Article by Andy Shay, The Patriot-News

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Football is still a high priority for Sam Marlin, but the Mechanicsburg senior was thinking beyond his playing days when he recently chose to become a student-athlete at FCS Fordham University.

The 6-7, 275-pound Marlin has been a three-year starter for head coach Chris Hakel and the Wildcats – going both ways each of the last two seasons. At Fordham he’ll be an offensive tackle.

Marlin chose the Rams over Robert Morris and Wagner along with offers from several PSAC schools.

“Football is not going to be able to last me forever,” Marlin said. “I wanted a school that carried some weight with it for the future. I’m planning to major in business. And being in New York City you can’t beat the location for internships and experience in the business world.”

Fordham, a member of the the Patriot League, had shown interest in Marlin since the end of his junior season. He sent the Rams a highlight tape during the regular season, went on an unofficial visit in late November. Fordham offered him a scholarship in early December.

“Fordham was a lot different than what I expected. I went up there thinking it would be more like Temple,” Marlin said. “But when I got up there, the campus is all fenced in inside 85 acres. You can see the grass and trees and it still has the feel of a college campus.

“For a while I was looking at the PSAC schools. But it’s always been a dream of mine to play Division I football. And it’s hard to pass up this kind of education.”

Article by Christopher Hopkins, The Sentinel/Photos by Matthew O’Haren, The Sentinel

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HARRISBURG — Any time a team can put up 40 points in a game, they are going to give themselves a great chance at winning. Scoring that many in one quarter, though, that’s a new District 3 record.

When Marcel Brown crossed the goal line late in the second quarter, it may have been just his first score of the game, but for Harrisburg, it was its eighth touchdown. The Cougars scored at will in the first half of Saturday’s District 3-AAAA first round game against Mechanicsburg, setting a new District 3 record for points in a half with 53, and rolling to a 53-22 win at Severance Field.

The Cougars (9-2) ran just 12 plays in the second quarter, not because they couldn’t get the ball, but because they were scoring right away.

In a total of five series, Harrisburg never needed more than four plays to get into the end zone — twice scoring on the first play from scrimmage. Mix in an interception returned for a touchdown and that was all the Cougars needed.

“It’s one of those things where I really can’t explain it,” Harrisburg coach Calvin Everett said of his team’s performance in the second quarter. “Everything’s just working well. The kids were executing.”

Early on, the Wildcats (5-6) looked to be in good shape. On the first drive of the game, the Wildcats used seven plays to drive all the way to the Harrisburg 27. But the ensuing field goal attempt fell short of the goal posts and gave Harrisburg the ball.

From there, Cougars running back Robert Martin took over. Martin went for 78 yards on five carries to give Harrisburg the ball on their own 2, setting up its first score of the game.

“I think we came out and then they go down and score and it just takes the wind out of your sails,” Mechanicsburg coach Chris Hakel. “It puts that little shadow of doubt in your head.”

The Wildcats could never really get a drive going again in the first half as the Harrisburg defense picked up the intensity. Mechanicsburg quarterback Mitchell Ramsey scrambled for a 54-yard touchdown run at the start of the second quarter, but the rest of the first half was a struggle for the Wildcats. Out of seven possessions, there were five three-and-outs, a pick six and a drive that ended as the half expired.

“The defense stepped up and played well,” Everett said. “They’ve been playing well all season long, so it wasn’t surprising. They just did a good job.”

Mechanicsburg didn’t fade away in the second half, though, keeping Harrisburg out of the end zone through the last 24 minutes while tacking on 15 more points of its own. In an up-and-down season where the Wildcats had trouble closing out games, the sign of life in the second half was a positive for Hakel in an otherwise rough outing.

“That’s what I’m most proud of these kids is they could have easily came out in the second half and said, ‘I’m done,’ but they didn’t,” he said. “They continued to fight and play hard until that very last whistle.”

With the win, Harrisburg advances to play No. 6 Cumberland Valley in the quarterfinals. Moving forward, Everett said the most important thing for his team is to stay level-headed and not look too far ahead in the tournament. While a 31-point first round win is undoubtedly convincing, the Cougars will need to keep following the same mentality they have all year long.

“It’s the same motto that we’ve had since the beginning of the season,” Everett said. “Just take it one game at a time. We’re not worrying about Central Dauphin or anyone else. We’re worrying about Cumberland Valley right now. That’s our focus. We just got past Mechanicsburg, that’s been our focus all week long.

“Now our focus is Cumberland Valley.”

