October 18- The aftermath of this morning’s Homecoming game between the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders and the Carlisle Thundering Herd at McDevitt Field should have been a time of celebration for the victorious Crusaders. After all, they had just completed a 42-21 victory to improve their 2008 record to 8-0, and had clinched both a division title and a district playoff spot. The Crusaders had jumped to a 35-7 lead in the first half, had split over 400 yards of offense almost evenly between running and passing and had held Carlisle’s running game to under 100 yards, a season low for the Herd. Yet Coach Jeff Weachter, his assistants and his players were decidedly grim when discussing the game. There were a number of reasons why:

·        McDevitt suffered 4 turnovers, including an interception responsible for Carlisle’s first score and consecutive 3^rd quarter turnovers that led the way to a second score.

·        The offensive line, using a shuffled lineup due to injuries, was unable to lead a lengthy scoring drive and struggled on some running plays

·        The Crusaders allowed Carlisle to narrow the lead to 14 points (35-21) before posting a late insurance score.

·        In the second half McDevitt looked listless and uninterested, committing numerous mental and physical errors

The Crusaders and their coaching staff are aware of the challenges that lie ahead: visits from State College and Erie McDowell, and the District 3 Class AAAA playoffs. Future opponents are more likely to take advantage of Crusader mistakes than recent conquests. A sloppy half of play could mean the end of the season for this young team.

          Carlisle received the opening kickoff and made an early miscue. Facing a third-and-4 from the McD 29, Herd QB Rob Davis fired a pass into the left flat. His receiver had slipped making a cut, however, and junior cornerback Corey Ford was in perfect position. Ford made the interception and strolled untouched into the end zone for McDevitt’s first score. Kyle McDonnell’s PAT was perfect, and the Crusaders had a 7-0 lead with 10:28 left in the opening quarter. Carlisle was held to a 3-and-out on the next series and, after a block-in-the-back penalty McDevitt took possession at the McD 45. Junior fullback Sean Barowski ran for a yard before sophomore QB Matt Johnson began firing the football. First it was a 9 yard gain to junior Salath Williams then, following a motion penalty, a 7 yard gain to junior Jeremy Cornelius. Then Johnson targeted junior Aaron Sye over the middle for a 30 yard gain, to the CAR 13, followed by a 6 yarder again to Sye. On the next play Johnson ducked under an onrushing Carlisle defender and rolled to his right, tucking the ball under his arm. Right before crossing the line of scrimmage Johnson pulled up and floated a pass over another Carlisle defender to Williams, waiting in the end zone. Williams made a nice diving catch to complete the scoring drive at the 6:27 mark. On the extra point attempt the snap was low, so senior Kyle Koncar darted around right end to make the score 15-0. Three plays later McDevitt had the ball again, as junior linebacker Fred Dietz recovered a fumble at the CAR 27. Sophomore running back Jameel Poteat fought for 4 yards and then McDevitt came out in a different formation. Johnson was back to receive a shotgun snap, with Poteat beside him and senior running back Aaron Marks split to the left and Barowski on the right wing. Marks came in motion and got a handoff from Johnson right after the snap. Following key blocks, first from Barowski then from Williams, Marks dashed in for the 23 yard score. After McDonnell’s PAT attempt went astray the score was 21-0, McDevitt, with 3:59 to play in the first. The Herd then went on a 9 play march, using short runs to advance from the CAR 29 to the McD 43. On a crucial fourth down play Davis was smothered for a 3 yard loss by senior linebacker Dante Ushery and McDevitt took over on downs. Poteat then had a strong 8 yard run into Carlisle territory before the quarter ended.

