McDevitt Humbles Hershey, 42-0

October 22- The members of the 2011 Hershey Trojan football team will remember this game for a long time. They arrived at McDevitt Field this morning on a raw, overcast day with a perfect 7-0 record and hopes of erasing the memory of two blowouts against McDevitt last year. Instead they were totally dominated in virtually every phase of the game, losing 42-0 to an aggressive, confident Crusader squad that looks to be rounding into shape for another long playoff run. Of particular note was the McDevitt running game and the fearsome defense. Head Coach Jeff Weachter is a known advocate of running the football and he knows the need for a strong ground game come playoff time. Instead of Weachter's usual habit of developing a superior running back, though,  the veteran coach now has 3, all underclassmen and all running with purpose. The offensive line, under the tutelage of Assistant Coach Lamar Banks, had a dominant game against the area's leading rush defense, paving the way for 238 rushing yards and 19 first downs. And the defense? Well, the McDevitt offense may have been incredibly efficient but the Crusader defense left many of the overflow Homecoming crowd totally impressed. Holding the Trojans to 43 total yards (43!) and 5 first downs, the defensive line, linebackers and secondary reacted as one, never allowing Hershey to penetrate past midfield until late in the fourth quarter and dishing out a half dozen thunderous hits.

    The throttling began when freshman Andre Robinson returned the opening kickoff 18 yards, to the McD 44. On the game's first play, super-efficient junior quarterback Alec Werner (11for 14, 143 yards and a TD) threw a swing pass to Robinson that advanced 14 yards. Junior Darnell Holland followed with a 5 yard run and then Holland ripped off a 25 yard gain, to the HER 13. Another swing pass to Robinson gained 5 before sophomore Rashad Lawson, the last part of the 3-headed rushing monster, fought for 4 yards. Two more short Holland runs gained a first down at the 1 and Lawson scored from there on the next play. Junior Connor Maloney booted the first of his 6 perfect PAT's and McDevitt had a 7-0 lead, with 8:10 remaining in the opening quarter. The Trojans relying heavily on talented fullback Harold Brantley, managed a first down before being forced to punt. Junior Brian Lemelle had a fine punt return to the McD 32 but a penalty forced a rekick. This time Lemelle fielded the punt at the McD 15 and lost 2 yards, giving the Crusaders 87 yards to cover. They did it in 11 plays. Lawson started things off with a 2 yard run followed by a weaving 30 yard gallop, to the McD 45. Robinson bulled for 2 yards before Werner passed to senior Shawn Seif for 8 yards and a first down. Robinson then ran for 5 before Lawson's 9 yarder was good for a first down at the HER 25. a rare incomplete pass preceded a 5 yard Lawson jaunt before the quarter ended.

    McDevitt began the second quarter with an 11 yard pass to Lemelle, good for a first down at the HER 11.  Holland blasted through would-be tacklers form there for the game's second score, posting the Crusaders to a 14-0 lead with 11:29 left in the half. A 10 yard sack by senior Tariq Spence highlighted the next Hershey possession, and even a holding call against McDevitt couldn't prevent the inevitable punt, which rolled dead at the McD 31. Werner began this scoring drive with a 19 yard hookup with Lemelle, and Robinson followed with a tough 19 yard gain, to the HER 31. Seif then gathered in a Werner toss for a 15 yard gain and Lawson had consecutive carries that netted 6 more. It only took Holland two carries from there to notch his second touchdown of the game, and McDevitt had a 21-0 lead with 5:54 remaining before intermission. Hershey turned in another 3-and-out as senior Noah Spence smothered Hershey quarterback Zack Drayer for a 10 yard sack on third down, but the Trojans followed with a 51 yard punt, to the McD 25. McDevitt was stopped for the only time in the game on the next series, but a 44 yard punt by junior Bobby Zweigart put the ball back on the Hershey side of the field, at the 33. The 3-and-out that followed was sparked by senior linebacker Brock Dean's sack of Drayer, and the Trojans subsequent punt rolled dead at the McD 20. A Werner-to-Seif connection promptly gained 24 yards, but a block-in-the-back penalty moved the ball back to the McD 10 with time running out in the half. McDevitt covered the 90 yards in 4 plays, with a little help from the Trojans.  First Lemelle grabbed a pass the gained only a yard, but Robinson turned in a 19 yard gain. Werner's pass fell incomplete on the next play but the Trojans were flagged for roughing the passer, moving the ball to the McD 45. On the next play Werner fired a dart to Lemelle, crossing over the middle of the field. The shifty junior reversed his direction and picked up a crushing block by junior Connor Marsico. He fought through a weak tackle attempt before racing into the end zone to complete the 55 yard scoring play. Maloney's PAT moved the Crusader advantage to 28-0. Hershey strung together 2 first downs on the half's last series before another Noah Spence sack, for a 9 yard loss, brought the first half to an end.

