September 19- This morning's game between the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders and the Panthers of Central Dauphin East was never expected to be a close contest, but the speed with which McDevitt flattened its opponent was startling. Thirty five first quarter points eliminated any suspense and succeeded in improving the physical fitness of the McDevitt cheerleaders, who do push ups for every point scored by the home team. So, 196 push ups later, the Crusaders improved its 2009 record to 3-0 after the 49-16 pasting and East had escaped without any major injuries. The McDevitt offense moved up and down the field at will, running the ball through huge holes in the Panthers' defensive line and passing to wide open receivers. The Crusader defense rampaged into the CD East backfield and hounded Panther runners, and the secondary virtually eliminated the East passing game. McDevitt Coach Jeff Weachter did enjoy emptying the bench for the second week in a row, providing much-earned playing time for reserves that will surely pay dividends in the future.

The game began with CD East kicking off to freshman Brian Lemelle, who made 2 splendid moves en rout to his 94 yard touchdown run that sliced 16 seconds off the game clock. Freshman Connor Maloney drilled the first of his 7 consecutive PAT's to give McDevitt the 7-0 lead. After Maloney's ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, East quarterback Anthony Gelbaugh watched as the first snap squirted through his hands and bounced toward the Crusader goal line. Gelbaugh was quickly trampled by a trio of McDevitt defenders and sophomore defensive end Noah Spence recovered the ball at the CDE 10. On the Crusader's first play from scrimmage junior running back Jameel Poteat blasted through a gaping hole on the right side and crossed the goal line untouched. Maloney's kick made the score 14-0 and the clock had burned a mere 33 seconds! Maloney's next kickoff was a line drive that was recovered by an East up back at midfield. Three plays later the Panther's fine kicker, Cody Webster, booted a punt to the McD 30. Poteat then carried for 7 yards and, after a motion penalty, he bulled for 9 more yards and a first down at the McD 41. On the next play Poteat took a handoff and broke to his right, but quickly reversed his direction to the left. The shifty junior turned on the jets and outran two pursuers to complete the 59 yard scoring run, with 7:38 left in the quarter. The next series featured a 14 yard sack of Gelbaugh, who was almost bent in half by Spence and sophomore linebacker  Brock Dean. Webster then booted a 54 yard skyrocket to senior Dawan Smith, who fielded the punt at the McD 29. Smith swerved and darted back to the CDE 29, a 30 yard return, and McDevitt was threatening to score again. This time junior quarterback Matt Johnson used his talented arm to notch the score in 3 plays. First was a 6 yard pass to senior Dan Leonard, and then senior Salath Williams grabbed a 6 yarder for a first down at the CDE 14. Johnson's next toss found Williams on the dead run in the end zone and the McDevitt lead bulged to 28-0 at the 4:45 mark. The next Panther series saw the appearance of a new quarterback, senior Aris Scott, but the results were the same.  Webster was back to punt after 3 hapless plays, kicking to the MCD 22. On the series second play Poteat blasted for a long gain but the run was called back by a holding penalty. Undaunted, Johnson found Leonard for a 14 yard gain and a first down at the McD 43. An incomplete pass followed, then a motion penalty before Johnson cranked up and let fly a perfect strike to senior Aaron Sye, streaking down the middle of the field. Sye gathered in the accurate toss and finished off the 62 yard scoring play. After Maloney's Pat the score stood at 35-0, with 1:43 left in the quarter.

 East managed a couple of first downs and an advance into McDevitt territory on the next series, which stretched into the second quarter. The advance was ended by another Dean sack, though, a 9 yard loss that pushed the Panthers back to the CDE 45. McDevitt took over on its own 20 after another Webster punt, and Poteat carried 3 times to gain 13 yards. On the next carry, however, the junior was responsible for McDevitt's only turnover, fumbling at the McD 47. The CD East scoring drive that followed can best be described by borrowing a baseball term: defensive indifference. The Crusader defense seemed to lose intensity, not surprising considering the 5 touchdown lead and East's previous inability to move the ball. Regardless, the Panthers rode the strong running of sophomore Jose Burgos to mount a 9 play drive that ended with Burgos' 1 yard run with 3:57 left in the half. After senior Corey Ford smothered the PAT attempt the Panthers had narrowed the McDevitt lead to 35-6. The newly-aroused Crusaders took all of two plays to answer that score with one of their own. First, the exciting Lemelle dashed for a 44 yard kickoff return, to the CDE 44. Poteat then galloped through another huge hole and bolted to the end zone, making the score 42-6. East then produced another 3-and-out series, leading to another booming Webster punt, this time a 45 yarder that was fair caught by Smith at the MCD 23. With less than 2 minutes remaining in the half there was plenty of time for another Crusader score. It started with a 19 yard pass from Johnson to senior Jeremy Cornelius, and then sophomore Brandon Wallace ripped off a sparkling. One play later Johnson found Cornelius again, and the sturdy senior dragged an East defender across the goal line for the half's final score and a 49-6 score. After the kickoff the Panthers took a knee to end their nightmare half.

