Saturday Morning Quarterback (sort of)
My apologies, Den Dwellers, for not getting this post up on Saturday as I promised. I planned on doing it, until I stumbled on tickets to the Phillies-Brewers game on Saturday afternoon. I thought I might still have time, but that was before I realized how far away Philly was. Sheesh. So most of my day was driving, and then watching some baseball, and then driving some more. It was a good game though and, I have to admit, a little strange. Being a life-long Orioles fan, it was weird to be at a professional baseball game that actually meant something – since the Orioles haven't had a winning season in 11 years. It was also the first pro baseball game I've ever been to without the Orioles playing. Pretty bizarre. I felt like a Martian at Citizens Bank. And I kept looking out to the stands in right field expecting to see the B&O Warehouse that is at Oriole Park. But a fun day nonetheless. And on Sunday...well, Sunday is NFL day for me and I don't do anything but sit on my recliner and watch the games (thank you DirecTV and the NFL Ticket).
Anyway, back on track here... So here is this week's Saturday Morning Quarterback, two days late. Shame on me. Oh, quick reminder before I forget, the Bears play Solanco this week on Saturday, so this will be Sunday Morning Quarterback next week (guess I'll just have to get up early and post before the NFL starts. Sacrifices, dear readers, sacrifices. I owe you one).
What a game this was. After last week against Muhlenberg, I didn't think there was any way I'd see a more exciting E-town football game this season, but I was wrong. The Bears had another heart-stopper, but this time E-town was able to come out on top. It was everything I thought it would be – a physical, back and forth game between two good teams.
E-town's Offense:
Another week, another solid performance for one of the Lancaster-Lebanon League's highest-scoring offenses. The Bears came in to the game with the most points in the league at 80 and now are third in the L-L with 108 (Lebanon is 1st with 122 and Cocalico second with 111). That said, I think E-town's strength of schedule so far is much harder than what Cocalico or Lebanon has faced.
Before we get into specifics, here's some basic numbers for you: E-town had 191 team rushing yards and 152 passing yards, which is 343 total yards of offense. And they scored four touchdowns against a Manheim Township team that had allowed a total of three points in two games coming in.
The running game was strong once again against a stout Blue Streak defense. Township did hit the Bears hard and held E-town to 4 or less yards on 30 of the Bears' carries, but E-town kept coming at them and was able to break several big plays. Shane Rosenberry led E-town with 121 yards on 18 carries with a 6.7 yards-per-carry average and 2 touchdowns (he now has five this season). Rosenberry was exactly the type of runner the Bears needed against Township's physical defense. He bulldozed defenders a couple times and had a few long runs, including one for 32 yards, one for 46 yards and one for 14. Conrad Heisey also had runs of 11 and 14 yards and Mitch Weidman broke one for 42 yards in the first half.
The threat of that big gain helped the passing attack and got E-town into scoring position and kept drives going several times.
The conditions didn't exactly favor the passing game, but both teams found big plays through the air late in the game that decided the outcome. Kyle McNeil was effective, going 5 for 10 in the rain and hit Mitch Weidman on a 47 yard bomb in the first half. Of course, he found Jeremi Jones for 2 TDs, one on a 10 yard inside post and the other on a beautiful 76 yard bomb that turned out to be the game winner. McNeil has all of the tools to be one of the best QBs in the area. He's big and strong, sees the field very well and is calm in the pocket. Oh, and he's got a cannon for a right arm. That helps. He did make a few poor decisions and it cost him two interceptions, but when the game was on the line, he made the plays when he needed to. The throw to Jones to win the game was spectacular. McNeil put it right where he needed to and Jones, who is quickly becoming the Bears' biggest receiving threat with four TDs in three games, somehow found enough footing on a nasty field to make three Township defenders miss on his way to the end zone.
E-town appeared to have the deep ball open several times during the game, but just came up short a few times before the completion to Jones that sent Thompson Field into a frenzy. The Bears are going to be able to churn out 200 yards on the ground every game, that much is a given, but if the passing game continues to develop, defenses are going to have a tough time slowing this E-town attack down.
E-town's Defense:
For three quarters, E-town played some of its best defense of the season. Township had 11 yards in the first quarter, but the game was tied at 7-7 after the Streaks returned a fumble 61 yards for a score. Township's only offensive touchdown of the first half came when they got the ball at the 10 after an interception, and it took them four downs to get it in from there. Shaun Buller made a great play to block the extra point, which turned out to be huge in the game.
Going into their first possession of the fourth quarter, Township had managed just 77 yards of total offense. The defensive line and the linebackers were doing an excellent job of reading Township's spread offense and coming up to stop the run. It also seemed that Township slipped and fell a lot more than E-town.
Township got 40 yards on its first play of the fourth, on a halfback option pass, and Dan Wertz took it in from there, carrying the ball four straight times to get into the end zone.
The Streaks ran the exact same option pass on the first play of its next possession, this time resulting in an 82-yard touchdown throw. But other than those two plays, the E-town defense was in control. And they stepped up when it mattered the most.
