September 3- The Bishop McDevitt Crusaders opened the 2006 season successfully tonight, dominating league rival CD East 35-7 at a soggy Landis Field. Sophomore quarterback Kyle Koncar led the Crusaders to 5 scores in the first half despite the challenging weather conditions (the game had been postponed a day due to the arrival of Tropical Storm Ernesto, but a misty rain hampered play all evening), and the quick McDevitt defense overwhelmed the Panthers, registering 4 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, an interception and a safety. The active defensive line, led by Sebastian Sullivan, Chris Henderson, Dave Onorato and Matt Dietz, kept constant pressure on East quarterbacks and ball carriers with deep backfield penetration. The linebacking corps of Dante Ushery, Matt Vargo and Pat Berry covered the field sideline-to-sideline, and the secondary simply wasn’t challenged. On offense, the line composed of tackles Jordan Knox and Brandon Day; guards Vince Sullivan and Jared Henley; center Sebastian Sullivan and tight end Terahje Gratkowski made significant progress as a unit. They blasted holes for running backs Onorato, Henderson and Mike Jones, and they kept the pressure off Koncar, who completed 5 of 9 passes for 96 yards and a score in his varsity debut.

McDevitt started the opening drive at the McD 27 and moved quickly downfield behind the running of Onorato and a 39 yard Koncar-Harrell hookup. On a scramble near the goal line, however, Koncar lost the handle on the slippery pigskin and East recovered on its own 1. On the next play Henderson roared into the Panther backfield and flattened Sayquan Mitchell-Scott for a safety and a 2-0 McDevitt lead. On the subsequent free kick, an aroused Henderson galloped 29 yards with the return, to the CDE 25. Two tough Onorato runs netted 9 yards, and then Koncar snuck for 2 and the first down. After a fumbled snap and an incompletion, Koncar squirted around right end and swerved 17 yards for McDevitt’s first touchdown of 2006. Mike Comasco’s successful PAT made the score 9-0. The McDevitt defense provided another short field for the offense on the next series. East had moved the ball to the CDE 42 when quarterback Travis McFarland tried a swing pass. Safety Evan McGovern leaped high to tip the ball, and Matt Dietz intercepted at the 41. Dietz bulled his way to the 15, but a personal foul penalty moved the ball back to the CDE 30. Jones and Onorato alternated short runs on the 7 play drive, capped by Koncar’s 1 yard sneak for the touchdown pushing McDevitt to a 16-0 advantage with 1:42 left in the opening quarter.

An Onorato sack forced a Panther punt on the next series and, following a 14 yard McGovern punt return, the Crusaders began the second quarter at the McD 44. Despite a 15 yard personal foul penalty on East the McDevitt drive stalled and Comasco came on to punt. The versatile junior booted a high hanger near the goal line and Thomas Mitchell alertly downed the ball on the CDE 1. Two plays later Matt Vargo fell on an East fumble and Onorato promptly skipped 3 yards for the tally, pushing the lead to an insurmountable 22-0. East was forced to punt again on the next series and McDevitt set up shop on the McD 31. Jones began this scoring drive with a 13 yard run and, following a fumbled snap, Koncar hit Comasco with a 22 yard completion. After 3 runs netted 9 yards, McDevitt faced a 3^rd-and-1 at the CDE 34. Koncar used a change of cadence to draw the Panthers offside for the first down, and then the 5’ 10” 175 lb. signal caller took a 3 step drop and lofted a pass to Harrell, down the left sideline. Harrell gathered in the pass at the 20 and strolled into the end zone for the touchdown and an ill-advised celebration, which cost the Crusaders 15 yards on the PAT. Comasco barely missed the bonus-sized kick, and McDevitt had a 28-0 lead with 3:10 left in the 2^nd quarter. East was again thwarted by the Crusader defense, highlighted by a combined sack by Wes Jesperson and Matt Vargo. The Panthers punted to the McD 45 and one play later, Koncar darted and danced through the East secondary for a 44 yard scramble to the one yard line. Henderson walked in for the score behind overpowering blocks by Day and Vince Sullivan, and the 35-0 advantage enacted the “Mercy Rule” for the second half, featuring a moving clock.