COUGARS 53, WILDCATS 22

Mechanicsburg 0 7 7 8 – 22

Harrisburg 13 40 0 0 – 53

First Quarter

H – Kyle Cook 1 run (kick failed), 4:16

H – Jalen Kent 59 pass from Cook (Mekhi Hicks kick), 0:40

Second Quarter

M – Mitchell Ramsey 54 run (Ben Dubas kick), 11:44

H – Robert Martin 63 run (Darian Davis-Ray run), 11:26

H – Cook 1 run (kick failed), 9:32

H – Jalen Williams 8 run (Hicks kick), 6:38

H – Chris Britton 20 interception (kick failed), 6:19

H – Davis-Ray 50 run (Hicks kick), 3:58

H – Marcel Brown 4 pass from Cook (kick failed), 0:10

Third Quarter

M – Swahneek Brown 13 pass from Tyler Schubert (Dubas kick), 7:18

Fourth Quarter

M – Andrew Spanos 30 pass from Schubert (Breon Coke run), 7:35

Team Statistics M H

First downs 6 13

Rushes-yards 21-93 32-335

Passing 8-16-2 8-11-0

Passing yards 111 150

Punts-avg. 4-23 1-15

Penalties-yards 3-15 8-75

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Mechanicsburg, Joe Hennessy 5-17; Shyheim Brown 7-14; Mitchell Ramsey 5-64; Cooper Miller 3-7; Tyler Schubery 1-(-9). Harrisburg, Robert Martin 12-165; Darian Davis-Ray 3-74; Kyle Cook 3-3; Jalen Williams 3-33; Domonique Shurns 3-12; Malik Potter 3-27; Kani Little 2-9; Jakodi McCraw 2-7.

PASSING: Mechanicsburg, Mitchell Ramsey 0-1-0, 0 yards; Tyler Schubert 8-15-2, 111 yards.Harrisburg, Kyle Cook 8-11-0, 150 yards.

RECEIVING: Mechanicsburg, Ben Dubas 1-4; Shyheim Brown 1-(-5); Andrew Spanos 2-68; Camryn Rice 2-31; Swahneek Brown 1-4. Harrisburg, Jalen Kent 2-66; Domonique Shurns 2-35; Robert Martin 1-38; Marcel Brown 3-11.

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Article by Andy Shay, The Patriot-News

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Once the Harrisburg arsenal unleashed all those weapons, there was literally nothing Mechanicsburg could do Saturday afternoon.

Two long runs for scores, a blocked punt that came up a yard shot of a touchdown and a pick-six all in a span of less than eight minutes of the second quarter added up to 40 points for the Cougars.

Throw in a pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Kyle Cook and Harrisburg put up 53 first-half points on its way to a 53-22 District 3-AAAA victory over the Wildcats at Severance Field.

Harrisburg (9-2) plays Cumberland Valley (8-3) in the quarterfinal round Saturday at Severance Field. Kick off is 1 p.m.

“The kids came out focused in the first half and executed well,” Harrisburg coach Calvin Everett said. “But I reminded them it will only get tougher from here as teams keep going so we have to stay focused.”

After Mechanicsburg (5-6) missed a 43-yard field goal after a solid opening drive, Harrisburg handed the pigskin to Robert Martin six straight times.

Martin, who finished with 201 total yards on 14 touches and one touchdown, took the Cougars from the Harrisburg 20 to inside the Wildcats’ 10.

That first touchdown wasn’t easy, as Cook had to bull over from a yard out on fourth down.

But it was just the beginning and easy touchdowns — lots of them — were on their way.

Cook, who finished with 149 yards passing with a couple scores, hit Jalen Kent in stride for a 59-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter to make it 13-0.

Then Harrisburg went nuts.

But first Mechanicsburg had to get their attention. And when Wildcats quarterback rumbled 54 yards for a touchdown on the second snap of the second quarter it was 13-7.

From that point until halftime, the Cougars ran 11 offensive plays that produced 34 points. Chris Britton added an 20-yard pick-six that deflected off Joe Adams’ hands to give Harrisburg a District 3-AAAA record 40 points in one quarter.

Nobody in District 3 had scored 40 in quarter at any level before Saturday.

“The first half, for the most part, they played focused. It was difficult up 53-7 to focus because the outcome of the game was decided. It was natural for their focus to slip a little bit,” Everett said. “The defense again played well. They’ve been playing well all season.”

Mechanicsburg kept firing in the second half, though. Sophomore QB Tyler Schubert threw for 141 of his 145 yards and both touchdowns in the second half. A nifty grab by Swahneek Brown 13 yards out in the third quarter and a nice post pattern to Andrew Spanos for 30 yards in the fourth quarter.

Harrisburg finished with 320 rushing yards on 32 carries and piled up 469 total yards of offense. Most of that total, 362 yards, came in the first half on only 24 plays.

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Article by David Rung, The Sentinel/Photos by Matthew O’Haren, The Sentinel

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Mechanicsburg has had some frustrating losses this season.

Close games seemed to slip away from the Wildcats each week as they went from undefeated through their first three games to 4-5 and on the bubble of the District 3-AAAA playoffs.

It may have took 10 weeks, but Chris Hakel’s squad finally used some of that frustration to its advantage, putting together a thrilling comeback to dispatch Cedar Cliff 38-34 Friday night at John H. Frederick Field.

