CRUSADERS OVERWHELM HARRISBURG IN OPENER, 42-6

August 30- The Harrisburg-Bishop McDevitt football series usually features tight, close fought games with sudden momentum changes, and the contests are often decided within the last few plays. Not today, though. Bishop McDevitt thoroughly dominated the Cougars at Severance Field, winning 42-7. The Crusaders used their swarming defense and the passing of sophomore QB Matt Johnson to stun Harrisburg , as McDevitt jumped to a 28-0 first half lead and cruised through the second half, unthreatened by the mistake-prone Cougar offense. The Crusader defense, led by sparkling play from Pat Vargo, Dante Ushery, Fred Dietz, Corey Ford, Stephan Belle and many others, continually thwarted Harrisburg’s offense, aided by the Cougar’s dropped passes and untimely penalties. Only a long touchdown pass by Harrisburg in the game’s waning moments (against Crusader reserves) prevented a shutout. Johnson was brilliant, showing impressive touch on his passes as he connected on 13 of 16 throws, for 201 yards and 1 touchdown. Johnson spread his tosses among a throng of talented receivers, including Salath Williams, Kyle Koncar and Aaron Sye. McDevitt’s running game was equally impressive. Backs Jameel Poteat, Aaron Marks and Sean Barowski took turns pounding the Harrisburg front wall for sizeable gains. All 3 scored rushing touchdowns, as well as safety/fullback Jonathan Duckett. The offensive line continually burst from the huddle and dashed to the line of scrimmage, ready to dominate their overmatched foes. Tight end Terahje Gratkowski, tackle Victor Shaffer and veteran guard Vince Sullivan led a spirited, cohesive group that led the way for 371 yards of total offense.

McDevitt received the opening kickoff at its own 28 and couldn’t gain a first down, the only unsuccessful possession of the first half. Koncar dropped back to punt, but he was soon chasing an errant snap behind him and ended up having the punt partially blocked. Harrisburg took possession at the McD 18 as the home crowd roared. After a 9 yard pass from Cougar quarterback Anthony Holmes to Leon Bullock the Cougars self-destructed. Consecutive 5 yard penalties (for illegal motion and illegal receiver downfield) preceded 2 incompletions, followed by a missed 36 yard field goal. The Crusaders regained possession at the McD 19 and promptly went to work. Poteat bulled for 3 tough yards before Johnson targeted Koncar for a 9 yard gain and a first down. Then Johnson deftly avoided the Harrisburg pass rush and passed to Koncar for 4 more yards before a procedure penalty cost McDevitt 5 yards. The soph QB then fired a bullet to Sye, good for a 13 yard gain at the McD 42. Barowski and Poteat both had 3 yard runs before Johnson converted a 3rd down chance by passing to Williams for 10 yards. On the next play Williams streaked down the right sideline and Johnson led him perfectly for a 37 yard gain to the HBG 6. Johnson then connected with Gratkowski for a 5 yard gain, but Harrisburg was called for pass interference and McDevitt Coach Jeff Weachter elected to accept the penalty at the HBG 3. Barowski fought for a yard before Duckett followed Sullivan and center Mark Sallinger into the end zone, with 3:11 remaining in the first quarter. Senior Kyle McConnell, who was very successful with PAT’s and kickoffs in his varsity football debut, converted the extra point to stake McDevitt to a 7-0 lead. Harrisburg returned the ensuing kickoff to the McD 31 and was promptly hit with an illegal substitution penalty. The Crusaders then caught a break when, on third-and 7,  a highly questionable pass defense (pass interference) was ignored by the refs. A 24 yard punt followed and McDevitt set up shop at the McD 42. Johnson connected on a 2 yard gainer to junior Jeremy Cornelius and then handed off to Poteat on the next play. The shifty sophomore followed Barowski into the hole and cut off the fullback’s block. Poteat veered left and then raced for the goal line, finally coming to a stop on the HBG 4. Johnson’s next pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage before Poteat struggled for 3 yards as the quarter ended.

