October 1- The Bishop McDevitt Crusaders relied on their swarming, aggressive defense to beat Carlisle this morning, 17-12, at McDevitt Field. Playing for the first time in 3 years without all-state running back LeSean McCoy and minus the services of defensive end Matt Dietz, The Crusaders looked lost in the first half against a determined Thundering Herd squad, committing numerous drive-killing penalties and squandering scoring opportunities. In the second half, spurred on by the laudable efforts of the McDevitt defense, the Crusaders managed to put two touchdowns on the board to put the game away. Wide receiver Brandon Brown was the offensive star of the game, making the most of his 2 catches by scoring on both of them. Quarterback Jeremy Ricker suffered through an uneven first half, but recovered to finish with 154 yards passing on a 13-25 day. Aaron Berry had 6 catches for 59 yards, and Mike Comasco, beside contributing 5 kicking points (1 field goal, 2 PAT's), had a key 16 yard reception. The rushing attack, in the absence of McCoy, was less successful. Sophomore Mike Jones led all Crusader ball carriers with 52 tough yards on 15 carries. Dave Onorato added 23 yards on 11 carries, including some clutch third down conversions, and Ricker scrambled for 10 yards on 4 carries.The McDevitt defense had a very successful day, limiting the speedy Carlisle offense to a mere 166 total yards, 77 of which came on their only scoring drive, in the waning moments of the game against a prevent defense. Leading the way was linebacker Leon Black, who consistently stopped cutback runs by talented Carlisle quarterback Clem Johnson and was responsible for numerous crowd-pleasing hits. Linebackers Keith Davis and Pat Berry swarmed to the ball and chipped in on pass defense. The defensive line rotation of Sebastian Sullivan, Jason Kates, David Dunn, Brian Weisser, Dave Seiple and Chris Henderson allowed no yardage up the middle and spent most of the afternoon in hot pursuit of the elusive Johnson. The Herd's talented signal-caller was harassed into a 5-11 passing day, including 2 interceptions, and was sacked 3 times. Carlisle managed only 17 yards rushing on 34 attempts. The McDevitt secondary, which included Mike and Vince Comasco, Eric McGovern, Teron Strawbridge, Aaron Berry and Matt Vargo, blanked the Carlisle receivers and provided solid run support on sweeps and options.
After Jones had a fine 26 yard return of the opening kickoff, the Crusaders couldn't move the ball and punted to the CAR 35. Carlisle then went 3-and-out and returned the favor, punting to the MCD 32. And that's how the first quarter went; Carlisle stopped by the relentless McDevitt defense and the Crusaders stumbling along on a series of untimely penalties and dropped passes. The second quarter began with Carlisle's 3rd punt of the morning, with the multi-talented Johnson's boot carrying 47 yards to the MCD 45. Aaron Berry fielded the punt there and, after 2 quick moves, ran free down the right sideline to the CAR 8. Two short runs and an incompletion led to Mike Comasco's 23 yard field goal, and McDevitt had a 3-0 lead with 10:20 left in the half. A questionable pass interference call against McDevitt helped the Herd move near midfield on the next series, but great pass defense and a rugged Black tackle led to another Carlisle punt, to the MCD 24. After 2 Jones runs had netted 7 yards, Ricker threw a short pass to Berry on the left sideline. Carlisle's Damitrius Thomas jumped the route, intercepted the pass and beat Ricker in a 39 yard footrace to the end zone to put Carlisle up, 6-3 at the 5:17 mark in the second quarter. Keith Davis took the ensuing short kickoff and blasted 18 yards to the MCD 48. A 12 yard Ricker-to-Berry hookup and runs by Onorato and Jones moved the ball to the CAR 28. Then a scrambling Ricker tried to float a pass to Berry in the corner of the end zone, but Johnson streaked over from his safety spot and intercepted in the end zone, ending the McDevitt scoring threat. After another interference call against McDevitt, Kates engulfed Johnson for a 6 yard sack and forced Carlisle to punt again as the half ended. The second half began with the Herd gaining a first down before punting, this time 30 yarder to the MCD 23. McDevitt then began its most successful drive of the game, a 13 play, 77 yard effort that started with a 3 yard Jones run. The sophomore tailback then took a Ricker screen pass and ran 8 yards for the first down at the McDevitt 34. On third down Ricker connected with Berry for a clutch 17 yard completion that moved the ball into Carlisle territory. After an illegal substitution penalty and a Jones run for -1, Ricker hit Mike Comasco on a swing pass that was good for a 16 yard gain. Ricker then passed to Berry for a 5 yard gain and a first down at the CAR 35. Later, facing a third-and-5 at the 30, Ricker scrambled 6 yards to again move the chains. One play later, Ricker dropped to pass and, finding no one open, began to scramble to his left. The senior quarterback looked like he had decided to run the ball when he suddenly pulled up and lofted a pass to Brown, who had run along the back of the end zone to get open. Brown cradled the toss for a touchdown, and McDevitt had regained the lead, 10-6, with 2:53 left in the quarter. Carlisle moved into McDevitt territory on its next possession behind a 27 yard pass completion to tight end Luke Fickel. On the next carry, Tyrese Marshall, who was so effective against McDevitt last year but was not a factor
