2011 Playoff Victory #2- McDevitt 70, Conrad Weiser 21

November 18- The game may have started differently but the end result was the same as McDevitt's seven previous "Mercy Rule " games: a point explosion by the Crusader offense and powerful, timely plays by the defense. This time the opponent was Berks County's Conrad Weiser Scouts and this time the final tally was 70-21. The game, played at Mechanicsburg's comfy Frederick Field, featured standout performances by the usual suspects: quarterback Alec Werner,; runners Rashad Lawson, Darnell Holland, Andre Robinson and Sheldon Snell; receivers Brian Lemelle, Shawn Seif and Nate Showalter; and defenders Noah and Tariq Spence, Brock Dean, Alan Holman, Miles Williams and Mike Perloski. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that the Crusader offensive line is the engine that fuels this point-scoring machine. Tackles Pat Narus and Travis Arnold; guards Tyler Conde and De Andre Lawson, tight end Tommy Scully and center Kyree Ross, all seniors, have been performing exceptionally well during this nine game winning streak. Opponents cannot stop the McDevitt running attack in conventional ways, thanks to these 7 sturdy seniors. Defenses often resort to putting 8 or 9 players nearer to the line of scrimmage, which opens up the Crusader passing game. Teams are finding it harder than ever to get near Werner when he drops back to pass, allowing the talented receivers to run deep pass patterns that are hard to cover. Yes, the 2011 McDevitt football team doesn't lack for star power, but the senior linemen are the ones who make it all possible.

    The game began with the Scouts taking the opening kickoff and marching 71 yards in 5 plays to take a quick 7-0 lead. The main culprit was senior tailback Angel Cruz, a quick and powerful runner who proved to be exceptionally hard to tackle. McDevitt answered by going 68 yards in 4 plays. After a 12 yard Seif kickoff return to the McD 32 the Crusaders promptly lost 7 yards on a fumble. Werner passed to Lemelle for 8 yards, setting up a 3rd-and-9. Conrad Weiser's defense came on a blitz but Werner calmly retreated, then threw deep down the left sideline. Showalter was waiting for the bomb and rumbled for a huge 54 yard gain, to the CW 13.  Robinson darted over the goal line on the next play as McDevitt tied the score 7-7, with 7:58 left in the opening quarter. On the Scouts' next possession Williams broke up a deep pass attempt to force a punt that rolled dead at the MCD 47. Two Lawson totes netted 13 yards and a first down before Lemelle snagged another Werner toss and turned it into a 38 yard gain, as he was forced out of bounds at the CW 2. Robinson scored on the next play, Connor Maloney booted the PAT (he was 10 for 10 on PAT's) and McDevitt had a 14-7 first quarter lead. Conrad Weiser then put together a 9 play drive, aided by 3 Crusader penalties and Cruz's inspired running. After penetrating to the MCD 6 a Scout fumble was recovered by Williams and McDevitt was back in business. Lawson ran for 7 yards and then added 9 more to earn a first down. Holland had a 12 yard gain before a motion penalty against the Crusaders ended the opening quarter.