“I think it’s a lot of pent-up emotion,” Hakel said. “There was a lot of frustration throughout the course of the year. We lost some close games that we should have won. We have the game against Hershey where we don’t really show up then last week (against Susquehanna Twp.) we don’t play as well as we should have.

“There were a lot of pent-up emotions and they all came out.”

Sophomore quarterback Tyler Schubert, who finished with 301 yards through the air on 15-of-20 passing, led the charge, tossing the ball up 13 times in the fourth quarter.

When Schubert and the Mechanicsburg offense were handed the ball down 17 points with only 4:07 left in the contest, they went to work, with an 11-yard fade to Andrew Spanos capping a seven-play, 64-yard drive to pull within 10 points.

With the Wildcats needing to recover an onside kick to have any chance, they won out on the bottom of the pile, coming up with the ball on the Cedar Cliff 29.

“When we recovered the onside kick, then we kind of knew we had the chance,” Spanos said. “I propelled us to getting the next two touchdowns.”

On the second play of the ensuing drive, Schubert hit Swahneek Brown on a hitch in the middle of the field, and Brown turned to see an open path to the end zone, cutting the deficit to 3.

The next onsides kick wouldn’t fare as well for the Wildcats — with Cedar Cliff’s Nathan Orris coming down with the perfectly placed kick from Ben Dubas on the Mechanicsburg 25.

That meant it was time for the defense to step up, and they did, stuffing two runs and sacking signal-caller Andrew Ford to take the Colts out of field-goal position.

After an incompletion on fourth down, the ball went back to the Wildcats with 66 seconds remaining and no timeouts, and 70 yards between them and the goal line.

Schubert would complete passes of 18, 13, 17 and 24 yards around three clock-stopping spikes to move to the 1-yard line. When Joe Hennessey barrelled in behind the left side of his offensive line, Mechanicsburg took its first and only lead of the game.

“I just felt like we had to keep going,” Schubert said of the Wildcats’ comeback. “I felt great, we just needed to keep working. This is the best I’ve felt all season. All the hard work is paid off and now we get another shot in the playoffs.”

A solid first half from the Wildcats had them trailing the high-powered Colts just 21-17 at the break, but it appeared to fall apart as the second half got underway.

Mechanicsburg turned the ball over on each of its first three possessions of the half, and the Colts responded with 13 points off the takeaways to begin pulling away. The visitors even started pounding the line of scrimmage with their running game to take a lead of 34-17 at the 4:07 mark.

“We took advantage of some things when they were there,” Hakel said. “Sometimes theirs someone looking down on you, and tonight (former coach) Rich (Lichtel) was looking down on us and he’s saying, ‘I told you so.’ and he’s smiling.”

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Article by Andy Shay, The Patriot-News

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Somebody forgot to tell Mechanicsburg to go away quietly when trailing by 17 points with four minutes to play Friday night.

A full season worth of frustration found a target — Cedar Cliff.

The Wildcats scored three touchdowns in a span of 137 seconds to pull off a stunning come-from-behind 38-34 Mid-Penn Keystone victory over the Colts at John H. Frederick Field.

“I told the kids after the game in all my years of coaching I don’t know if I’ve ever been rendered speechless. I didn’t know what to say,” Mechanicsburg coach Chris Hakel said. “With everything we’ve been through, I’m so happy for these kids.”

Mechanicsburg (5-5, 2-5) was teetering on being playoff eligible when this one kicked off. The No. 1 of this goal of these Wildcats was to qualify for the postseason.

And they earned their spot the hard way.

“It was unbelievable. We’ve been working so hard all year, for it finally to come together like this feels awesome,” said Mechanicsburg sophomore quarterback Tyler Schubert, who threw for 301 yards and was 9 of 11 for 153 yards with two touchdowns passes in that wild final four minutes.

“It feels great to finally get over the hump.”

Cedar Cliff (5-5, 2-4) has lost four straight. The Colts took a 34-17 lead with 4:07 to play when kicker Leo VanBuskirk knocked home a 23-yard field goal.

A defense that has struggled mightily the second half of the season saw its wheels come flying off.

“I’ve been around a long time, and in all my years of coaching I’ve never been part of a team so snake bitten. We average nearly 40 points a game and we can’t win the close games,” Cedar Cliff coach Jim Cantafio said. “Give full credit to Mechanicsburg for the way they came back.”

Innocently the Wildcats scored what appeared to be an oh-by-the-way touchdown on a 12-yard wheel route from Schubert to Andrew Spanos with 2:46 to play.

But when Mechanicsburg recovered the onsides kick, it became a little more interesting.

Two Schubert completion’s later — the second covering 24 yards to Swahneek Brown for a touchdown — it was suddenly 34-31 with still 2:07 to play.

Cedar Cliff’s Nate Orris recovered a well executed onsides kick by Ben Dubas when he soared into a pile of Wildcats and nabbed the ball to give the Colts possession at the Mechanicsburg 25 with 2:03 to play.