McDevitt started the second quarter by moving to the CAR 35 behind the running of Poteat and Johnson, but a 4^th down sack stopped the drive. The Crusaders’ freshman defensive end, Noah Spence, returned the favor three plays later, sacking Davis for a 10 yard loss and forcing a punt that junior Dawan Smith returned 7 yards, to the McD 44. Following an incomplete pass and a holding penalty, Johnson tried a short swing pass to Koncar, sneaking out into the left flat. Carlisle linebacker Joel Miller made a great read on the ball, however, and dashed past Koncar, intercepted the pass and raced in for the touchdown. Now trailing 21-7, the Herd tried a short “pooch” kick that was gathered in by senior Pat Vargo at the McD 35. Johnson quickly passed to Williams for a 19 yard gain before keeping for a yard more. Marks then blasted for an 18 yard gain, to the CAR 30. On the next play Johnson faked a handoff and circled around left end all alone before finally being pulled down at the 2. Two short Poteat dives later McDevitt had stretched the lead to 28-7, with 4:40 left in the half. The next Carlisle possession saw Davis run a 32 yard keeper to midfield, but another key sack, this time by junior defensive end Ryan Kuntz, thwarted the Herd advance. Smith had another short punt return, this time to the McD 27, and the Crusaders had time to implement their two minute offense. After 2 passes to Cornelius eluded the lanky junior, Johnson hooked up with Sye for a 15 yard gain. Then Johnson dropped off a screen pass for Poteat and he followed junior guard Andrew Miscannon down field for a 33 yard gain as time ticked away. Johnson spiked the ball to stop the clock and then the talented soph lofted a pass to Sye near the goal line. Sye cradled the pass and tiptoed into the end zone with 58 seconds left in the half. Carlisle took the ensuing kickoff but couldn’t advance, thanks to a half-ending sack by junior tackle Steve Mosey. The half time score was McDevitt 35, Carlisle 7.

The home crowd was in a jovial mood after witnessing the Homecoming ceremonies, which featured the crowning of Stephanie Yetter as Homecoming Queen. The crowd’s mood quickly soured, however, as McDevitt stumbled out of the blocks to begin the 3^rd quarter. Junior Brandon True returned the short kick 6 yards, to the McD 38, before things started going south. A sizeable Poteat gain was erased by a holding penalty, and then Marks lost 5 yards on a sweep. On the next play Johnson was intercepted at the McD 25, but the Crusader defense forced Carlisle to surrender the ball on downs. However, Poteat fumbled on the very next play and Carlisle was back in business. A disputed pass interference call against Ford moved the ball to the McD 11 before senior linebacker Pat Hannigan broke through to drop Carlisle’s Terrance Bennett for a 6 yard loss. After another loss Bennett threw a throwback pass to Davis that advanced the ball to the two yard line. Davis scored form there and the McDevitt lead had been narrowed to 35-13, with six minutes left in the third. Cornelius then had a fine kickoff return of 26 yards, giving McDevitt the ball at the McD 41. The Crusaders began a 9 play drive that featured a 14 yard reception by Williams, 2 clutch grabs by senior tight end Terajhe Gratkowski and a 20 yard run by Marks. The drive stalled at the CAR 16, however, and when McDonnell’s 32 yard field goal attempt failed, the Herd regained possession. Carlisle used the power running of Travis Meese to gain a first down but another sack, this time by Vince Sullivan, stopped Carlisle’s progress and they punted as the third quarter ended.

Johnson began the final quarter by throwing his third interception of the morning at the CAR 42. The Herd quickly took advantage of the turnover. Bennett took a handoff and found running room over the right side. He was soon racing through the McDevitt secondary and, despite a last-minute tackle attempt by the speedy Chris Houston, managed to get into the end zone and shrink the Crusader lead to 14 points, after a 2 point conversion pass. McDevitt’s next series produced a 3-and-out and Koncar came on to punt for the first time in the game. His kick only traveled 24 yards, rolling dead at the CAR 37. McDevitt’s defense then kicked it into high gear, forcing a Carlisle punt that bounced out of bounds at the McD 19. This time the McDevitt offense had a productive series that led to a second half score. Johnson passed to Poteat for a 7 yard gain, and then Johnson used a staggered cadence to draw the Herd off sides and gain a first down. After a short pass to Cornelius gained 6 Poteat weaved his way downfield for an impressive 28 yard gain, to the CAR 35. Marks then took a Johnson option pitch and headed for the right sideline. He almost lost his balance on a tackle attempt but managed to gain his footing at the 25 sailed past his pursuers for the game’s final score. Carlisle turned the ball over two plays later, as junior safety Jon Duckett fell on a fumble after a Carlisle pass play. McDevitt then advanced to the CAR 8 before Weachter ordered Johnson to take a knee to end the game.