    McDevitt began what would be a 28 point second quarter with a highlight reel play: Holland's 74 yard scoring jaunt, where he outraced the entire Scout secondary to the goal line. Now leading 21-7, the Crusaders dodged another bullet when Cruz dropped a pass as he was sprinting alone down the middle of the field. The ensuing Weiser punt rolled to a stop at the MCD 19. The home team began this drive with a 24 yard Werner-Seif hookup, but a blocking penalty erased 10 yards from the gain. Undaunted, McDevitt pushed on as Robinson dashed 31 yards, to the CW 36 2 short Lawson runs preceded a 16 yarder to Lemelle and then Robinson used Seif's splendid downfield block to finish off his third score of the game, a 15 yard sprint that stretched the McDevitt lead to 28-7, with 7:40 left in the half. Things then started to go downhill fast for the Scouts. Cruz was finishing off a 19 yard run after the kickoff when he was blasted by Dean and fumbled. Perloski fell on the bouncing pigskin, setting the Crusaders up at the MCD 49. A clever 27 yard screen pass to Lawson was followed by Lawson's 2 yard plunge. On the next play Werner, who was 10-for-10 in the half, targeted Seif near the goal line and the shifty senior made the grab, put a jock-dropping move on the befuddled Scout defender and skipped into paydirt for a 35-7 McDevitt lead. After the kickoff that followed Weiser held onto the ball for 6 plays, managing a first down and burning up much of the remaining second quarter clock. By the time the Scouts punted there was less than 3 minutes to play before intermission, which was plenty of time for McDevitt to tack on one more second quarter score. After Werner's staggered cadence drew Weiser off sides Lawson ran for 3 yards, to the CD 43. Werner suffered a rare 10 yard sack on the next play, bringing up a 3rd-and 12 situation for the Crusaders. Werner's subsequent pass to Lawson was a bit high, but the talented junior jumped and made a fingertip catch at the CW 42 to keep the drive alive. Another screen pass to Lawson gained 8 and then Robinson was stopped for a 2 yard loss. Another key third down, another clutch Werner pass, this time to Seif good for 27 yards ( and another sweet move) to the CW 8. The amazing freshman Robinson then scored his 4th touchdown of the half, giving McDevitt a 42-7 lead with 58 seconds left and ensuring that the second half would be played under the "Mercy Rule". The Scouts tried to avoid that situation by desperately moving down the field in the waning seconds, only to see a 43 yard field goal attempt at the end of the half go woefully wide.

     McDevitt Head Coach Jeff Weachter typically gives both his offense and defense one series in the second half of a "Mercy Rule" game and both teams made the most of their brief appearances. Holman returned the short second half kickoff 14 yards, to the MCD 44. The first play was a pass to Lemelle that lost 4 yards but the slick junior more than made up for the loss on the next play. Werner found Lemelle behind the Scout safeties and hit him in stride with a perfect pass. Lemelle did the rest and the result was a 60 yard scoring play and a 49-7 lead. On the next series Weiser advanced with a couple of first downs before Noah Spence single-handedly stopped them. First he sacked Scout quarterback Nick Schoener for a 6 yard loss and forced a third down incompletion on the next play. Then the dazzlingly talented senior swept by a would-be blocker and blocked the Weiser punt, advancing the ball to the CW 3 while he searched for a teammate to lateral the ball to. Holland skipped into the end zone from there as the McDevitt lead ballooned to 56-7. Now the Crusader reserves began making it onto the field, ready for action. Cruz soon fumbled at his own 21 and Conde recovered. Snell then came off the bench to put on a one man show of his own. With junior Bobby Zweigart now quarterbacking, Snell carried 4 consecutive times, the 4th one an 11 yard gallop good for a first down to the CW 5. A holding call erased that gain but Snell simply scored on the next play from 18 yards out to add 7 more points to the McDevitt total. Weiser then managed a score against the Crusader reserves, despite the aggressive play of sophomore Johnny Yetter, junior Porter Miller and freshman QueShawn Jenkins. McDevitt's first punt of the game ended the next Crusader possession, a 49 yard beauty by Zweigart. Freshman Jake Phillips and sophomore Andrew Corrado made standout plays before Cruz ended his night with a 92 yard TD run. Snell matched that score with his second touchdown, a dandy 56 yard sprint that made the score 70-21, McDevitt. The game ended with the Scout starters still in the game trying to score but being thwarted by the McDevitt backups.

Next Friday, November 25, the Crusaders return to Frederick Field to play the Red Land Patriots in a District 3 Class AAA semifinal game. McDevitt dropped the Patriots, 42-14, when the teams met on October 28th, but Red Land has shown new life behind sophomore sensation John Ford. Game time is 7:00 PM.

