CRUSADERS 3-0 AFTER BLASTING HOLLIDAYSBURG, 49-7

September 16- Continuing on a quest to reclaim the District 3 Class AAAA football title, the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders overwhelmed Hollidaysburg tonight, 49-7 on a rainy evening at Hollidaysburg Field. The home team arrived with a 2-0 record but the Golden Eagles fell behind quickly and never recovered. McDevitt scored 42 first half points and didn’t allow Hollidaysburg past midfield. Coach Jeff Weachter was able to rest standouts LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Ricker, Jason Kates and Aaron Berry for the entire second half, and was rewarded with some spirited play by the Crusader reserves. McCoy led the statistical parade with 224 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns on only 10 carries. Ricker had another great night, completing 7 of 9 passes for 152 yards and 3 scores. Aaron Berry had 3 catches for 88 yards and 2 tallies, while sophomore running back Mike Jones gave McDevitt backers a glimpse of the future by running for 91 yards on 6 carries, including a breathtaking 74 yard touchdown scamper. The McDevitt defense, led by Kates, Leon Black and David Seiple, simply overpowered the smaller Golden Eagles and registered 2 sacks, a fumble recovery, an interception and 7 tackles for losses. The early lead allowed Weachter to empty the bench, despite the “mercy rule” being in effect for half the game. Four McDevitt quarterbacks saw action and 7 Crusaders carried the ball from scrimmage in a game where the backup kicker got on the scoreboard. 

After a pre-game cloudburst had thoroughly soaked the Crusader Marching Band, McDevitt made quick work of the Golden Eagles. Starting from the McD 20 after a touchback, Ricker began the explosion with a 44 yard bomb to Aaron Berry. McCoy’s first carry netted 8 yards before the Ricker-Berry connection produced a 28 yard tally. Mike Comasco continued his perfect 2005 PAT run by splitting the uprights and McDevitt had a 7-0 lead with only 33 seconds elapsed in the game! Hollidaysburg started its first possession at the HBG 21. After a first down pass from quarterback David Rahoi to Jared Colmer gained 23 yards, Rahoi was intercepted by Berry, who returned the pick for an apparent touchdown. A clipping penalty brought the ball back to the HBG 41, and then McCoy produced 30 tough yards on 5 carries between the tackles. Then, following Ricker’s only incompletion of the night, the senior signal-caller found Brandon Brown slanting across the end zone and fired a bullet. Brown made a highlight-film diving catch to push the lead to 14-0 at the 6:35 mark. Hollidaysburg moved to its 48 on the next series before punting, the ball rolling dead at the McD 10. On the first play after the punt, McCoy ran the stretch play around left end and turned the corner with a familiar burst of speed. Berry came up with a key block to spring Shady down the left sideline, and the McDevitt crowd sprang to its feet to salute the amazing senior as he streaked past the visitor’s bleachers down the left sideline for a 90 yard touchdown run and a 21-0 McDevitt lead. On the ensuing kickoff Brian Weisser, who had a stellar evening on special teams, came up with a Hollidaysburg fumble at the HBG 28, but Ricker suffered his first interception of 2005 in the end zone to allow Hollidaysburg to regain possession. A Kates sack highlighted the McDevitt stand this time, as the defense forced another punt. Starting at the McD 46, Ricker passed to Mike Comasco on the wide receiver screen, and the versatile sophomore followed a wall of blockers for 35 yards, to the HBG 19. Two McCoy runs gained 8 yards and then, after a procedure penalty, Ricker threw his third scoring pass of the quarter, a beauty of a throw that found Berry all alone 16 yards away in the corner of the end zone. The quarter ended after the following kickoff.

The second stanza was much of the same. The defense forced a third consecutive Golden Eagle punt and Ricker opened up from the McD 36 with a quick toss to sophomore wide receiver Julian Harrell, who dragged 2 tacklers for an 11 yard gain. McCoy scored his second touchdown on the next play, bursting through a hole supplied by the dominating Crusader offensive line and bolting 53 yards to pay dirt, stretching the McDevitt advantage to 35-0 with 9:39 left in the half. The massive Kates (6’4”, 325 lbs.) personally dominated the Golden Eagles on the following series, dropping Matt Winbush for a 1 yard loss and flattening 2 Hollidaysburg quarterbacks on successive pass attempts. The inevitable Hollidaysburg punt brought another rain shower, but it couldn’t slow the McDevitt advance. Starting from the McD 47, Ricker threw an 8 yard out to Vince Comasco, and then Dave Onorato powered 5 yards for a first down at the HBG 40. McCoy finished his evening on the next play with a 40 yard touchdown run through the heart of the exhausted Hollidaysburg defense, making the score 42-0 with 7:13 remaining in the half. The two teams then traded punts before intermission, with Jones taking over the tailback spot     

The third quarter, played with a running clock, went by in a heartbeat. Each team had one possession, with Hollidaysburg opening with a 7 play drive that stalled at midfield and led to another punt. With Vince Comasco at the helm, the Crusaders mixed the running of Jones and Onorato with a 23 yard pass to brother Mike Comasco to move 41 yards to the HBG 27. Eric McGovern roared around right end on the next play and was celebrating his first varsity score before a yellow flag (holding) brought the play back to the McD 35. The drive then stalled as the quarter ended. The fourth quarter included Hollidaysburg’s only score, following a McDevitt fumble at the McD 23 and a roughing-the-passer penalty. Jones tacked on his 74 yard scoring run, featuring a clever cut to spring into the secondary and an impressive display of speed. Reserve place-kicker Dominic Notarfrancesco boomed his PAT attempt through the goal posts to account for the final score. Linebacker R.J. Hetrick made 2 big plays, a tackle for a loss and an 8 yard sack, to keep the Golden Eagles from doing further damage in the game’s waning moments.