With two timeouts in his pocket, Hakel watched his defense come up huge to give Mechanicsburg the ball back 70 yards from a potential winning touchdown with 1:06 showing on the clock.

Schubert directed his offense like a seasoned veteran — alternately completing passes and spiking the ball to slow down the clock.

Schubert was 4-for-4 on the final march — including a 24-yard laser to Camryn Rice that put the ball inside the Cedar Cliff 5-yard-line.

“I just needed to relax in there. When I relaxed I found the holes,” Schubert said. “We have good skill guys and I just got them the ball. Our seniors calmed me down in the huddle.”

A spike and the Colts having too many players on the field moved the ball to the 1, where Joe Hennessy pushed the ball across the goal line with 29 seconds left for the winning touchdown.

“There’s a lot of credit to go around. We talked about putting it all together once and let’s see what happens. And for those four minutes we put it all together,” Hakel said. “There was a lot of close games throughout the season we should have won. Last week against Hershey we really didn’t’ show up. There was a lot of pent up emotions and they all came out.”

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Article by David Bohr, The Patriot-News/Photography by Chris Knight, The Patriot-News

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Susquehanna Twp. overcame 12 penalties, three turnovers and a blocked punt to post a 48-19 win over Mechanicsburg in Mid-Penn Keystone Division football on Friday night.

The Indians (7-2, 5-1) built a comfortable 28-3 lead in the second quarter, but the Wildcats (4-5, 1-5) cut it to 28-13 and appeared to recover an onside kick with 1:28 left in the half.

However, the officials ruled that the ball had not traveled 10 yards, so the Indians got the ball back.

Four plays later, Jordan Baskerville hit Colby Grant for a 36-yard gain to the Wildcats’ 14-yard line. On the next snap, Takhi Turner ran it in straight up the middle for a 34-13 lead with 23 seconds to go before intermission.

Susquehanna Twp. kept its foot on the proverbial gas pedal in the third quarter, converting a fake field goal into an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jaquan Blair to Justin Gassert with 17 seconds left in the period. That made it 42-13 and essentially put the game out of reach.

“I don’t think anyone saw it coming,” Indian head coach Joe Headen said of the fake. “It was something we wanted to keep the game rolling. We’ve been practicing it all season long, and the kids said let’s give it a shot.”

The Indians put up some impressive numbers, including Colby Grant’s 123 rushing yards on 13 carries. He had a 68-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that put Susquehanna Twp. up 7-3 with 5:58 to go in the first quarter, and a 13-yard touchdown run for a 20-3 lead with 10:55 left in the second.

Quarterback Jordan Baskerville was 8-for-13 for 185 yards and two touchdowns. He hit Jordan Millberry with a floating lob for a 7-yard touchdown in the first quarter and connected with Jordan Banks on a deep throw for a 34-yard touchdown in the second period.

Banks had two catches for 76 yards, and Mike Jones had three receptions for 42 yards.

“It stresses you on every play,” Mechanicsburg head coach Chris Hakel said of containing all of the Indians’ weapons. “You’ve got to keep on your assignments, and you’ve got to maintain containment. It’s hard to replicate it in practice.”

But Susquehanna Twp. did also have 110 yards in penalties, and two Indian turnovers led to scoring drives for the Wildcats. Also, there was a blocked punt in the fourth quarter that was returned by Evan Lechthahler 20 yards for Mechanicsburg’s last score with 2:31 left in the game.

“We got sloppy there at the end of the game,” Headen said. “If we want to be a good team in November, we can’t do that.”

Mechanicsburg’s only offensive touchdown was on a 42-yard touchdown pass down the right side of the field by Tyler Schubert to Andrew Spanos, which made it 28-10 with 5:18 left in the second.

Spanos caught 6 passes for 75 yards.

Ben Dubas made two field goals for the Wildcats, from 36 yards in the first quarter and 23 yards in the second.

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Article by Michael Bullock, The Patriot-News/Photos by Sean Simmers, The Patriot-News

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Deja vu? Not quite.

Yet when Hershey’s Jailen Harmon cranked out a lengthy kickoff return midway through the third quarter — just a few tense moments after Mechanicsburg sprung a splashy play and was beginning to regain some momentum — history, in a sense, was repeating itself.

And while Harmon’s dash certainly proved influential, some clutch plays down the stretch by the Trojans’ defensive line helped Mark Painter’s ballclub wrap up a satisfying 34-14 decision over the host Wildcats in a Mid-Penn Keystone Division scrap Friday night at Frederick Field.

Quarterback Zack Drayer authored a pair of short sneaks for scores and threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Ian Whelan for a third as the opportunistic Trojans (5-2, 2-2) took advantage of four Mechanicsburg turnovers. Hershey also sacked QB Tyler Schubert five times for minus-40 yards.

“Our whole team played so well,” said Harmon, whose 90-yard kickoff return immediately followed a 46-yard sprint to the end zone by Mechanicsburg freshman Shyheim Brown.

