the McD 39 the Rams seemed to be ready to draw first blood. After a 10 yard Wynne run, though, Dunn shot through the CD line to drop Wynne for a 6 yard loss. A Ram motion penalty and an incompletion then thwarted the first of a number of CD drives into scoring position. After the two teams traded punts McDevitt began its 4th series on the McD 20. Ricker promptly targeted Brown for a 14 yard gain, to the McD 34. Next, Ricker dropped back to pass and avoided an onrushing Ram lineman by moving to his left. Ricker then uncorked a 50 yard missile that found Berry in stride at the CD 20. The senior speedster easily outdistanced his pursuers to complete the 66 yard scoring play and, after Mike Comasco added the PAT, McDevitt had a 7-0 lead with 28 seconds left in the first quarter.

The second quarter began with a Ram drive fizzling at the CD 24. Following a short punt, McDevitt took over at the CD 47 and the huge Crusader offensive line began to take control of the game. Jones started the drive by slipping through a nice hole for a 25 yard gain. Seiple gained 3 yards on a plunge and then Jones added a 4 yarder. Jones then broke a couple of tackles to convert the third down, moving 5 yards to the CD 10. On the next play Ricker threw a dart to Berry in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 9:31 showing on the scoreboard clock. The Rams desperately tried to keep up with the McDevitt offense on the next series. CD moved to midfield on short Dietz passes before the QB connected with wideout Mark Mackey for a 37 yard gain to the McD 10. After a 1 yard Wynne gain, consecutive sacks by Weisser and Davis forced the Rams to attempt a 31 yard field goal that was wide left. McDevitt promptly steamrollered the dejected Ram defense, moving 80 yards on 6 quick plays. Jones ran for 2 yards before bursting up field for a 26 yard gain to the McD 48. Onorato fought for a 4 yard gain, followed by an incompletion. On the next play Berry lined up in the backfield and motioned to the right. At the snap Ricker faked a swing pass to Berry and then swung around and dropped off a screen pass to Jones, who scampered 26 yards to the CD 22. Head coach Jeff Weachter promptly called a time out and the Crusaders emerged from the huddle in a 4 wideout set. Central Dauphin double covered Berry, but Ricker’s target was Mike Comasco, who had slipped behind the Ram coverage in the middle of the field. Ricker’s pass was cradled by Comasco as the versatile sophomore crossed the goal line, pushing the McDevitt lead to 20-0. Weisser sacked Dietz again on the ensuing Ram possession and Weachter called time out to insure one last Crusader drive. But a wild, clock-burning punt return by Aaron Berry killed that plan and McDevitt retired to the locker room with a 3 score lead.

Central Dauphin began the second half by driving into McDevitt territory. Facing a 3rd and 1 at the McD 30, the Rams self-destructed by committing consecutive motion penalties, followed by an incompletion and a punt to the McD 24. Jones carried 3 times to net 11 yards and then Ricker threw to Berry along the right sideline for an apparent 30 yard gain, but the official ( who was in far better position than the complaining McDevitt crowd) ruled that Berry was out-of-bounds. Undaunted, the Crusaders continued the drive. Jones slashed for 8 yards before adding a 9 yarder behind a brutal Seiple block. The next play was supposed to be a short pass but the CD secondary had good coverage. Ricker calmly waited for an open receiver before heaving the ball toward the goal line. Brown raced down field and turned back with a Ram defender draped over him. The senior wideout reached back and somehow made a stellar catch while tumbling down at the 1 yard line. Ricker surfed into the end zone behind Sullivan’s block on the following play to stretch the Crusader advantage to 26-0 with 5:41 left in the 3rd quarter. Central Dauphin took 7 plays to struggle for 11 yards on the next series before punting to the McD 41. The final McDevitt scoring drive covered those 59 yards in 5 plays. After an incompletion, Ricker used the screen pass to Jones to gain 9 yards and then Jones struggled for two hard-earned yards and a first down at the midfield. Ricker then launched a pass that was caught by Julian Harrell at the CD 4. After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Rams and a rare McDevitt motion penalty, Jones fought through some halfhearted CD tackle attempts for 7 yards to cap the scoring. With a 33-0 lead the Crusaders began to substitute in the secondary, but the result was the same. A CD drive that ended the third quarter advanced as far as the McD 4, but tight coverage by Vince Comasco and Berry broke up a 4th down pass to Mackey. Jones, Onorato and Seiple then took turns pounding the Ram front 7, taking 10 plays to move to the CD 47 while the clock ticked away. When McDevitt finally punted, a good CD punt return was negated by a clipping penalty. The Rams had one final try to get on the scoreboard, taking 12 plays to go from the CD 18 to the McD 16. But fine secondary play by Vince Lochetto, Terence Beamer and Evan McGovern stalled the drive, and Seiple’s emphatic sack of Dietz on 4th down (the 12th sack by McDevitt against Central Dauphin this year!) preserved the shutout. Sophomore Cameron Artis tacked on 13 yards in 3 carries as the clock ran out and McDevitt had advanced to the playoff semi-finals.

Next week the Crusaders play Hempfield, the District 3/6 AAAA 4th seed. The Black Knights advanced by defeating Cumberland Valley, 42-28. Last year McDevitt beat Hempfield 56-21 in the opening round of the playoffs. The Saturday, November 19th game will again be played at Harrisburg High School’s Severance Field. Kickoff will be at 1:00 PM.

