November 18- There were not many people who thought that the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders could beat the Harrisburg Cougars today in their District 3 Class AAAA playoff game at Severance Field. After all, the Cougars had dominated the first game between the teams, a 29-7 triumph at McDevitt Field on September 16^th, and the Crusaders had struggled in the second half of the regular season, dogged by inconsistent play and key injuries. But there were many believers in the McDevitt locker room, and those coaches and players are now exulting in a shocking 20-18 upset of their archrivals. Despite falling behind early in the game, the Crusaders stuck to Coach Jeff Weachter’s game plan and fought for 3 touchdowns against the area’s stingiest defense. Once again, McDevitt’s defense turned back a late challenge to touch off a raucous celebration at the end of the game. And once again, a McDevitt team had avenged a regular-season loss with a clutch playoff victory. Since 2004, the Crusaders have played 6 games against teams that they played in the regular season, and McDevitt has won all 6 games. The McDevitt district playoff winning streak is now 13 games, with the last loss coming in 1994.

Things looked promising for the Crusaders right from the start of the game. The Cougars fumbled the opening kickoff and Matt Vargo recovered at the HBG 27. But 3 plays later quarterback Kyle Koncar threw an interception and Harrisburg launched a quick 5 play, 68 yard scoring drive that was capped by a 19 yard touchdown run by Deries Hodge. Senior Sebastian Sullivan blocked the extra point, however, and the Cougars had to settle for a 6-0 lead. After the two teams traded punts the Crusaders began a time-consuming, 16 play drive that would cover 65 yards. The drive was aided by 2 long Harrisburg penalties, a 19 yard Koncar pass to Julian Harrell and tough inside running by Mike Jones and Dave Onorato. It ended with McDevitt facing 4^th-and-goal on the HBG 1. Koncar’s sneak was stopped by the Harrisburg line and the Crusaders came away without any points on the scoreboard. Harrisburg managed to move the ball near midfield before a McGovern hit caused Hodge to fumble and Tyrell Harris recovered at the HBG 47. Koncar began this possession with an 8 yard keeper before Jones fought for the first down at the 37. After an incompletion Jones ripped off a 12 yard gain and then, two plays later, a Cougar pass interference penalty spotted the ball on the HBG 13. A McDevitt motion penalty followed, and then Koncar was dropped for a 2 yard loss. On the next play Koncar launched a pass into the corner of the end zone and Mike Comasco managed to make the grab before tumbling out of bounds. The 20 yard touchdown play and Comasco’s subsequent PAT pushed the Crusaders into a lead that would last for the rest of the game. It looked like the Crusaders might widen that lead when, on the first play following the kickoff, another big McGovern hit forced another Cougar fumble and Sullivan recovered at the HBG 32. But the Harrisburg defense forced a McDevitt punt and the half ended shortly thereafter.

The two teams started the second half by trading punts before McDevitt regained possession at its own 30 yard line. Relying primarily on Onorato’s tough inside running and the inspired play of the offensive line, the Crusaders advanced to the HBG 28. Koncar then targeted tight end Steve Westhaffer, and the senior made a juggling catch for an important 17 yard gain. Three plays later Koncar threw a dandy 12 yard fade to Comasco and the versatile junior hauled in his second scoring pass of the afternoon. His PAT effort was blocked, though, and McDevitt’s lead was 13-6, with 52 seconds left in the third quarter. The Cougars’ Sharif Blake returned the following kickoff to the McD 38, however, and Harrisburg was soon back on the scoreboard. Hodge finished off the 8 play drive with a fourth down surge to the end zone from the 4 yard line, but a missed extra point left McDevitt clinging to a 13-12 lead. But now it was McDevitt’s turn to benefit from a good kick return, as Hodge fielded the boot at his own 2 and worked his way to midfield. Koncar found Vargo with a sweet 27 yard completion, but two costly penalties pushed the Crusaders back to the HBG 44. On the next play Koncar lofted a pass deep down the middle and Harris made the catch for a 36 yard gain. Then Jones took a handoff and broke outside, circling right end for a touchdown. Despite a 15 yard celebration penalty Comasco drilled the PAT and McDevitt led, 20-12, with 7:41 left to play. But the Cougars were not about to give up. Led by Hodge’s powerful runs, Harrisburg moved to the McD 22 before a holding penalty slowed progress. On 4^th down quarterback Nate Brown floated a pass toward the middle of the end zone. Cougar receiver Carlos Smith won the jump ball, coming down with the catch and narrowing the McDevitt lead to 20-18, with a sure 2 point conversion attempt coming up. But Smith decided to yank off his helmet and pitch it forward in celebration, bringing forth a rain of yellow flags. Now forced to attempt the conversion from the McD 18, Brown’s pass was batted away by McGovern to protect the Crusader lead. McDevitt managed one first down on the next series, forcing Harrisburg to use up its remaining time outs. When McDevitt had to finally punt, Comasco got off a super kick to the HBG 13. Harrisburg managed to move to midfield as the remaining seconds ticked away. Finally, Brown fired the ball deep downfield, where Jones made the game’s final big play, intercepting at the McD 5 yard line. Koncar took a knee to run out the last seconds and the McDevitt student section poured onto the field in a burst of glee to celebrate the monumental upset.