“We just have so much heart for this game that we’ll never quit. Even though we were winning, we never stopped getting to that quarterback like we were supposed to.”

Although Brown’s long run pulled the Wildcats to within one score (14-7), Harmon’s juiced effort down the right flank featured a couple of direction changes before he wound up in the end zone. Obviously, the primary effect was restoring order and providing Hershey with a working margin.

“We talk about the answer,” said Painter, whose Trojans picked up an 82-yard kickoff return from 6-3, 280-pound load Harold Brantley in last season’s win over Mechanicsburg. “You gotta have an answer.”

Mechanicsburg, however, offered its own answer.

Just 20 seconds after Harmon completed his long-distance journey, the Wildcats (3-4, 0-4) responded with a 55-yard scoring pass from Tyler Schubert (16-for-28, 241 yards) to Andrew Spanos.

Once Hershey answered yet again on the ensuing drive with Drayer’s timely heave to Whelan, the Trojans really turned their defensive linemen loose. In fact, Painter’s front four bagged four of its five sacks down the stretch. Good timing, too, since the Wildcats were chewing up needed yardage.

“We just got in the huddle and realized, ‘This is it. We gotta stop them,’¤” said D-tackle Dom Giovanniello, who recorded three of those five sacks. “And we kept the morale really high. When Coach puts us on our go calls, we’re just like bulls in a china shop. We’re just going.

“Our goal is to get the quarterback. We’ve got pretty solid pass rushers up front, I’ve gotta give credit, and when our linebackers come to fill, baby, they come to fill. We work together good as a unit and, like I said, when we hear those go calls no one’s stopping us.”

Hershey’s D-Line did not stop until Derek Lutes tossed Schubert for an 11-yard loss on fourth down at the Mechanicsburg 44. Five plays later, Drayer bounced over from the 2.

Guess that’s just another way to answer.

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Article by Jeffrey Kauffman, The Sentinel

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Hershey took advantage of Mechanicsburg’s turnovers and penalties to pin a 34-14 loss on the Wildcats at John H. Frederick Field at Memorial Park Friday night.

The Trojans scored twice in the opening half thanks to three Wildcat fumbles, all recovered inside the 30 yard line. The first half featured seven unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and two unneccasary roughness flags to go along with five turnovers coming from both sides. Hershey got two short touchdown runs from Zach Drayer and Jesse Campbell to take a 14-0 lead. The Wildcats ran just nine plays for a total of 4 yards in the opening quarter.

“I was really proud of our effort tonight,” Trojan coach Mark Painter said. “We haven’t been able to strip the ball and get turnovers the past couple of weeks and today we were able to get some turnovers and take advantage of them. Zach Drayer threw a couple of poor passes early as he rushed the throws. We talked and he seemed to calm down and controlled the game and managed the ball better.”

Mechanicsburg (3-4, 0-4 Keystone) came out and shut down the Trojans on their first possession of the second half and then rammed the ball right down the throats of the Hershey defense. Tyler Schubert completed four passes on the drive that started at the Wildcat 9. Shyheim Brown took a sweep around left end and rolled 46 yards for a Wildcats score to cut the lead to seven at 14-7 when Ben Dubas added the extra point.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jailon Harmon took the kickoff, rolled right and appeared to be hemmed in, but he then broke a tackle and rolled 90 yards for a score. The extra point was missed, but the Trojans still led 20-7.

Andrew Spanos, who had several big kick returns, returned the ensuing kickoff to the 45. On the next play, Schubert found Spanos on a crossing route for 55 yards and a score. Dubas added the extra point and the ‘Cats trailed 20-14 and seemed to have the momentum in their favor.

Drayer led a strong drive by mixing in a couple of keepers and passes before he found Ian Whelan down the left sideline wide open for a 42-yard score.

The Wildcats drove down the field on their next possession, but a touchdown pass from Schubert to Camryn Rice was called back due to a holding call. Moments later, Schubert found Rice in the far corner for an apparent touchdown but Rice couldn’t hold onto the ball. On fourth down, Schubert was sacked by Dom Giovanniella and the Trojans took over.

After the Wildcats forced a punt, they got to midfield but Schubert was sacked on three straight plays, by Giovanniella, Nick Kroutch, and Derek Lutes to give the Trojans the ball back at the 33. A 20-yard scamper by Drayer moved the ball into the red zone and Drayer kept the ball for the final two yards and the final score.

“When you turn the ball over as many times as we did and have as many penalties as we did tonight, it is tough to overcome that,” Wildcats coach Chris Hakel. “I haven’t looked at the film, but I have hard time believing we had that many personal foul penalties. It takes two people, but it doesn’t matter because we didn’t hold onto the ball. We had inopportune penalties where we had a touchdown called back and then gave up a kickoff return after we scored to get within one score.”

Article by John Tuscano, The Patriot-News/Photos by John C. Whitehead, The Patriot-News

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As much as Mechanicsburg was able to contain John Ford, visiting Red Land continued playing the percentages with its star tailback Friday night at John H. Frederick Field.