After the long TD, E-town fumbled (although it appeared Township was offsides on the play, but it wasn't called) and the Streaks got the ball back with a six point lead and 3:55 on the clock. Wertz carried three straight times for nine yards, setting up a fourth-and-1 at the 24. Township elected to give the ball to Nick Sizemore on the fourth down play, and he was stuffed by Dylan Allison short of the first down marker. One play later, McNeil hit Jones for the game winner.
In all, E-town held Township to 244 yards of offense, which is a good day for any defense. They also forced a turnover and got a sack, which was by Alex Kirchner on fourth down to seal the win.
E-town's Special Teams:
What a complete difference the special teams were this week. Shane Long looked excellent on extra points, going 4-for-4, and he needed every one of them as the Bears only won by one point. Shoot, that reminds me, I didn't even tell you the score – E-town won 28-27 in case you didn't know.
Long has a great leg and looked to be more comfortable out there, getting to the ball quickly on those PATs and crushing them through the uprights. There was some drama on the last PAT attempt, but Long squashed that quickly. After the Jones TD, the Bears were called for offsides and then for illegal procedure, pushing the kick back to the 13 and making it about a 30-yard extra-point try. But Long crushed it through. It would've been good from at least another 15 yards.
Another big turning point in the game came on the second half kickoff. Rosenberry forced a fumble on the return and it was recovered by Tyler Miller. The Bears took advantage with a 22-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass from McNeil to Jones and gave E-town a 21-13 lead at the time. The coverage unit was excellent, keeping Township's return game bottled up for the most part.
Josh McMaster punted three times for a 33-yard average, which is pretty good on a rainy night. No bad snaps + no dropped kicks + no blocked PATs + a fumble forced = one good night for the special teams.
Did E-town make mistakes? Sure. They turned the ball over three times and that really kept Township in the game for the most part. But those kinds of things are going to happen in high school football. What matters at the end of the day is that E-town is 2-1 heading into section play after facing three Class AAAA teams to start the year.
Now comes the teeth of the football season. Section Two is loaded with good teams and it's going to be a fun battle to watch for the next seven weeks.
Here are the section standings heading into section play next week, plus next week's slate of Section Two games.
Cocalico.....3-0
Lebanon......3-0
E-town.......2-1
Garden Spot..2-1
Solanco......1-1 (Their game Friday at Oxford was moved to tonight).
Central......1-2
Ephrata......0-3
CV...........0-3
Games: The Bears play Saturday night, so you could check out some other Section Two action on Friday night.
Tonight, Solanco at Oxford, 6 p.m.
Friday, Ephrata at Lebanon, 7 p.m.
Friday, Garden Spot at CV, 7 p.m.
Friday, Central at Cocalico, 7 p.m. (this one should be a dandy).
Saturday, E-town at Solanco, 7 p.m. (match up of the two reigning section co-champions).
Anyway, back on track here... So here is this week's Saturday Morning Quarterback, two days late. Shame on me. Oh, quick reminder before I forget, the Bears play Solanco this week on Saturday, so this will be Sunday Morning Quarterback next week (guess I'll just have to get up early and post before the NFL starts. Sacrifices, dear readers, sacrifices. I owe you one).
What a game this was. After last week against Muhlenberg, I didn't think there was any way I'd see a more exciting E-town football game this season, but I was wrong. The Bears had another heart-stopper, but this time E-town was able to come out on top. It was everything I thought it would be – a physical, back and forth game between two good teams.
E-town's Offense:
Another week, another solid performance for one of the Lancaster-Lebanon League's highest-scoring offenses. The Bears came in to the game with the most points in the league at 80 and now are third in the L-L with 108 (Lebanon is 1st with 122 and Cocalico second with 111). That said, I think E-town's strength of schedule so far is much harder than what Cocalico or Lebanon has faced.
Before we get into specifics, here's some basic numbers for you: E-town had 191 team rushing yards and 152 passing yards, which is 343 total yards of offense. And they scored four touchdowns against a Manheim Township team that had allowed a total of three points in two games coming in.
The running game was strong once again against a stout Blue Streak defense. Township did hit the Bears hard and held E-town to 4 or less yards on 30 of the Bears' carries, but E-town kept coming at them and was able to break several big plays. Shane Rosenberry led E-town with 121 yards on 18 carries with a 6.7 yards-per-carry average and 2 touchdowns (he now has five this season). Rosenberry was exactly the type of runner the Bears needed against Township's physical defense. He bulldozed defenders a couple times and had a few long runs, including one for 32 yards, one for 46 yards and one for 14. Conrad Heisey also had runs of 11 and 14 yards and Mitch Weidman broke one for 42 yards in the first half.
The threat of that big gain helped the passing attack and got E-town into scoring position and kept drives going several times.