Poteat finished the second scoring drive by diving into pay dirt on the first play of the second quarter. McDonnell’s PAT was successful, stretching the McDevitt lead to 14-0. The Cougars returned the following kickoff to the 24, but 2 dropped passes doomed the drive. Following a 19 yard punt McDevitt geared up for another score. This was the scoring drive that showcased Johnson’s versatility. Marks started things off with a 2 yard run, and then Johnson drilled Williams for a 10 yard gain on a quick out pattern. Marks fought for 7 yards before a botched pitch on an option play lost 11 yards and put the Crusaders in a hole. Facing a 3rd-and-14 at the HBG 36, Johnson took the shotgun snap but was soon dodging a blitzing Cougar linebacker. Rolling to his left, the right handed Johnson launched a laser of a pass to Sye along the left sideline. Sye avoided a tackler and dove forward to complete the impressive 26 yard gain. Following an incompletion and a 5 yard Poteat gain Johnson hooked up with Gradkowski for a short gain, but McDevitt was flagged for holding. Now facing a 3rd-and-goal from the HBG 19, Weachter reached into his bag of tricks. Johnson retreated before floating a screen pass to Poteat, waiting in the left flat. Poteat followed strong blocks from Salinger and junior Andrew Miscannon (starting for the injured Derek Harhigh at guard) straight to the end zone. McDonnell’s conversion widened the Crusader lead to 21-0, with 7:23 left in the half. Junior Brandon True, a force on special teams all day, pinned the Cougars down at the HBG 19 on the next kickoff. Two short runs and another incompletion led to another 3-and-out for Harrisburg , but Cougar Coach George Chaump decided it was time to gamble. Bullock lined up as the punter, took the snap and raced around right end. Duckett was waiting for him, though, and the rugged junior made a fine open-field tackle at the HBG 24. After Johnson misfired on a fade, Poteat ripped through the tiring Harrisburg defense for a 12 yard gain. He followed that with a 4 yarder before Johnson was sacked for a 6 yard loss. The Cougars were called for a face mask penalty, though, and the ball was spotted on the HBG 8. Barowski took over from there with 3 consecutive carries, the last one being a 1 yard touchdown dive. McDonnell made it 4-for-4 on the PAT’s, and McDevitt now held a 28-0 advantage, 3 minutes before halftime. The kick that followed was advanced by Andre Henry to the MCD 48 before Holmes kept for an 11 yard gain and Harrisburg ’s initial first down. Two plays later an interference call against McDevitt had the Cougars threatening at the MCD 23. But Holmes chose to embark on a wild scramble that was ended by Dietz and freshman DE Noah Spence for a massive 24 yard loss. After a short completion cornerback Corey Ford intercepted at the McD 10 to end the threat, and Poteat carried for 2 yards as the half ended.

Harrisburg showed a little life to start the second half, gaining a first down before Dietz and Ushery combined on an 8 yard sack on backup QB Jalen Fitzpatrick. Another short punt carried to the MCD 42. On the second play of the drive Johnson found Koncar for a 13 yard gain. After Poteat was dropped for a rare 5 yard loss Johnson threw a deep pass over the middle. Cornelius went horizontal to make the splendid catch, landing on the HBG 16. Poteat and Barowski took turns ripping through the Cougar defense before Marks finished off the 7 play drive with a 2 yard scoring jaunt, with 8:37 left in the 3rd. McDonnell’s successful PAT made the score 35-0 invoking the “Mercy Rule” and a continuously running game clock. Another deep kickoff, another True tackle, another 3-and-out, and the Cougars prepared to punt from the HBG 37. This time True didn’t wait for the kickoff to have an impact. The 5’9” junior partially blocked the punt, and McDevitt had another short field to navigate, from the HBG 38. This time it took 2 plays, a 7 yard Poteat gain and a 31 yard touchdown run by Marks, streaking through a gaping hole in the exhausted Cougar defense. McDonnell finished the scoring with another accurate boot and the McDevitt lead bulged to 42-0. McDevitt forced another 3-and out as the quarter ended and McDevitt reserves flooded the field. Junior Maurice Williams and freshman Brandon Wallace got a handful of carries each before the Crusaders turned the ball over on downs at the HBG 38. A 58 yard Fitzpatrick-to-Bullock bomb broke the shutout and managed to stir the sullen Cougar crowd a little before Ushery flopped on the inevitable onside kick and freshman fullback Brock dean ran out the clock.

Next Friday, September 5th, the Crusaders travel to West Shore Stadium to take on the Cedar Cliff Colts. Game time is 7:00 PM.

QUOTES 

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

We started off with that bad snap and I thought, uh oh, here we go. I think our kids were a little tight at the beginning, especially in that first offensive series. But we got it rolling in the second series. I was very pleased; it was a total team effort. The special teams well after that first bad snap, the offense played good and the defense played great. Sometimes we wondered if we did the right thing moving Pat Vargo up to linebacker but he played a heck of a game and did a lot of great things for us. I think his true position is outside linebacker. Coaches Harvey and Everett have been such a big help for us. Coach Harvey has run those guys after every practice, every day since he’s gotten here. I think sometimes the players wondered why they were doing it but at half time, when they were still fresh and the other team was walking off the field tired, we knew that it paid off for them. Cedar Cliff is improved. They lost to Red Land last night but I thought they outplayed Red Land . There line was physical up front and Coach Cantafio is a very good coach and shows a lot of different formations. We’ll have to improve this week to get better to play against them.