A back as good as Ford who gets that many touches is bound to make a big play at some point.

Ford’s biggest play came late in the third quarter — a 66-yard touchdown run that featured broken tackles, shifts in direction and speed that ultimately carried the Patriots to a 21-17 victory in a hard-hitting Mid-Penn Keystone grudge match.

“It’s like you’re always waiting for him to bust through and make a really big play,” said Red Land coach Chad Weaver.

“He doesn’t always take the play where it’s meant to be, but next thing you know, you see him running down the sideline for a touchdown.”
Ford, who finished with 126 yards on 15 carries, added a 5-yard touchdown in the second quarter in addition to a scintillating 97-yard kickoff return for a third score.

“You’re always looking to make a big play,” Ford said.

“It was just a matter of time before our line would start opening up some holes.”

Tied at 14 late in the third quarter, Red Land (5-1, 2-1) began at its own 34 where Ford took a handoff, found an edge off left tackle and broke a few tackles before rumbling down the sideline for the go-ahead score. Ford’s long scoring play made it 21-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

Mechanicsburg (3-3, 0-3), which held a pair of one score leads in the second quarter, had a chance to answer in the fourth quarter. It started from its own 33 with five seconds left in third and marched all the way to the Red Land 8 thanks to a nice mix of running from Joe Hennessy and Cooper Miller.

The drive, however, stalled when Hennessy was hit for a two-yard loss by Joel Hertzog and quarterback Tyler Schubert was sacked by Logan Gotshall for a seven-yard loss back to the 17. As a result, the ‘Cats had to settle for Ben Dubas’ 34-yard field that cut the deficit to 21-17 with 4:42 to play.

Mechanicsburg never touched the ball again.

The Patriots took over at their own 34 with 4:37 to play and chewed up the rest of the clock thanks mainly to some hard running from Ford and Connor Parson.

One pass play, however, may have all but sealed Red Land’s fifth victory in six games.

On second-and-14 from its own 40, Red Land picked up a huge 29-yard gain when quarterback Garrett Scott did a fake pitch to the left, then found Parson in the right flat. Parson found some space and made it all the way to the Mechanicsburg 41.

From there, Weaver’s team took the ball to the 11, forcing the home team burn their remaining timeouts.

“We’ve got to play and expect to win and expect that the breaks are going to go our way,” Mechanicsburg coach Chris Hakel said.

“We can’t let an element of doubt creep into our head, because once you do, it’s going to take over.”

Mechanicsburg led 7-0 early in the second quarter on Shyheim Brown’s 8-yard touchdown. After Ford’s kickoff return, the ‘Cats regained the lead on Schubert’s 8-yard TD pass to Camryn Rice that made it 14-7 with 6:06 left in the first half.

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Article by Christopher Hopkins, The Sentinel

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Red Land relied on the big plays for all of its offense Friday against Mechanicsburg.

But perhaps the biggest play for the Patriots resulted in no points at all.

Trailing by seven with just under five minutes to go on 3rd-and-9 from Red Land’s 10-yard-line, the Patriots defense broke free and sacked Wildcats quarterback Tyler Schubert for a seven yard loss. Mechanicsburg had to settle for a field goal and never got another chance, falling 21-17 to the Patriots.

“We had to get as much pressure as we could because they were just kind of sitting back and picking us apart there,” Red Land coach Chad Weaver said about the final Wildcats drive. “Logan Gotshall got the sack and that was all we could ask for on that play.”

The game opened up very slow for both offenses. Neither team was able to find the scoreboard in the first quarter, with each side punting twice. But just over two minutes into the second, Mechanicsburg running back Shyheim Brown slipped through the defense for an eight-yard score.

It was then that Red Land (5-1, 2-1 Keystone) picked up its first big play of the night on what looked to be a potential break for the Wildcats. Off the ensuing kickoff, John Ford first dropped the ball at the 2, but recovered quickly and darted downfield for a 98-yard kick return to even the score.

“That kickoff return was huge momentum wise,” Weaver said. “Our sidelne got a little fired up after that and it was kind of a back and forth from there.”

Mechanicsburg (3-3, 0-3 Keystone) snatched the momentum right back the very next drive. Schubert capped a seven play drive when he hit Camryn Rice for an eight-yard touchdown reception. Then after forcing a punt, the Wildcats had a chance to add to their lead, but on the first play of the drive, Schubert was picked off by Red Land’s Mike Eagan to give the Patriots the ball on the Mechanicsburg 15. Three plays later, the score was knotted at 14 when Ford picked up his second score of the night, on a five-yard run.

At halftime, Mechanicsburg nearly doubled Red Land’s offense in yards, but the score didn’t show it. The Wildcats managed to limit Ford to just 20 yards rushing in the first half and looked to be on pace to keep the junior running back under 100 yards for the game for the first time this season, but it was another big play that ended that bid as well.