The conditions didn't exactly favor the passing game, but both teams found big plays through the air late in the game that decided the outcome. Kyle McNeil was effective, going 5 for 10 in the rain and hit Mitch Weidman on a 47 yard bomb in the first half. Of course, he found Jeremi Jones for 2 TDs, one on a 10 yard inside post and the other on a beautiful 76 yard bomb that turned out to be the game winner. McNeil has all of the tools to be one of the best QBs in the area. He's big and strong, sees the field very well and is calm in the pocket. Oh, and he's got a cannon for a right arm. That helps. He did make a few poor decisions and it cost him two interceptions, but when the game was on the line, he made the plays when he needed to. The throw to Jones to win the game was spectacular. McNeil put it right where he needed to and Jones, who is quickly becoming the Bears' biggest receiving threat with four TDs in three games, somehow found enough footing on a nasty field to make three Township defenders miss on his way to the end zone.
E-town appeared to have the deep ball open several times during the game, but just came up short a few times before the completion to Jones that sent Thompson Field into a frenzy. The Bears are going to be able to churn out 200 yards on the ground every game, that much is a given, but if the passing game continues to develop, defenses are going to have a tough time slowing this E-town attack down.
E-town's Defense:
For three quarters, E-town played some of its best defense of the season. Township had 11 yards in the first quarter, but the game was tied at 7-7 after the Streaks returned a fumble 61 yards for a score. Township's only offensive touchdown of the first half came when they got the ball at the 10 after an interception, and it took them four downs to get it in from there. Shaun Buller made a great play to block the extra point, which turned out to be huge in the game.
Going into their first possession of the fourth quarter, Township had managed just 77 yards of total offense. The defensive line and the linebackers were doing an excellent job of reading Township's spread offense and coming up to stop the run. It also seemed that Township slipped and fell a lot more than E-town.
Township got 40 yards on its first play of the fourth, on a halfback option pass, and Dan Wertz took it in from there, carrying the ball four straight times to get into the end zone.
The Streaks ran the exact same option pass on the first play of its next possession, this time resulting in an 82-yard touchdown throw. But other than those two plays, the E-town defense was in control. And they stepped up when it mattered the most.
After the long TD, E-town fumbled (although it appeared Township was offsides on the play, but it wasn't called) and the Streaks got the ball back with a six point lead and 3:55 on the clock. Wertz carried three straight times for nine yards, setting up a fourth-and-1 at the 24. Township elected to give the ball to Nick Sizemore on the fourth down play, and he was stuffed by Dylan Allison short of the first down marker. One play later, McNeil hit Jones for the game winner.
In all, E-town held Township to 244 yards of offense, which is a good day for any defense. They also forced a turnover and got a sack, which was by Alex Kirchner on fourth down to seal the win.
E-town's Special Teams:
What a complete difference the special teams were this week. Shane Long looked excellent on extra points, going 4-for-4, and he needed every one of them as the Bears only won by one point. Shoot, that reminds me, I didn't even tell you the score – E-town won 28-27 in case you didn't know.
Long has a great leg and looked to be more comfortable out there, getting to the ball quickly on those PATs and crushing them through the uprights. There was some drama on the last PAT attempt, but Long squashed that quickly. After the Jones TD, the Bears were called for offsides and then for illegal procedure, pushing the kick back to the 13 and making it about a 30-yard extra-point try. But Long crushed it through. It would've been good from at least another 15 yards.
Another big turning point in the game came on the second half kickoff. Rosenberry forced a fumble on the return and it was recovered by Tyler Miller. The Bears took advantage with a 22-yard drive that ended with a touchdown pass from McNeil to Jones and gave E-town a 21-13 lead at the time. The coverage unit was excellent, keeping Township's return game bottled up for the most part.
Josh McMaster punted three times for a 33-yard average, which is pretty good on a rainy night. No bad snaps + no dropped kicks + no blocked PATs + a fumble forced = one good night for the special teams.
Did E-town make mistakes? Sure. They turned the ball over three times and that really kept Township in the game for the most part. But those kinds of things are going to happen in high school football. What matters at the end of the day is that E-town is 2-1 heading into section play after facing three Class AAAA teams to start the year.
Now comes the teeth of the football season. Section Two is loaded with good teams and it's going to be a fun battle to watch for the next seven weeks.
Here are the section standings heading into section play next week, plus next week's slate of Section Two games.
Cocalico.....3-0
Lebanon......3-0
E-town.......2-1
Garden Spot..2-1
Solanco......1-1 (Their game Friday at Oxford was moved to tonight).
Central......1-2
Ephrata......0-3
CV...........0-3
Games: The Bears play Saturday night, so you could check out some other Section Two action on Friday night.
Tonight, Solanco at Oxford, 6 p.m.
Friday, Ephrata at Lebanon, 7 p.m.
Friday, Garden Spot at CV, 7 p.m.
Friday, Central at Cocalico, 7 p.m. (this one should be a dandy).
Saturday, E-town at Solanco, 7 p.m. (match up of the two reigning section co-champions).
Labels: Football, Saturday Morning Quarterback
posted by Chris McCarthy at
11:53 AM
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