Next Friday, November, November 24^th, the Crusaders travel to State College for a rematch against the Little Lions in the District 3/6 Class AAAA semifinal.game. McDevitt beat State College at McDevitt Field, 24-16 on September 30^th. Game time is 7:30 PM.

QUOTES

AD/Assistant Coach Tommy Mealy

I think this win was a true Crusader effort. This game was a classic, not only for the current generation, but it’s also a game the alumni can be very proud of. I’ve received a lot of calls from alumni and it makes you feel special. At the end of the game, well, our defense has been one of the strong parts of our team this year. We can always rely on the defense so we had complete confidence in them, and they were able to make a stand, to come through for us. At this time our immediate concern is to avoid a letdown. You can look at a team like Rutgers and what happened after their big win over Louisville to see the kind of thing we want to avoid. Yesterday we really stressed to the kids that the Harrisburg game is over, it’s in the past and right now we have to worry about State College. I love the venue at State College. They have an awful lot of school spirit up there and their student section is amazing. I actually challenged our students to have a similar kind of student section on Friday night. I have a fan bus going up so I expect a lot of support up there. The whole stone wall, looking down in the pit kind of atmosphere is one that we’re looking forward to. The kids like playing there. The revenge factor is usually on our side, but now we’re playing a team we beat during the regular season. We know what we have to do, the adjustments we have to make. I look back at the first Altoona game and obviously, at that point, our team was at a crossroads. What we did as a staff, because we were struggling offensively, was to change to more of a spread type of offense, to get athletes on the field and put them in a position to make plays. As a result of that, you can look at our last 3 games and see we’re back to the old McDevitt football.

S Evan McGovern

I thought we played really well defensively. We held them when it really counted; it was a hard-fought game and we came out on top in the end. We knew that we didn’t play so well in the first match up. We were pretty confident but a couple of people said, “You’re not going to win”. But we knew that if we stuck together that we’d have a good chance of winning. State College is going to be a really tough game. We have to have a good week of practice to make it close. We’re practicing much harder during the playoffs. We’re much more focused.

RB/DB Mike Jones

The first time we played Harrisburg we had no school support or anything. The only people who thought we had a chance were the coaches and the team. But the second time around we were a lot more confident, we had the right adjustments offensively and defensively. The touchdown run was on 44 Hip Trail. I’m supposed to follow Chris Henderson and the right side of our line made really good blocks so Chris went through the hole and I just did what I’m supposed to do. On the last play of the game, before the play started I saw Coach Chaump signaling Brown to spike the ball, but I just dropped back into coverage; we were in a Cover 3 and I play a deep third. He pump-faked and then threw it so I just went up and got it. I knew Brown wasn’t going to spike it; I could tell by his facial expression. I think this game with State College is going to be even more competitive than when we played them the first time. I don’t think they will make nearly as many mistakes as in the first game.

LB/WR Matt Vargo

I knew I could always help out on offense. It was just a matter of time, I guess. Last time we played Harrisburg we were focused, but we didn’t have the mental preparation we had for this game. You could tell by the way we played that we were a lot more mentally focused. I have a lot of confidence in our defense. We’ve proved that over the course of the season. Now State College is a good team. I guess you could say that they have the revenge factor like we did the last 2 weeks, but I think we’ll be prepared for the hostile environment we’re going into and I think that it’s a game we can win.

G Jared Henley (Out for the season after the 1^st Altoona game with a broken arm)

It’s kind of hard to watch the games but I have to let the arm heal so I’ll be good for next year. It’s what’s called an unstable break and if I mess with it now it could cause permanent damage so there is no way I can play. I’d rather be done with the season now than be done next year, my senior year. I make most of the practices. I may miss once in a while because of other responsibilities but I’m here most of the time. I don’t really feel that sad about this season because I played in a lot of big wins and even though I’m not playing, the other guys are playing well enough for us to keep winning. It felt real good to get this win. I had to do a lot of bragging at home because most of them are Harrisburg people. So the first thing I did was go home and have a little party!