Nearing the end of a third quarter that featured limited offense again, Ford broke loose for a 66-yard scamper for his third touchdown and gave Red Land its first lead of the night.

“They just make plays,” Mechanicsburg head coach Chris Hakel said. “That’s what I’d been saying that you can’t take a play off. You take a play off and that’s what happens.”

Ford finished the night with 119 yards rushing on 13 carries.

“You’re just glad he’s on your team because he’s such a weapon,” Weaver said. “Special teams, offensively, defensively, just every time he touches the ball he can make some special plays.”

Mechanicsburg again fought back, swinging momentum back to its side. On a drive that started with five seconds left in the third quarter, the Wildcats brought the ball 57 yards on 12 plays to set up a a 3rd-and-9 on the Patriots 10. When Schubert ended up on his back seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, Hakel said that plans to go for it on fourth down changed.

“We were gonna go for it until we got the sack,” he said. “Then we had to take the field goal with where we were at. We put it on our defense to try and get the ball back.”

Hakel’s offense never got another chance. Red Land was able to run off the final 4:30 to secure the four point win. The drive was kept alive by the Patriots’ final big play of the night — a 29-yard reception to running back Connor Parsons on a 2nd-and-14.

“If you watch our games previously, we don’t really throw the ball much,” Weaver said. “I think we caught them by surprise and Connor did a really nice job of turning up field and getting a lot of yardage out of it.”

After kicking the season off 3-0 for the first time since 2008, Mechanicsburg has now lost its last three in a row. It’s been a string of rough losses for the Wildcats, having held a lead in each of the games. Now, Hakel sees only one option for his squad to pick up its first win in divisional play.

“We’re going to work hard,” he said. “We’re going to work very hard. That’s the only way you’re going to get yourself through something like this is by working hard.”

Box Score

PATRIOTS 21, WILDCATS 17

      Red Land 0 14 7 0 – 21

      Mechanicsburg 0 14 0 3 – 17

      Second Quarter

M – Shyheim Brown 8 run (Ben Dubas kick), 9:57

RL – John Ford 98 kick return (John Stoner kick), 9:39

M – Camryn Rice 8 pass from Tyler Schubert (Dubas kick), 6:06

RL – Ford 5 run (Stoner kick), 1:12

      Third Quarter

RL – Ford 66 run (Stoner kick), 0:10

      Fourth Quarter

M – Dubas 34 field goal, 4:42

      Team Statistics    RL    M

First downs    7    13

Rushes-yards    25-155    38-121

Passing    7-9-0    9-17-2

Passing yards    68    103

Punts-avg.    6-29    4-34

Penalties-yards    8-56    3-20

Fumbles-lost    0-0    0-0

      Individual Statistics

      RUSHING: Red Land, Connor Parsons 7-30; John Ford 13-119; Garrett Scott 3-(-2); Josh Hershey 2-8. Mechanicsburg, Joe Hennessy 16-61; Cooper Miller 6-19; Shyheim Brown 6-19; Tyler Schubert 2-(-6); Mitchell Ramsey 2-6.

      PASSING: Red Land, Garrett Scott 7-9-0, 68 yards. Mechanicsburg, Tyler Schubert 9-17-2, 103 yards.

      RECEIVING: Red Land, Darrin Stover 1-9; DeRyan George 1-13; Kyle Searfoss 1-4; John Ford 2-9; Kyle Mowrey 1-4; Connor Parsons 1-29. Mechanicsburg, Andrew Spanos 4-48; Swahneek Brown 2-17; Camryn Rice 2-13; Joe Hennessy 1-25.

Article by David Rung, The Sentinel

For the full article, click here.

 

Article by Andy Shay, The Patriot-News

For the full article, click here.

For photos of the game, click here.

In full bloom, this Bishop McDevitt offense can only be defined as frightening.

On a brilliant sun-splashed Saturday morning, the Crusaders opened their final season at McDevitt Field … aka The Rock Pile … by unleashing the big play on Mechanicsburg in this Mid-Penn Keystone Division opener.

Running back Andre Robinson ran wild in limited touches and Brian Lemelle became the all-time leading receiver in yards at Bishop McDevitt as the Crusaders fell behind early then exploded for a 45-14 victory over the visiting Wildcats.

Bishop McDevitt (4-0, 1-0) finished with 438 total yards of offense on only 34 plays. And we’re not going to mention the rather large chunk of yards lost to penalties.

Robinson carried only six times, but rolled up 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns. In his last two games, the sophomore has 408 rushing yards on just 20 carries with five touchdowns.

“The fullback and line have been doing a great job the last couple games,” the 5-10, 205-pound Robinson said. “Our line is going a good job of getting to the linebackers and opening the hole. We had some harder practices this week and its paying off.”

Lemelle passed Raki Nelson to become the leading receiver in school history with his 72-yard touchdown catch-and-run from Alec Werner early in the second quarter that gave the Crusaders a 17-7 lead.

The senior wide receiver, who also owns the No. 1 spot in receptions, has 3,196 career yards and counting. Nelson finished with 3,132.