Next week the Crusaders entertain neighborhood rival Harrisburg for an important Mid Penn Commonwealth Division game. The 3-0 Cougars arrive confident after a 27-17 victory over Central Dauphin. The Saturday, September 24^th contest at McDevitt Field will be regionally televised and begins at 10:30 AM.

 

QUOTES

 

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

We had a good week of practice again. We came out sharp and, again, we came out throwing the ball to get them to back off of Shady. And when we did go back to the run our offensive line came off of the ball. I thought Jeremy played a great game again and the receivers did a great job of getting the ball. We spread the ball around. Both Comascos got catches. Julian Harrell, well, we have to find a way to get Julian the ball more. He did a nice job of catching that hitch and turning and getting up field. You know, Hollidaysburg has a good passing game. That #3 (Jared Colmer) is as good as any receiver in the league and last week we were a little bit worried. They brought in #12 (Patrick Smith), a sophomore quarterback, and he lit it up down at Southwestern so we’re real happy with the whole defense. This week the reserves really stepped it up and I’m real happy for them. It’s always nice to get them playing time and to see them have some success. The kids stayed focused on Hollidaysburg this week. After half time some of us were joking, “24 minutes until Cougar Week!” I had a little trouble personally, though. Last night I woke up with some things running through my head, things I wanted to do against Harrisburg. Then I thought, “Hey! We’re playing Hollidaysburg”.

Assistant Coach Pat Berry

I’m very pleased with the defense because we’re going to see that same offense a lot the rest of the way this year. We had to work on some things because in the State College game it looked like we didn’t have it. We had the flare covered this week, at least! With the Harrisburg game next week we had a little problem with the kids looking ahead, but we brought them back. We had a tough week of practice and the kids paid attention. They did a real good job tonight but, starting at half time, there was a lot of talk about Cougar Week. I think you have to single out the secondary for praise tonight, because we blitzed quite a bit. Now we got to the QB pretty quick, but the secondary did a good job of covering, all 4 of them. 

Assistant Coach/AD Tommy Mealy

I’m very proud of all of the running backs because those kids have been working so hard in practice. Our motto this year is “Strive for yards, struggle for feet, and fight for inches”. We did that tonight. Shady took care of business and the young guys really stepped up. As their coach, it was really good to see that. Mike Jones has really good cutting ability; that’s what I like about his game. He’s unique in that way. Running the stretch out there, he made the correct read and his speed took care of it from there. Eric McGovern has worked hard all four years he’s been here so it was hard to see him run for a touchdown watching it get called back. But I’ll tell you what: it won’t happen again. The Cougars next week? I’ve been there and done that. We‘re ready for the Market Street War.

OG/DT Jason Kates

I was just trying to have fun out there. We wanted to come out ready and we did. We always try to keep them from scoring when we’re out there. We’ll be prepared for the Cougars. It’s just another game.

 

S/RB Eric McGovern

Our defense did a great job. Our tackles are playing well, we’re getting good containment from our ends and our secondary has been just unbelievable. We’re shutting people down. We’re already ready for Harrisburg. We have to have a good week of practice, come out focused and we’ll get the win. On my touchdown run, I came around and hit the pylon and then I looked back and saw the flag. It’s all hard work, though. It’ll pay off.

OT Tucker Baumbach

They were pretty quick but we were really coming off the ball tonight. We just had too much size for them; they’re pretty small. We didn’t have any problem with the humidity tonight, not at all. I felt really good. The rest of the guys felt good, too. We played hard and the wet turf, for once, was fine. I can’t wait for next week. It should be a good one.

DE Brian Weisser

We prepared pretty hard for this game. You can’t take any team lightly. I pretty much expected us to come out strong because the coaches were preparing us all week. On special teams we try to start things off with a bang. I like to go down there and make some hits! The Cougars? Of course that’s our big game, inter-city rivals. Practice will be intense this week.

 

RB LeSean McCoy

It went well tonight. The wet turf didn’t bother us at all tonight. We played as a team. As far as blocking and all, the holes were there and the pass protection was good. I got enough work in. I came in not expecting to get the ball much, anyway, so it worked out. The Harrisburg game is a big one for us. They’re on a streak right now, so I look forward to a good one against the ‘Cats. Practice is going to be intense, focused.

OG Ryan Finney

We’ve been practicing against the same defense, over and over again, for the past two weeks. So it was just a matter of us executing, which we did. The coaches have us pretty well conditioned so the quick line didn’t bother us. The humid weather didn’t bother us at all. Next week is going to be a tough game. It’s a big rivalry game and they’re coming to our field. I think we’ll hold our own. 

Branden Weachter (coach’s son)

Um, I thought we did pretty good. My dad did pretty good.