McDevitt Opens Playoffs With 49-14 Win Over Donegal

November 11- The Bishop McDevitt Crusaders returned to Mechanicsburg's Frederick Field at Memorial Park Stadium tonight. The Crusaders' last visit here, on October 14th, resulted in a convincing 38-3 win over Mechanicsburg, and tonight's 49-14 win over Donegal was similar in that McDevitt dominated on both sides of the ball. The Crusaders raced to a 28-0 first quarter lead fuelled by a potent running attack. The game was in "Mercy Rule" territory by half time, as McDevitt's quick and nasty defense kept the visiting Indians out of the scoring column until the contest had been decided. Once again there were many splendid performances by the players wearing blue and gold. Running backs Darnell Holland, Rashad Lawson and Andre Robinson took advantage of the overpowering performance of the McDevitt offensive line to lead a running attack that totaled 267 yards. Junior quarterback Alec Werner added to his already-impressive statistics by passing for 178 yards and a touchdown, and veteran receivers Shaun Seif  and Brian Lemelle combined for 10 catches and 150 receiving yards. Lemelle added a 47 yard punt return score for good measure. On defense the vaunted War Eagles smothered the Donegal attack. The public address announcer was kept busy repeating the names of Noah Spence, Rashad Lawson, Brock Dean, Mike Perloski, Alan Holman, Miles Williams and many others who contributed tackles to the overall defensive effort.

    The game began with McDevitt receiving the opening kickoff and Lawson advanced 14 yards, to the McD 24. On the game's first play Holland burst through the Indians' line to gain 27 yards and followed that effort with a 2 yard run, to the DON 47. Werner passed to Seif for a 14 yard gain and then Robinson ran for 10 more yards. With the ball now on the DON 23 Werner went back to the air, flipping 2 short passes to Connor Marsico (8 yards) and Nate Showalter (10 yards). Lawson needed 2 carries to cover the final 5 yards and, after the first of Connor Maloney's 7 successful PAT kicked, the Crusaders had a lead they would not relinquish, 7-0, with 8:50 left in the quarter. The scoring drive covered 76 yards in 8 plays (54 running, 3 passing) and set the tone for the evening. Donegal fought back bravely, using Johnnie Martin's 39 yard run to move into McDevitt territory and following with a first down at the McD 29. But 2 plays later the Crusader "D" forced a fumble that sophomore linebacker Nate Monroe returned to the McD 43. McDevitt responded to the fumble recovery by going 57 yards in 5 plays, beginning with Holland's 11 yard gallop. After an incomplete pass Robinson bulled for 7 tough yards and followed that run with a 25 yard sprint through the Indians' secondary, finally being hauled down at the DON 12. The dynamic Lawson took over from there, using the blocks of tight end Tom Scully and tackle Travis Arnold to dash into the end zone and stake McDevitt to a 14-0 lead. It would only get worse for the shell-shocked Donegal fans. After the following kickoff the Crusader defense forced a 3-and-out and the Indians punted. Lemelle gathered in the pigskin at the DON 47 and circled to his right, avoiding a would-be tackler and cruising down the sideline for a 47 yard touchdown return and a 21-0 lead. Donegal advanced the ensuing kickoff to the DON 30, but a 7 yard loss on the efforts of Holman and Holland had the Indians ready to punt as the first quarter ended.

    The Donegal punt that opened the second quarter was a beauty, with the ball finally rolling to a stop at the McD 18. Werner threw an incompletion and then scrambled for 9 yards. On third down Robinson turned in another long gainer, this time a 31 yard effort, to the DON 42. Werner then passed to Lemelle for 21 yards and followed that gain with a 16 yarder to the elusive Seif, who was bumped out-of-bounds at the DON 5. Three plays later Lawson was crossing the goal line for the second time and McDevitt's lead had bulged to 28-0, with 8:52 left in the half. The Indians, battling gamely all evening, gained a first down but were soon forced to punt again, as Lemelle called for a fair catch at the McD 30. Coach Jeff Weachter went back to a familiar formula, mixing runs and passes to fuel sustained drives. This time Werner started with a 3 yard pass to Lemelle before returning to his talented junior receiver for a 22 yard gain, to the DON 40. From there it was 4 consecutive running plays: Lawson for 7; Lawson for 6; Werner for 14; and Robinson for 13 on a run where he bowled over a Donegal defender at the goal line. The 35-0 score ensured a continuously running clock for the game's second half and was McDevitt's 7th consecutive Mercy Rule game. The Indians tested the Crusader secondary on the next possession with a long pass attempt, but cornerback Khalid Carter was up to the challenge, batting the ball away from the Donegal receiver. This time the Donegal coaching staff went for a 4th-and-one from their own 38, in an attempt to kick-start the dormant Indian offense, but Holland and Holman again combined to drop the Donegal runner for a 2 yard loss. The Crusaders managed to move to the DON 18 in the waning moments of the first half, but Maloney's 35 yard field goal attempt drifted to the right and McDevitt had to be satisfied with a 35-0 half time lead.