“When I woke up this morning I thought to myself it would be cool to break the record and score a touchdown,” said Lemelle, who also had a 69-yard punt return late in the first half to widen the margin to 31-7 at halftime. “But if it came that way, then it came that way. I was just glad to get the record today at the Rock Pile.”

On the first play from scrimmage, Robinson sailed through a monster hole and rolled 65 yards to the Mechanicsburg (3-1, 0-1) 15-yard line. But a holding call erased Rashad Lawson’s 15-yard gallop on the next play and eventually the Crusaders had to settle for a 30-yard Connor Maloney field goal.

Mechanicsburg provided a wake-up call for the Crusaders defense when it used a trick play on fourth-and-3 from the 17 to grab a 7-3 lead. Wide receiver Swahneek Brown ended up throwing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Joe Becker after the ball changed hands twice, Brown took it on the reverse and looked downfield.

“Give them credit. That was a good call by Mechanicsburg and it was a good wake-up call for us,” Crusaders head coach Jeff Weachter said. “The line the last two weeks has done a very good job. They are getting much better.”

Robinson’s second carry, after Lawson rattled loose for 11, was a 57-yard gallop where he broke a tackle on the outside to find the end zone and put the Crusaders ahead for good.

Just for informational purposes, Robinson’s other four carries went for 35, minus-1, 3 and 23 yards. And he was done by the 8-minute mark of the third quarter.

“Their offense is good. You have to pick your poison,” Mechanicsburg coach Chris Hakel said. “Getting through the hole untouched is one thing, even if it’s well blocked and I’m sure it was. We have to get better at tackling. We’re still 3-1 and we didn’t quit. How we respond to a game like this is what matters and that’s what I told the guys.”

After giving up a touchdown on its opening drive, McDevitt’s defense — led by Mike Perloski and Myles Turner on this day — held the run-oriented Wildcats in check. Mechanicsburg finished with only 68 rushing yards on 33 attempts.

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Article by David Rung, The Sentinel

For the full article, click here.

HARRISBURG — For the first seven minutes of Saturday’s game against Bishop McDevitt, Mechanicsburg had the Crusaders exactly where they wanted them.

A solid defensive stand followed by an extended offensive drive had the Wildcats in the lead shortly after the morning kickoff at McDevitt Field. Instead of working as early momentum for the visitors though, the deficit served as a wake-up call for the hosts, as the Crusaders ran away with a 45-14 victory in the matchup of undefeated teams.

“We were worried about it all week,” McDevitt coach Jeff Weachter said of his team’s slow start after facing — and beating — three straight rivals to begin the season. “We came out and that really opened our eyes a little bit that we had to start executing on both sides of the ball.”

Mechanicsburg (3-1, 0-1 Keystone) took a 7-3 lead after a nine-play drive that ended with an 18-yard reverse pass from Swahneek Brown to a wide-open Joe Becker for the touchdown. That came five minutes after the Wildcats held the Crusaders (4-0, 1-0 Keystone) to a 30-yard field goal on their opening series that started with a 65-yard run by sophomore Andre Robinson.

Robinson would give McDevitt a lead it would never relinquish moments later, eclipsing the 100-yard mark on his second carry when he blew through a gigantic hole and raced down the left sideline for 57 yards and a score.

From there, the Crusaders were off to the races, scoring three second-quarter touchdowns to build a 38-7 advantage at the half.

Big plays were the name of the game, with Alec Werner hitting Brian Lemelle for 72 yards on a fade and Lemelle later adding a 69-yard punt return just before the half.

“Their offense is good,” Mechanicsburg coach Chris Hakel said about the McDevitt offense that had seven plays of 20 yards or more. “You’re going to pick your poison against them. You can’t load up the box, because then they’re going to throw.

“We had to do better at tackling. They were getting through holes untouched. I’m sure plays were blocked well (by McDevitt), no doubt about that, but we have to put guys in positions where we have to make plays.”

The Crusader defense also did its part, and although they didn’t force any turnovers, they overwhelmed the Mechanicsburg offense, allowing only three first downs between the opening drive and fourth-quarter mop-up time.

Senior quarterback Mitchell Ramsey led the first two Wildcat drives, and came back in for the fourth only to be injured during a sack.

Backup Tyler Schubert — who has split time with the first-team offense in all four games this year — reentered the game and would end up 9-for-14 for 96 yards, including a 57-yard heave to Camryn Rice for the Wildcats’ second score early in the fourth quarter.

Ramsey wouldn’t return, although Hakel said he only nicked up a toe injury from a previous game and should be fine for next week.

Despite what could be a demoralizing loss that broke Mechanicsburg’s modest three-game win streak to start the season, Hakel made sure to tell his team there was plenty of football left to play.

“No matter what happens, right now we’re 3-1,” he said. “I told the guys that this cannot erase all the positive things that have happened so far this year. It doesn’t make or break the season. It’s all how you respond to a game like this.”