The second half, played in a steadily increasing drizzle, went mercifully fast. Ushery recovered a fumble at the CDE 33 but Comasco eventually missed a 30 yard field goal. Bu the time a Berry/S.Sullivan sack forced another East punt, substitutes were flooding the field. Mitchell took over at quarterback and managed to move the ball into Panther territory, but a fumble ended the threat. Vince Lochetto’s impressive sack forced another East drive to fail, but by this time the teams were trading punts in the gloomy fog. East managed to avert the shutout when Cameron Lindsay connected with Larry Stazewski for a 17 yard touchdown pass with 4 seconds left in the game, making the final score 35-7.

Next Friday, September 8^th, the Crusaders travel to Landisville to take on the Hempfield Black Knights of the Lancaster/Lebanon League. Game time is 7:00 PM.

QUOTES

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

I was happy with tonight’s game. We knew we were going to be pretty good defensively, but I was happy with the improvement with the offensive line. East’s’ strength was the defensive line and they weren’t bad, especially watching their scrimmages. They beat York and did a nice job in their other scrimmage. I was also pleased with our running backs and the receivers, but my hat’s off to Kyle Koncar. He ran the offense just beautifully. He showed that he’s quite the playmaker running the football and I was really happy the way he threw the ball. I thought he threw it great, especially in these conditions. We put tremendous pressure on our quarterbacks because we do a lot of things. We don’t believe in showing a whole lot of things in scrimmages, so you don’t know how things are going to work out in a game. We have a lot more we didn’t show tonight because we didn’t need to use it. Kyle’s doing a great job with all of the offense; he’s getting better every day. We have a good backup in Thomas Mitchell and we have a good young one in Salath Williams, so right now the quarterback position is in good hands. Now Hempfield thinks they have something to prove against the Mid Penn. They want to prove that they belong against teams like ours. They thought they proved it last year in the playoffs but they’re never going to prove it until they beat a Mid Penn team, so they’re going to be gunning for us. Like coach Deuce said, he and I are from Lancaster County and we love going down there and beating up on them so it will be a good test for us this week.

Assistant Coach Dave Weachter

We’ve come a long way. These kids are a great group of kids; they want to learn and they want to get better. They showed this week that they’re coming along, but we still have a long way to go. As for Hempfield, well, any time Jeff and I can go back to Lancaster County and play we enjoy it. They’re a good football team; we watched them last night and, although they lost a lot of kids from last year also, they’re still pretty good.

QB/S/PR Thomas Mitchell

I missed playing last year, to tell you the truth. I just want to be out here with the rest of my friends, playing football. I never really returned punts before so I just have to get used to it. I need to get the hang of it. Our spirit right now is really great.  We have great team chemistry and everything’s clicking right now.

OT Jordan Knox

My challenge tonight was to remember my plays and to block better than I did in the scrimmages, to do my best. I think we did OK tonight but I know that we can do better in our games coming up. I still feel like I’m fighting for my spot in the starting lineup every week so I have to make myself better and help everybody else on the team get better.

QB Kyle Koncar

I thought we played pretty well. There are a few things, like the snaps, that I have to get down, and I need to work on timing with the receivers. I also have to get to know the running backs, how they like to run. It was a little different playing in the rain. In the first half, when the rain started to calm down, it wasn’t much of a factor. But in the second half it was difficult. Julian Harrell has really been a lot of help to me. He taught me most of the plays when I first got here. Justin Knox is a good receiver who runs good routes. I work on my timing with him. I came to McDevitt last year and went to classes for half a year so I got to know the system. It’s a lot to handle with being quarterback and schoolwork but my classmates are a big help and they support me in every aspect.

LB/FB Vince Lochetto

It feels good to get playing time. I’ve been working hard this summer to get out on the field with all of my friends like Sebastian and Dietz . They’re great players and I’m just looking forward to contributing to this great team. I put on about 25 pounds since last year to move up to linebacker, and then Coach Weachter moved me to fullback so I got a lot of reps there, too. That’s great. On the sack in the second half, the tight end went out for a little pass and no one even touched me; I came in free. I loved it! I think the team is handling things real well this year. We don’t have the superstars like we did last year, but this year this team is looking to fly under the radar and beat teams like this team every night, and like Hempfield next week.

OG/DT Jared Henley

The offensive line is working hard to do the little things that make you better. Overall, it’s the little things that count. CD East was fast like we thought they would be, but we just played faster. We’re really starting to learn about each other and to come together as a line. I love when I get to play on defense; I really like the quickness on that side of the ball.        

Click here for the CD East Game Stats

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