The second half, played with a continuously running clock due to the “Mercy Rule”, was mercifully swift. McDevitt had the opportunity to give freshman quarterback Alex Werner some valuable playing time, and the Crusader defensive reserves held their ground against the East varsity. Punter Ted Deily got off two good punts and the offense moved the ball on the ground. The fourth quarter saw the appearance of another wave of McDevitt reserves and East managed a couple of late scores, first on an errant snap in the end zone for a safety, and finally a touchdown pass on East's only completion of the morning with 3 minutes left. The game ended with freshman Darnell Holland carrying 5 consecutive times to net 17 yards.

McDevitt's next contest should be a good one. Next Friday, September 25^th, the Crusaders travel to Colonial Park to play the undefeated Central Dauphin Rams. CD is coming off of a win over state-ranked State College and is the surprise team of the midstate. Game time at Landis Field is 7:00 PM.

QUOTES

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

We wanted to work on some things like the running game and we got that accomplished. Matt, for the little bit that he threw, was sharp and the receivers ran good routes. I'm a little disappointed that they scored on our first team defense; we had a little bit of a let-up there. Other than that our starters, who only played the first half, executed and that's what we wanted to see. We just didn't want to see sloppy football. CD looked very good last night. They definitely stepped up their game and they're definitely going to be a challenge. We have to play better than we've been playing. I was impressed with how physical they are, they have good team speed and they're well-coached so we'll have our hands full next week. When we put our reserves in I thought that our running backs did well, Brandon Wallace, Sean Seif and Darnell Holland. We have to get the young line playing a little bit better. Defensively, the last two weeks Tariq Spence played very well at inside linebacker. Really, we have some good sophomore linebackers, like Josh Skoczynski and Allen Holman, we have some good ones there. They played well and some of the guys in the secondary played well.

Assistant Coach Dave Weachter

I think the special teams got us off to a real good start with that kickoff. When you're maybe a bit of an underdog and the first big play happens it can really put a damper on the rest of the game for you. Central Dauphin is good. They're a different team with Colton Charles in there. He's a real good running back and he gives them that little bit of extra speed they were missing before.

CB Corey Ford

This isn't really a big rival of ours, but they were leading the league in passing yardage so I was looking forward to playing them. Our defensive line did an excellent job today. I'm comfortable a corner and ready for a challenge, any time, anywhere. We saw CD last night and I had underestimated them, actually. They looked better than I thought they would. We have to bring it next week. It starts with the “D”; we need another good week of practice when our focus is there.

T Justen Garlic

This year, as a starter, is going pretty good. It's better than last year. I thought we picked the run game up today, a lot more than last week. CD will be a tough game.

WR Dan Leonard

I love playing in the slot. It's good for me, I'm small, pretty quick so it's a good position. East went man today which surprised me; I thought that they'd do more zone. We saw CD last night and it was a very good game. We'll be ready for CD.

WR/CB Aaron Sye

On the touchdown, well, they were in cover 2 and we had a cross called. Matt put the ball on the money, I caught it and headed to the end zone and it was a wrap after that. Matt just picks the one that's open. There's no number one receiver; he just picks the receiver that's open and gets us the ball, and we do our thing. I like going both ways because I'm in great shape. We worked out with this trainer named Jim who has worked with NFL guys. He has this team in great shape, so I'm not even winded right now. After that State College game I watched last night we're going to have to come ready to work. We'll have to work hard at practice this week

T Anthony Pyzikiewicz