this morning, was dropped for a 2 yard loss by Black and Pat Berry. One play later Defensive Coordinator Pat Berry called for a corner blitz and Aaron Berry raced into the Carlisle backfield and dropped Johnson for an 11 yard loss as the quarter ended. McDevitt couldn't advance and punted back to the Herd, Ricker's punt rolling dead at midfield. Another Aaron Berry corner blitz resulted in an 8 yard loss this time, and Carlisle punted again, this time pinning the Crusaders down on the MCD 11. McDevitt managed one first down on a Jones run but punted the ball back to the CAR 35. On the second play Johnson retreated to pass and was overwhelmed by the McDevitt pass rush. He sprint backward, then toward the sideline before throwing a pass that landed near the McDevitt band. The resulting intentional ground penalty led to a 32 yard Carlisle punt to the CAR 45. On the next play Ricker launched a pass to the streaking Brown, who gathered it in at the 20 and outraced the speedy Carlisle secondary for his second touchdown of the game with 4:08 left. Now leading 17-6, the Crusaders thought the game was in hand when Berry intercepted Johnson on the following series and tight roped his way 46 yards for a touchdown. But McDevitt was penalized for roughing-the-passer on the play and the Herd had new life. Working against a 3 man rush, Johnson was able to connect with Marshall for 25 yards on a broken play, and then Johnson scooted 11 yards to the MCD 1. Carlisle's Brandon Heard dove the final yard for the touchdown at the 2:12 mark and the Herd prepared for a 2 point conversion attempt. Johnson took the snap and rolled to his right. He stopped suddenly and threw a high pass to Marshall in the right flat. As Marshall leaped for the ball, McGovern moved in, blasting Marshall as the ball tumbled harmlessly to the turf. Everyone was expecting an onside kick and Carlisle didn't disappoint. Mike Comasco easily covered the bouncing pigskin, but the officials ruled that the referees had not signaled to start the game. On the re-kick, Carlisle recovered the ball as it was bouncing toward the MCD 40 and the Herd regained possession. After a Marshall run went nowhere, Johnson threw a pass that was deflected, and then intercepted by Vince Comasco at the MCD 17. Carlisle burned its remaining time outs as Onorato guarded the ball on 3 successive dive plays, and Ricker punted the ball back to Carlisle with 24 ticks left on the clock. After a 9 yard Johnson-Marshall gain Johnson tried for the game-winner lofting a deep pass toward the McDevitt end zone. Vince Comasco was waiting for the ball, though, and, as he settled comfortably to the ground with his second interception, the McDevitt victory was finally sealed.Next week the Crusaders journey to Berwick's legendary Crispin Field for a nationally-televised game against the 4-1 Berwick Bulldogs. The October 7th game, being televised live on ESPNU and replayed next weekend on ESPN2, starts at 7:30 PM.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jeff Weachter
One of the things we talked about in our staff meeting last week was that we're not going to be quite as good offensively without Shady. The defense has been playing well all year, except for a few breakdowns here and there. We felt that this defense could be a dominating defense and I thought that they dominated today. We'd like to look at Chris Henderson running the ball but now he's playing so good at defensive tackle we want to stay strong. Eric McGovern can run the football, too, but we don't want to tire those guys out. Teron Strawbridge stepped up because one of the things we talked about was playing Aaron a little bit less on defense so we can apply more pressure on offense. We made a lot of mistakes offensively. I don't know what was going on in the first half but we came down and made some adjustments and came out and played a real good second half. The defensive line did a great job; they got a good push up the middle and made the option bow out and our linebackers and secondary did a good job coming up. You know, Clem Johnson scared the living daylights out of us; he's been cutting it back against the grain this year and making big runs. What we did was decide to go to a 4-3 and used Matt Vargo to spy on Johnson and he did a great job. Leon Black just played one heck of a game. He brings the load every time he tackles and he did a great job. For the most part I was pleased with the young running backs but wasn't pleased with the offensive line. We didn't block well. We'll look at the film, because some of the ref's calls were penalties but some of them looked questionable to me. We'll keep on working on those. Next week is a short week for us and the staff has to do a great job because Berwick shows us a lot of formations and personnel packages. We'll sharpen up the passing game and get the running game going.
Assistant Coach Corey Jett
We came up big on defense when we had to. A couple of defensive penalties hurt us early in the game, but we came through at the end. Aaron Berry's interception showed that he was flying to the ball and Vince Comasco played an excellent game. On offense our young backs are still trying to find our way. I think they played well considering they don't get a lot of carries in practice. I think we're trying to find out whose team this really is. Are we going to be a team or are we going to be a bunch of individuals?