Assistant Coach Calvin Everett

I feel great. This was a monkey that we needed to get off our back and now we can go into the season and do what we have to do. I don’t know if we were that good or Harrisburg was that bad, but I know that we competed from the first kickoff to the end of the game. We’re really proud of our guys right now. I’m happy with the effort of our running backs. One of the things we practice is being tough and running strong and they definitely showed it today. For Cedar Cliff we have to go and watch some film to get prepared for them.

Assistant Coach Jamie Harvey

I thought that the kids played hard today. All of the hard work that the line did paid off for them and I’m really happy for them. Our conditioning? No team in the state, or probably in the country will run more than our line and we will never be out of shape. We won’t be walking around or anything like that; we’ll be very disciplined. We scouted Cedar Cliff last night, but we’re just trying to put this one away. We’ll get to Cedar Cliff sometime tomorrow morning.

Assistant Coach Pat Berry

We’re very happy right now. We came in with a pretty good game plan. We didn’t use the whole plan because they were in a tight end set. I think they were afraid of our blitz. The kids adjusted real well; we had a lot of automatic stuff, so that was good. We did a good job in coverage and the kids played tough up front. It was a good game. Pat Vargo played an awesome game. He did some things that were so good, not even from the point of making a tackle but making adjustments that we had to make. He just did a real good job out there.

OT Victor Shaffer

I was happy today but I know I can do better; we all can do better. We’re already looking forward to next week. I wasn’t surprised that Harrisburg got so tired. I knew that they weren’t working as hard as we were. We work harder than anyone in the state. It’s great blocking for our runners; they run hard and they work hard. Cedar Cliff better be ready because I’m ready.

RB Jameel Poteat

At the beginning of the game they were stacking the strong side, so I came to the sidelines after the first series and told Coach Wec to run it to the weak side, that it was going to be wide open. And he did. The line did good, opening everything up. Then it was off to the races. On the screen pass our line did great coming downfield and blocking for me and Matt put it right there. I’m not really surprised at the final score because we worked so hard in the 2-a-days and in the off season, lifting every day and running. We were mad at the coaches because we had to run so much. Now we can see that it paid off. We’re not even tired! We’re going to come at Cedar Cliff like they’re Harrisburg . Every game we’ll play like it’s Harrisburg .

WR Salath Williams

 The line was really firing out and blocking and Matt was putting the ball where he needed to. I didn’t have any problem getting open. Toward the end of the game they moved the safety over a little bit to double team me but that opened things up for other people. I think we have the best receivers in the state. Cedar Cliff better be prepared because we’ll be prepared.

LB Pat Vargo

I feel great. We worked hard and we were prepared. All of the hard work we did in the off season paid off. On that first series we knew that we didn’t want to give them a good start but after the bad punt our defense knew we had to stop them, to make a statement. If they would have scored it could have been a whole different ball game. Harrisburg always has explosive people, they’re always fast but our defense contained them very well. We’ll be ready for Cedar Cliff.

QB Matt Johnson

In the first part of the game I was a little nervous, but I got that first pass in there and after that it was all downhill. A lot of our plays are designed for a certain player but whenever you get into a zone, no matter who you throw to, you know they’re going to catch it. So I know if I spread it around it’s going to get caught. On the pass to Aaron the play was a post, post corner and I felt pressure from the back side. I turned and luckily Jameel blocked the guy in so I rolled left, kept my eyes up and saw Sye down the sideline. I saw the defender coming so I had to get rid of it quick. I got it there just in time. I haven’t seen Cedar Cliff yet but the coaches went to scout them last night so we’ll find out Monday.

LB Fred Dietz

I think we came out strong and kept it that way all 4 quarters. I figured that in the beginning of the season that Harrisburg would get out of breath. They don’t look like they do too much running around during 2-a-days. We drive by to go to Holy Family and they’re always sitting around. We came out strong because we worked very hard this summer and I’m really happy with the way we were conditioned. Vargo is very good; he’s a sure tackler and he knows how to play the game. I haven’t heard much about Cedar Cliff but my cousin plays for them, Chris Parthemore, he’s a big tight end. It should be fun to play him.

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