QUOTES

Head Coach Jeff Weachter

I'm a little disappointed in the defense. Conrad Weiser came out and ran a veer, which we didn't see them run in the 4 game tapes we had, and it caught us by surprise. They popped a long run and then the defensive staff made good adjustments on that. I just thought our tackling was not up to McDevitt standards; it was sloppy tackling. Offensively we got the run game going but they were just all-out blitzing us. That's why we didn't run any 4 wides tonight. We just max protected and let our 3 receivers go one-on-one and we knew they couldn't cover us. Cruz is a good back. He's a good, tough runner and I told him that after the game. You know, you hear so much about etiquette with winning and not running up a score but there's an etiquette to losing and this is two out of the last 3 weeks now. I don't mind you keeping your starters in, but keeping your first team defense in and blitzing our backups is not part of that etiquette. And running a wildcat like that, why not just run your regular offense if you're going to keep your starters in?  Dick Shiner came from the NFL and he trained me and in the NFL you play division foes twice. They see what you've done but you get to see what they have done and make some adjustments so you'll see us make some adjustments against Red Land. They're playing well, better than when we played them, so our kids can't have a letdown. Now Sunday is staff meeting and working on Red Land and tomorrow? I'm not getting my rear end off the couch. I m just going to sit and watch college football all day long and I may take the dog out to go to the bathroom but that's about it.

Asst. Coach Dick Shiner

Alec (Werner) had a great game here. He's come a long way since back in the summer. What he's done, more than anything ,is really learn the game of football. He understands when to throw the ball, how to throw the ball and he looks for receivers and reads the defenses well.  I'll tell you, he's surprised me and come a long way. As far as physically, he's improved his balance more than anything else. Back in July his balance wasn't real good. To throw a ball you have to be balanced, straight up and down, and that's what he's got. His arm has gotten a lot stronger, though, since the summer. I think we're beating the teams the way we should, we're moving the ball the way we should. We have to keep going and take the teams as they come, because each week will get tougher.

WE/KR Shawn Seif

After I catch the ball I'm always looking to make the defender miss so that's always my key, to get the ball upfield. We really take pride in our blocking and that's a lot of what we work on, stalk blocking. It really pays off in the game. Red Land was really intense. They have a pretty good defense and we have a high tempo football team  that sort of wore them down last game. It should be a good game next week. I'm looking forward to playing them again.

Shawn's Little Brother

Sometimes he does his chores but sometimes I have to do them. After a game he doesn't do anything; he just lays in the bed.

OT Pat Narus

We're trying to concentrate on running the ball. We're working hard all week and trying to keep the holes open for all of the guys. Weiser came out at first and started doing different stunts we sort of weren't really expecting early, but we adjusted to it and followed through with our game plan. What I remember of Red Land is good, so hopefully that memory stays good. Do I have chores at home? Are you serious? I mean, my mom won't let me out of my bedroom if I don't vacuum the whole house and , well, it's bad. I'm 18 years old and still doing chores. Maybe tomorrow I'll get an hour or two off because of the game but right after that they're right on the whip. The old ball and chain is right back at it.

LB Brock Dean

I wasn't feeling well but I'm not making excuses. You just come out hard and play every week. we had that initial shock in the first quarter but we adjusted to it and shut it down the rest of the game. Cruz was tough, strong kid, strong legs. He's one of those people that you have to wrap and stay wrapped or he's going to spin off you, make a move and keep going. We practiced doing that all week but he's tough so we made the adjustments we had to, tackled better in the second half and took care of business. It's always harder to beat a team the second time. That's just how it is, the game of football. So I think we just need to come out ready to play, practice hard all week and come out business as usual; don't change anything, just keep playing hard football. Yes I still have chores at home; that never ends! I have 3 chores every week and I do them and get them done, that's it. No breaks because of football, nope. No breaks.

LB Porter Miller

When I'm not playing I just think about how I can help the team, get down on special teams and make a big play to help us out to get the defense going. On that last series Brock (Dean) yelled out, "Strip the ball!" because the back holds the ball out there. We were in the pile so I started punching at it and it came out but they said that they had blown the whistle. I remember the Red Land game because that's when I hyper extended my elbow so I'm going to do everything I can to help the team get better. I still have chores to do at home, but after the game I go home, get a shower and go to bed.

LB/DT Tariq Spence

Cruz was a tough runner, he ran downfield and he has a low center of gravity so it's hard to wrap him up. When we watch the offense score we have to remember to keep our heads, line up properly and start making plays. Since I started at linebacker and I'm back on the defensive line it's helped me a lot, having seen into the backfield to see what's going on and I can carry that over to when I'm on the "D" line. Red Land should be a pretty good game because they were a pretty tough team. Now my chore is I have to sweep the steps. I can't get out of it; I have to do it tomorrow as soon as I wake up. They make me do it.