Monday Morning Quarterback

(Conrad Heisey had himself a ballgame on Friday night.)

Welcome everyone to Monday Morning quarterback. I couldn't do this on Saturday because the wife and I went out of town for the night to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. We went to Baltimore and, I've got to say, that the Inner Harbor is one of the most beautiful places to spend an evening. Of course I grew up right outside there, but I still love going there.

And Sunday, well, I spent my day watching this:



Yes, my beloved Redskins stomping the Cowboys. Not bad times. Good time.

OK, without further ado, here is some quick analysis on the Bears dominating 39-13 win over Conestoga Valley Friday night.
OFFENSE:
E-town got off to a little bit of a slow start offensively. Kyle McNeil did hit Steven Nunez on a 31-yard pitch and catch to start the game for the Bears, but they didn't run all over CV in the first half like I thought they would. That said, they did set the tone for a dominating second half by pounding the run and pounding it often, with a few passes mixed in to keep the defense honest.

Conrad Heisey had a heck of a game and the best individual rushing effort for the Bears this season. After getting only 34 yards in the first half, Heisey erupted for 200 in the second half. He had touchdown runs of 43 and 80 yards in the half. In the second half, Heisey had seven total carries, six of which went for at least 14 yards. Wow. His carries in the second half looked like this: 14 yards, 43 yards (TD), 19 yards, 3 yards, 15 yards, 26 yards, 80 yards (TD). That is some serious production right there. He finished with 234 yards on 13 carries with three touchdowns and an 18 yards per carry average. 18! Wow.

Shane Rosenberry had another good game, running for 75 yards on 12 carries. Rosy is such a tough runner. He was literally carrying CV defenders for 6 or 7 yards every time he touched the ball. He's an extremely physical player and he pounds defenders. That kind of wear and tear can tire out a defense, making it a little easier for backs like Heisey and Mitch Weidman to break away for long runs.

Speaking of Weidman, he had 65 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns. He's a change-of-pace back from Heisey and Weidman and will usually get the ball on a jet sweep to try and get to the outside and outrun everyone, where guys like Rosenberry and Heisey will pound the middle. But it works for E-town. All three are great complements to each other.

Want one major reason why E-town is 3-1? Look no further than the play of these three backs. Here's their season stats so far.
•Rosenberry, 54 carries, 357 yards, 6.6 yards per carry average, 5 TD.
• Heisey, 48 carries, 445 yards, 9.2 yards per carry average, 6 TD.
• Weidman, 34 carries, 230 yards, 6.7 yards per carry average, 3 TD.
For those scoring at home, that's 1,032 rushing yards, 14 TDs and a 7.5 yards per carry average for those three through four games. Not too shabby.

E-town only threw one pass in the second half and, considering they led 32-0 at one point, that's all they really needed to throw. In the first half, McNeil went 3-7 for 83 yards with a TD and an interception. He forced a few throws into heavy coverage, but did a good job for the most part. He really didn't need to do much with the running game clicking as well as it did. It's been nice to see the emergence of Josh McMasters the past two weeks. He had a good game against Solanco and made a nice grab for a TD Friday night. McNeil placed the ball perfectly over two defenders in the back of the end zone and McMasters did a great job of controlling the ball and keeping his feet in to make the play.

In all, E-town cranked out 505 total yards – 422 rushing and 83 passing.

DEFENSE:
CV had an interesting game plan. After throwing the ball a bunch in their previous games, the Buckskins came out and ran it. Nearly every single play. CV did not throw a pass in the first half, which was interesting. They were content to hand it to tailback Kevin Kelley or sneak it with quarterbacks Alex Dienner and Adam Heiselman throughout. And the E-town defense did a good job of keeping them from getting in the end zone. CV did do a good job of moving the chains, but it simply couldn't get any drives extended. They had 96 yards on the first half, all on runs. In the second half, they passed 6 times, completing three for 61 yards. They ran for 104 yards in the second half and finished with 200 total rushing yards. Again, though, that won't get the job done when you are trailing by 31 points.

Shane Rosenberry and Alex Kirchner were everywhere on defense. I had Rosenberry for 14 tackles and a fumble recovery, and Kirchner for 11 tackles and a sack. David Kennedy was also a monster, recording eight tackles. I thought E-town did a good job containing CV's playmakers like Kelley and not giving up any big plays downfield. CV has a reputation for running some gadget plays, but only did that once Friday night, a 36-yard reverse pass from Julian Morales to Stefan Sensenig.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
Shane Long showed off his leg strength, kicking touchbacks on his first three kickoffs of the night – an impressive feat.

E-town failed to convert on three PATs. They fumbled the hold on one extra point, missed a two point conversion and had one blocked. It didn't come back to haunt them here, but it could be something they can't afford the next three weeks with Garden Spot, Cocalico and Central on the schedule.

They also allowed a long return on a kickoff to Kelley, something they seem to do once a game so far. Again, it's nothing to be overly concerned about since they have yet to allow a return for a TD, but it's just something to keep an eye on.

OVERALL:
All in all, it was a very impressive night for the Bears. It's a luxury to get some of your second string guys in with more than 8 minutes to play, and the Bears were able to do that.

After getting pushed around a little bit last week in Solanco, the offensive line played very, very well. Holes were everywhere for Heisey and company to run through, and McNeil had a nice pocket to throw from. The blocking downfield was also great. On Heisey's 80-yard TD run, it was a footrace between him and Alex Kirchner for the last 40 yards or so. Kirchner is an offensive lineman. For E-town. Heisey did beat him by a yard or 2 though. All kidding aside, it's that kind of downfield blocking that leads to 500 yards of offense and a blowout win.

We'll see what E-town is made of the next three weeks. This three game stretch will essentially make or break the Bears' season. Let's start by showing you the current Section Two standings:
E-town: 4-1 overall, 2-0 section
Garden Spot: 4-1 overall, 2-0 section.
Manheim Centra: 3-2 overall, 2-0 section.
Cocalico: 4-1 overall, 1-1 section.
Lebanon: 4-1 overall, 1-1 section.
Solanco: 2-3 overall, 0-2 section.
CV: 0-5 overall, 0-2 section.
Ephrata: 0-5 overall, 0-2 section.

And here is E-town's schedule for the next three weeks.
Friday, Oct. 3, vs. Garden Spot.
Friday, Oct. 10, vs. Cocalico.
Friday, Oct. 17, at Manheim Central.

Garden Spot handed previously unbeaten Lebanon a 35-21 loss this week, and Cocalico's only loss in the section was to Central two weeks ago. The Barons beat Solanco on Saturday afternoon.

How good is Section Two? Well, E-town is the only Class AAAA team in the section. Three teams from Section Two are in the top 10 in the District Three Class AAA rankings and Central is in the top 12. Wow. Garden Spot is No. 5, Lebanon No. 6 and Cocalico No. 8. Central is No. 12.

The Bears, meanwhile, are the No. 10 team in the district in Class AAAA, behind 5-0 teams like Bishop McDevitt, Wilson, Muhlenberg, Penn Manor, Dallastown and York William Penn. So yeah, these next three weeks are important.

Later this week, I'll have a full preview of the E-town/Garden Spot showdown and also be sure to check back for Five Downs with Coach Polites for five keys for the Bears this week.