Next Saturday, October 25^th, the Crusaders welcome the undefeated, state-ranked State College Little Lions to McDevitt field. Game time for this much-anticipated showdown is 1:00 PM.

We’re not satisfied. We were up 35-7 and gave them a touchdown. We had everything working for us in the first half. We just came out with absolutely no emotion, no focus, and no concentration. We were getting beat up front offensively, we were lining up wrong, and we were making a lot of mistakes, turning the ball over. And all of a sudden the defense started to break down! We had a lot of guys get banged up and we could have played some of them but we decided to rest them. When we lost Sean Barowski it took away some of our power running game. And then when we lost Terahje Gratkowski it took away some other things we wanted to do. We became one dimensional and they started to tee off on us, putting pressure on Matt and we started to turn the ball over. We just have to correct some of those mistakes. On the first interception they made a good play. They saw something on film, Kyle cheated back and they made a good play. On the second one, that was kind of on Matt, throwing off his back foot. The third one he just had a wrong read, so we’ll correct them and Matt will bounce back and have a great game against State College. They are a good football team. They’re very well balanced, offensively and defensively. We have to do a better job defensively that we did against them last year.  The big thing is we have to come and meet the physical challenge next week    

Assistant Coach Domenick Rozzi

In the second half we didn’t come out and play real hard. I think we let up on the gas a little bit and they caught us a couple times on plays we stopped the whole first half, so you can’t be proud about that. There was a little bit of lack of focus coming into the second half. We were fine in the first half but I think the kids thought that they’d just come out the second half and just go through the motions. We ended up not playing well. State College is always a tough game. They’re going to bring their “A” game so we have to show up this week, have a good hard week of practice and come out ready to go.

QB Matt Johnson

Carlisle came out with fire in the second half and we just didn’t do it. When we came out and we dominated in the first half we kind of expected them to roll over and they didn’t do that. We came out flat and they came out with a lot of intensity. On the first touchdown pass when the pocket broke down I looked to scramble and I saw Salath put his hand up at the last second. I just got it out to him. On the keeper I couldn’t tell if I got in the end zone or not. I just dove at the end and I guess I just stepped out because they called it out. I can’t really complain. State College should be the game of the year so far.   

CB Chris Houston

They don’t throw the ball my way too much so I just concentrate on helping the team by making tackles. We didn’t play our best today. We came out in the first half and played hard but in the second half we just let up. If we do that in the next 2 games we’re going to lose. I think we can beat State College if we line up right, learn our assignments and do our jobs.

DE Noah Spence

I didn’t think that I would start varsity as a freshman; I thought that I would play JV and do my best there. I just came to practice and did my best and coach Wec gave me the start. We did our best to keep pressure on their QB today. That’s what we’ll have to do next week against State College, too.

DT Stephan Belle

I’m not going to say that we didn’t do good, but there are things that we have to work on this week in practice so we can better ourselves for next week. For State College we want to come out, stay low and do what we’re supposed to do. Carlisle did get us on that long run but that’s the kind of thing we have to work on in practice to get better. For State College we’ll need a very good week of practice.

OG Darrell Fry

Playing offensive line was new to me. This was my first start as a McDevitt Crusader this year. Coach Harvey asked me to step up and be a team player so I stepped up and did my job. I like playing both offense and defense. I like playing defense and being aggressive and you can do that on offense, too. I’m loving playing at McDevitt. I’m sure not going anywhere. State College is going to be tough, real tough. We need a very, very good week of practice, no mistakes, to get ready.

OT/DT Vince Sullivan

We moved Darrell Fry in at guard and moved me out to tackle. I’m not as comfortable at tackle but we got the job done. We were a little shaky at times but we did the job. Carlisle came out and played tough the second half. We fell asleep and let them come back because we didn’t take it to them every play. I’m really looking forward to playing State College. I don’t like them; I don’t like them at all. If we come out and practice well we can get the win.