Assistant Coach Dave Weachter
It's not something you do overnight, to change from a predominantly running team to one that wants to throw the ball around. We had some new formations in and some different things. Even though we looked good in practice running them it's a whole lot different in a game. I'm real positive that our passing game is going to pick it up, like we did in the second half. I think the running backs did a good job. There are a couple things that they have to understand. With Mike Jones, he has to get up field a little bit more. He's not playing junior high or JV anymore. But I thought they did a great job. This is kind of a tough 3 game stretch we have here. But last year when we played Berwick Aaron Berry didn't play, and this year it's going to be Shady and Dietz. I'm sure we're going to have a great week of practice.
QB Jeremy Ricker
It's hard losing a tailback like Shady, especially the way he makes defenders miss. I feel that we came together at the end of the game, in the second half, and we played well as a team. We were struggling in the first half, trying to find a groove and that can be hard. After the interceptions, well, you have to move on, get ready for the next play and make something happen. I thought I did that in the second half. The first half was a little sloppy, but they had a very strong defense. On the first touchdown I was going to run and then I saw #30 (Damitrius Thomas) coming up and then I saw Brandon streaking across the field. I didn't really have a good handle on the ball but I just threw it out there. It was a great catch. On the second one, well, everyone misjudges our receiver's speed and they can get behind the defenders. Berwick is going to be hard, especially on their home field.
TE/DE Dave Seiple
We had a tough practice this week, getting ready for Carlisle. We knew we had to play as a team to win and we did. All week we knew we had to shut down the three little backs they had; that was the key. Johnson is pretty hard to tackle, hard to get to. I was a little nervous at the end but I love playing under pressure like that. It's half nervous, half excitement. Next week we have to play hard on both sides of the ball.
OG/DT Jason Kates
I think the defense played great today. Everybody came to play, everybody stepped it up. Chasing Clem? Hey, I got him once! I could have had him 2 or 3 more times but he's a scrambler. What can you say? You just keep trying to get him. I think that by next week we're going to get it together. The running backs sometimes just don't know what to do when they line up in a different defense, but they'll know by next week.
WR Brandon Brown
I think at the beginning that we were kind of nervous, not having Shady and everything. Once we got in the locker room at half time we realized that we could do things without him. With him it's a whole lot easier, but we pulled together and pulled out the win. On the first touchdown we just adjusted. The ball was supposed to go to the right side. I saw Jeremy scramble out and both defenders went with Aaron so I figured that I'd go in that direction. I saw him scramble out so I just waved my hand and he saw me. The ball was kind of short because Jeremy was actually going to run because he didn't see me right away. He said that the ball came out kind of funny but I adjusted to it and caught it. On the second one I ran a hitch-and-go. They were sitting back kind of looking at Aaron so I was just waiting for the call to run it to the back side. Talking about Berwick, I know it's going to be hard, especially going up there with the atmosphere and everything, but if we pull together like we did in these wins against Harrisburg and Carlisle we'll be OK.
WR/DB Vince Comasco
We knew we had to come out and play hard and that's what we did. We stopped them on offense, pretty much. We held Clem, and that's hard to do. The defensive ends, tackles and linebackers played a pretty good game. The first interception, well, I should have gotten the on side kick and there never would have been a first one! But the ball bounced off the receiver and I just caught it. On the second one I read the quarterback and when he launched it I was waiting for it. The Berwick game, it's going to be exciting being on ESPN and everything. It's going to be fun.
LB/TE Leon Black
The coaches told us what a very good athlete Johnson is. We had to contain him and that's what the defense did. I just hope that next week we go up there and play our best. If we go up there with intensity we can come back with a victory.
LB/TE Keith Davis
The whole week we were told to step our game up because Shady and Matt are out, so we were real aggressive and we came out with the victory. The coaches had me and Leon Black, the outside linebackers, waiting for Johnson to keep him from going outside and it worked. I was a little nervous at the end, though!
S Eric McGovern
Ever since Shady went down we knew that our defense would have to step it up, and that's exactly what we did today. Everyone did their job and it was a total team effort. On the 2 point conversion I was originally on the tight end but he was blocking. I saw Marshall come out in the flat and I didn't know Clem was going to throw it because I was already on Marshall, but, anyway, you gotta make him pay for that! These games are always tight at the end. I'm getting too old for this stuff. Next week is going to be crazy, with ESPN and all that. We just have to stay focused, stay with our team goals to stay undefeated.
TB LeSean McCoy
This week was rough for me. I'm not allowed to play and being out here and seeing my team play without me, well, it was rough. My leg feels fine. I have medication and I'm not in any pain there. The pain is in my heart. I'm finally getting used to the crutches and I go back to school on Monday so I'll see how it is. I knew our defense was going to play tough. I think by next week the offense will get it together. The team was a little down but we'll make out well. I didn't know Matt Dietz was hurt until he came and visited me in my bedroom. Hopefully he'll be able to come back this year. I'm going to help the team get focused for the games. I can't be there physically for them so I can help them mentally.