    It was an inspired Donegal team that came out of the half time locker room, and they wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard. On the third play after the kickoff, Donegal's Matt Foltz threw a long pass to the energetic Martin (easily the Indians' most impressive player) and Martin gathered it in and raced for a 66 yard touchdown. The Crusaders answered that score in 3 plays. First freshman Sheldon Snell advanced the ensuing kickoff 17 yards, to the McD 29. Then Werner pass to Lemelle for a 12 yard gain, followed by a 39 yard strike to Seif. On the next play, from the DON 20, Robinson took Werner's handoff and maneuvered through the Donegal defense for a 20 yard scoring run, re-establishing McDevitt's 35 point advantage, 42-7. The next Donegal possession came to a halt when senior defensive back Anthony Shingara, long known as an accomplished ball hawk, intercepted at the DON 34. The Crusaders swiftly took advantage of Shingara's gift as Robinson ran for 11 yards on the impressive freshman's final carry of the game. Two Snell carries netted 7 yards before Werner spotted Lemelle running a slant near the goal line. The junior signal caller's throw was right on the money, and Lemelle gathered it in to push the McDevitt lead to 49-7, as the quickly-moving third quarter neared an end. As the McDevitt starters retired for the night and their replacements eagerly took the field, Donegal tried to put together another scoring drive. The Indians posted 2 first downs before a fumble was recovered by the ever-present Shingara at the Donegal 43. Junior bobby Zweigart took control of the Crusader offense from Werner as the quarter ended.

     Freshman Snell showed off his powerful running style as the fourth quarter began, carrying 3 consecutive times to net 12 yards as the Crusaders advanced deep into Donegal territory. A 5 yard Zweigart pass to junior Ian Green and a 14 yard Zweigart scramble moved the chains, but the determined drive ended at the DON 10. The Indians slowly advanced downfield with the McDevitt defense fighting back. A third down interference penalty kept Donegal's drive alive, and then Martin raced 54 yards for the game's final score, with 2:28 left on the clock. Seif danced 38 yards with the following kickoff and Snell and freshman Que'Shawn Jenkins alternated carries to run out the clock.

    The Crusaders continue defense of the District 3 Class AAA crown next Friday night, November 20th, when the Conrad Weiser Scouts come to Frederick Field. The Scouts, members of the Berks County League, enter the game with a 8-3 record and are coming off a convincing 36-8 win over Garden Spot. Game time is 7:00 PM.

QUOTES

Asst. Coach/AD Tommy Mealy

Obviously we knew we were going to get Donegal's best punch and #25 (Martin) makes a lot of plays and accounts for a lot of their yardage so we had to contain him . He scored two touchdowns tonight but overall we did the job. I thought their offense was pretty good and it's good to see a Wing T because we'll see it in the playoffs with some of these teams. The hospitality here at Mechanicsburg has been great. They've welcomed us with open arms and the logistics are very smooth. Ryan Hartman, their Assistant Athletic Director, is doing a great job. I always have fun on special teams, being energetic and getting the team riled up

DB Anthony Shingara

I've been trained very well by all of my coaches as far as getting to the ball. I have some big shoes to fill so I just do what I'm taught and it's worked out for me. On the interception I was covering their player #25 and he was attacking me in the hands as I was coming down with the ball so I just tucked in my knees to catch it. It was a very hard catch and I'm grateful that I  was able to hold onto it. On the fumble recovery I saw the ball on the ground along the sideline and I didn't know if he was down or not so I just went and got it. Then the referees signaled that it was a fumble. I always have fun on special teams, being energetic and getting the team riled up. I like to be a leader and I'm a vocal person and a lot of times it works out for us. The field here is very nice, very well maintained and I like playing here.

DE Mike Perloski

We don't want to let any team we play hang around. For the next 5 weeks we have to be really dedicated and can't let anyone play with us; we just have to put the hammer down on everybody. I like playing here at Mechanicsburg, the turf's great. We'll know who we're going to play after tonight. We're just have to watch a lot of film this week and just come out and play. To start for McDevitt this year I had to put on weight but I had to gain speed at the same time, I had to kind of find the meeting of the two; to get a little bit bigger and get faster and it worked out OK.

LB Alan Holman

We had one of those good weeks of practice and played hard, very hard. It's the playoffs. We're not really concerned about who we're going to play because we know that the coaches will get us ready for just about anything. Where we play doesn't matter to me; I don't even notice, to tell you the truth. Football is football. I'm a pretty powerful person so this year I really tried to work on my speed, getting to the ball.

WR/PR/KR Brian Lemelle

Alec (Werner) has really developed a lot as quarterback this year. Every day Coach Wec will bring us down, the quarterbacks and the receivers, and we'll work on our individual routes to get our timing down. He's really improved a lot since the first game. We take pride in our blocking. Like the running back coach says, if the receivers block a short run turns into a long run so we try to block on every play. On the touchdown the defender took the wrong route to the ball and tried to cut in front of me but I just grabbed the ball. Coach Wec always says to catch with your hands, look it in and tuck and don't let it get to your body where it can bounce off. We work on that a lot in practice so I always try to catch with my hands. I like this field.  I like how it's well lit and the whole "Friday Night Lights" atmosphere.

OG/DT Tyler Conde

 I think the offensive line has become more of a unit and we're practicing harder. We've been hitting the sled a lot at practice so our drive is getting better. We were playing pretty aggressive tonight, really coming off the ball, so I figured we'd have a good time running the ball. Next week we go back to the drawing board and practice hard and whoever is there for us to play we're going to play.