QUOTES

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

CD came out and ran a couple of things, offensively and defensively, that they didn’t run the first game. We didn’t know what they were going to do. But after the second or third series we made our adjustments and the kids played well. Jeremy did a great job and threw some great balls. And I was happy that, not only did we get Aaron the ball, we also got Brandon, Mike Comasco and Julian Harrell some big plays. I’m real happy about that. Brandon’s last catch was unbelievable. You know, he made a catch just like that in the game we lost to Carlisle. Brandon’s a good receiver. A lot of our guys are good receivers. On defense they all played well. I was so proud of our whole defense; they did their normal great job. Hempfield is a much better team than last year. We have to come prepared and we have to play real well.

Assistant Coach Pat Berry

I didn’t think we could keep them off the scoreboard, especially with how many times they drove inside our territory, but the kids sucked it up and did a good job. CD came out with some different sets that really surprised me. Not so much the plays, but the sets were different, but our kids were prepared for the cutback runs and did well. I have to single out Vince Comasco. He had to play Mackey, and we were not sure if Mackey would play. Aaron Berry did a super job. I think Chris Henderson, when he got in there, did a good job, along with Kates. I could go through all 11, really. We went down to see Hempfield last night and they’re not a bad team. They have a great quarterback and some good receivers, and a good running game. It will be a challenge for our team but we’re ready for it. We’re going to go get it.

Assistant Coach Jake Minnich

I was just talking to Coach Shiner about CD. We practiced against a different defense than the one CD started in and it took a while for our kids to adjust. Once we did, well, it was all over. As offensive line coach I love it when we just pound it down the field on the ground. The offensive linemen, I think they like it also. Just line up and knock the other guy down. If our kids had seen Hempfield against Cumberland Valley last night there wouldn’t be any talk of overconfidence, because Hempfield is much, much improved. I know they play in the Lancaster-Lebanon league and whether they caught CV a little flat coming off the big win last week, I don’t know. But they executed very well last night. I was very impressed with Hempfield.

WR Brandon Brown

That last catch was one of those where you put your hands up, the ball falls in your hands and you close them and come down with it. That play was supposed to be a slant but I saw him roll back so I took it up. He put the ball right on target. Jeremy was looking real good today, in pre-game and everything. I had a lot of confidence in him today. CD is a good team; you have to give it to them. They made a lot of adjustments but we handled it. I know the quarterback and one of the wideouts at Hempfield. I met them over the summer and they’re real good guys. They’re going to play hard because last summer they were already talking about playing us again. They are going to be prepared.

LB Pat Berry

I really didn’t think we’d get another shutout. I thought they’d score at least one touchdown. But we came to play again and stopped them again. I think we play with a lot of heart. McDevitt kids have a lot of heart and when they threatened we got together and said, “We’ve got to stop this drive”. I think what happened at the end of the game was CD got a little angry when they knew their season was going to be over and they got a little chippy. But we just kept playing with our heads. My dad went to scout Hempfield last night and he said that they have a good offense. Their quarterback came back and he’s pretty good, and we saw them at a 7-on-7 over the summer. We have to play good teams at this time of year so we have to be prepared, no matter what.

OT Tucker Baumbach

Honestly, I think in the first half we came out and expected to run all over CD like we did the last time and we didn’t come out with enough heart. But then we realized that we had a game on our hands and we did it. I don’t think the difference was with CD; they played exactly like they did last time. The difference was with us. At the end they were making comments, but I can see why they would. They were embarrassed from the last game but, hey, that happens. Coaches tell us that Hempfield is a lot better this year. I hope to have a good game.

S Eric McGovern

I’ve never had to sit out a football game before last week (out with an injury) and it was tough, standing on the sidelines. But I supported my teammates and I was happy to see that they came out with the win. In the beginning of this game with CD they opened with a drive; last game it was complete dominance by us. We came out a little flat in the beginning but we soon picked it up. Like somebody said, it turned out to be 75-0 in 2 games. Coach Weachter told us that Hempfield is very improved from last year. We have to have a great week of practice and we’ll see what happens. To be honest I have a little bit of a headache right now. I put on a few licks out there but I’ll be OK.

DE Brian Weisser

Their offense threw a bunch of different things at us this time. CD obviously came prepared; they came to play but we came to play, too. It turned out to be a pretty good game. Our motto is “Shut them out”. Our defense takes pride in these goose eggs. Personally, I am more than thrilled to be in the playoffs this year. Last year, sitting on the bench (with an injury) and seeing your teammates out there doing good and you can’t contribute to the team, that was rough. When you have a team like ours, when you lose a piece of it you just want to get back in there. Don’t underestimate Hempfield; they’re much improved from last year.

S Matt Vargo

They came out in a formation that we didn’t really practice against, but our defense always makes good adjustments so we held our ground and stopped them. I think that we’re well-coached. Our coaches do a great job of preparing us and giving us situations that we normally don’t face in a game, so we adjust well. At the beginning of the game CD came out fired up and they probably thought that they could stay with us, but we just started hitting back and they got real frustrated. The coaches told us that Hempfield is much improved so we’re going to have to come out and play harder than we did today.

DT Chris Henderson

The last CD game my ankle still wasn’t 100% so this week I did a lot of therapy. Right now I’m feeling about 90% so next week I should be back to 100%. It gets tough mentally when they drive all the way up the field but we keep our composure to try to keep them out of the end zone. The playoff intensity is great; I love it! We just have to work hard this week and hopefully we’ll get another win.

WR/S Vince Comasco

Mackey’s a great receiver; he’s big, he’s physical and he’s pretty fast. They were trying to throw deep on me. I thought he played pretty well, considering his injury. It didn’t really affect him that much; he’s a great player. It did surprise me that we shut them out again but when you play as a team like we do, you help each other out and you have each other’s backs, that’s what happens. You get shutouts. The Hempfield game is going to be a lot harder than it was last year. We really have to prepare for them.

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