    Hershey began the second half with a promising kick return, but a personal foul penalty moved them back to the HER 20. From there the Trojans couldn't take advantage of a McDevitt off sides penalty when Tariq Spence fought through the overmatched Hershey offensive line for yet another sack. Lemelle returned the punt that followed for a 25 yard return, but a block-in-the-back penalty punished the Crusaders back to the McD 40. Lawson suffered a 3 yard loss before junior Nate Showalter grabbed an 8 yard Werner flip. Lawson then moved the chains with an 11 yard gain and Lemelle followed with a 10 yard reception, to the HER 14. This time it was Lawson's turn to finish off the drive and he did it in 2 carries, spotting McDevitt to a 35-0 lead with 7:25 left in the 3rd quarter. The 35 point lead led to enactment of the "Mercy Rule", featuring the continuously running game clock, as McDevitt reached the "Mercy Rule" for the 4th game in a row. The next Hershey possession highlighted the dominance of McDevitt's defense. From the HER 24 Brantley was pounded by Noah Spence for a 2 yard loss. On the next play Junior Miles Williams flattened a Hershey receiver with a brutal (and perfectly legal) hit. Senior linebacker Alan Holman finished the performance by dropping Drayer for a 2 yard loss. Lemelle returned the resultant Hershey punt 17 yards, to the McD 49 and the Crusaders kept it simple for the game's final scoring drive. Seif carried 3 consecutive times for a total of 15 yards before the freshman Robinson took over. Six straight carries, for 5, 2, 2, 25 and 1 yards, produced the final score of the morning. McDevitt reserves took over from there, forcing a Hershey fumble that was recovered by junior Porter Miller. Freshman Sheldon Snell showed off some impressive moves before the young Crusaders turned the ball over on downs, but the McDevitt defense preserved the shutout with some inspired play.

Next Friday night, October 28th, the Crusaders invade West Shore Stadium to face the Red Land Patriots for McDevitt's final Keystone Division contest. The game begins at 7:00 PM

QUOTES

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

We heard after the Hershey-Cedar Cliff game how physical Hershey was. We knew we could throw the ball; we knew if we struggled running the ball we could always pass, but we wanted to run. Coach Banks did a  great job and challenged our offensive line. They're a senior group led by Kyree Ross and they came out physical. They kept coming to the sideline saying, "Coach, I know you want to throw but let's keep on running the ball because we're wearing them down". That was our goal on both sides of the ball today, to come out and be physical. We didn't double team Brantley or anything like that, we just challenged our guys to man up and go after them. I'm happy with our running back sharing arrangement; our kids are handling it well. Each one of them has a little different running style, each has his strengths and each has a few weaknesses so we try to play on that. If we get to where we want to go we're at mid-season so it's a long season. Last year I felt that Jameel (Poteat) wore down for the playoffs and lost some speed. We wanted to use Rashad a little bit in the playoffs with his speed but he got hurt in a JV game, so we're going to keep rotating the backs to keep them fresh. We saw Red Land last night against Cumberland Valley and they moved the ball a little bit and were very physical. They're real big up front so we're going to have another battle on our hands.

Assistant Coach Lamar Banks

We didn't do anything special because of Harold Brantley, We practice what we practice, we do what we do and don't specialize for any particular player. The offensive line is getting better; we still have a long way to go. We want to keep at it because we have a lot of improvement to make.

FB Josh Skoczynski

Any chance I get to get on the field I take it. Coach talked to me in the off-season about playing fullback, stepping in after Seany left, and I said, "absolutely". I dreamed about playing on this field, dreamed about taking that kind of role. I just have to stay positive, stay in the game and be on my toes for each week. I love the feeling of seeing the running backs score behind my block; it's awesome. To help them do that makes me feel good. We knew Hershey was a physical team and they talked a lot, so we were ready. Hearing about their size and watching their film, I didn't want to come out with the mindset that we were going to run all over them but we had to. For Red Land if we come out and do exactly what we did today we should be all right.

WR Connor Marsico

To keep prepared I have to stay loose and just do what they tell me to do when I come in the game. On Ronnie's touchdown pass I ran a "seam" and I saw Lemelle running. I kind of creeped up behind the Hershey player and put a good hit on him. The coaches stress blocking a lot, stalk blocking and not letting go of blocks, because that's the difference between a first down and a touchdown. I thought Hershey was going to be a little tougher but we're probably going to see them again in the playoffs. For Red Land we have to come out tough again to get another win to win the division championship

CB Maurice Jeter

When the other team runs the ball a lot you always get a little antsy in the secondary but soon enough the ball's going to come to you.  We've been waiting to make big hits all season. Our front seven does an amazing job of making the tackles and every time we get the opportunity to make a play we try to make it. My thoughts on next week is we have to prepare this week like we prepare every week to come out with the win, against Red Land or against anybody.

S Miles Williams

We get anxious to make the tackle in the secondary until we see Noah come in the backfield and destroy the quarterback! When they finally did decide to pass I thought they should pay for it, so I blasted that kid. Hershey is still a good team but they still have a way to go. They were undefeated so I think we played a good game. You know, every game you have to pick it up but in the playoffs you really want to pick it up. Last year I really wanted to get a state championship for the seniors. Coach Wec told us that Red Land is physical so we're going to try and match their physicality  and play our game

TE Tom Scully (voted Homecoming King this morning)

When I moved from tackle to tight end it was a big adjustment with the passing game because, as a tight end, you always have to be ready to receive the ball. The blocking technique is the same, though, so you just have to go out and block whoever is in front of you. I thought we'd be able to run against Hershey. We had a good week of practice and our offensive line played well today; we just came off low and hard and got the job done. It's a big honor to be named Homecoming King; I'm happy I won. If we keep getting better every week we'll be OK against Red Land.

OT Pat Narus

We had the mindset to just stay physical the whole time, pretty much, and we practiced real hard the whole week. We knew we had to get the run game going; we did a lot of zone, stuff like that, and focused on running hard, staying physical and staying low. You know, all running backs have a different tempo and you have to get used to it. But we've been doing a lot of reps with all three backs and they're all great; it hasn't really affected us that much. We just expect to run the ball a lot. I think the line is making a lot of progress. Off the field we're best friends, we're trying to gel in all ways. At first we had some doubt but I guess there's always doubt when new people come in, but we've really been meshing good, staying on blocks and finishing people. Against Red Land we want the complete division championship so we have to practice hard