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.

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).

Saturday morning quarterback

I'm catching up on stuff for this week's print edition, but wanted to check in quickly and introduce a new segment to the blog – Saturday morning quarterback. Every Saturday, I'll check in and give my thoughts on every aspect of the EAHS football game from the night before. I was a little lazy this week and didn't post immediately followed E-town's thriller against Muhlenberg, but the SMQ will give me a chance to digest the game and break it down.

Here's a little info. on last Friday's game. This thing will be more expansive in the coming weeks. Like I said earlier, I'm swamped with the print edition today, so here's an abbreviated version of it:

Overall:
This was one of the most entertaining high school football games I've covered in my time here. Perhaps the only one that was more dramatic was when Garden Spot beat the Bears on a Hail Mary at the end of the game on Homecoming two years ago.

Both teams played well, but both teams made their share of mistakes too. Muhlenberg got beat deep a couple of times against E-town's passing game, and the Bears had some problems slowing down Muhlenberg's quick passing game and stopping the run.

This one was a knock-down, drag out battle. And you have to give Muhlenberg credit for coming back after trailing 13-0 in the first quarter. The Muhls stuck to their game plan and the defense dug in and held E-town scoreless for the second and third quarters, which is no easy task. The Bears had a bit of trouble running the ball by their standards. They finished with 200 yards on the ground as a team, but with only a 4.5 yards per carry average, and had three runs of more than 10 yards. But there were quite a few times that the Bears' runners were stopped for no gain or even lost yardage on key third and fourth downs that kept them from sustaining drives.

E-town's offense:
We already pretty much went over the running game. It was a steady diet of Shane Rosenberry, Conrad Heisey and Mitch Weidman, with each getting a 20-plus yard run and all getting at least 60 yards. Weidman scored E-town's only rushing touchdown on a nice 29-yard run in the fourth quarter on a third down. He's got game-breaker skills.

The offensive line had its hands full all night with Muhlenberg's huge defensive front. The Muhls were blowing E-town off the line for the most part, and held E-town's three feature backs to 10 runs of 1 yard or less, including three runs for negative yardage. They also got to QB Kyle McNeil quite a bit, sacking him four times.

Speaking of McNeil, the passing game looked very good. McNeil was 9-for-12 for 158 yards with three TDs and one interception. He hit Steven Nunez on a 57-yard TD strike on E-town's first possession and had several other balls that were perfectly thrown, including a huge two-point conversion to Jeremi Jones that made it 21-14 E-town in the fourth quarter. If teams aren't careful with E-town and just decide to load up to stop the run, the Bears will burn them deep with the passing game. McNeil has show fantastic touch and arm strength so far, and Jones and Nunez can go get the ball with the best of them. If McNeil keeps burning defenses, that'll open up the run game later.

E-town's defense:
It seemed like E-town had trouble with Muhlenberg's quick passes and running game pretty much all night long. The Bears did get pressure on QB Nate Daniels to make up for it though, as Alex Kirchner and Shaun Buller each had two sacks, and Rosenberry had one sack. But Daniels and the Muhls just looked like a good football team. They have a lot of weapons, and they know how to use them. They're going to be a tough team out there in Berks County. Daniels and company also showed that they don't get flustered, despite trailing by two touchdowns in the first quarter on the road. All in all, E-town did a decent job, but got confused a few times and gave up some big plays to the Muhls. Again though, it seemed like Muhlenberg's running backs were getting 8-12 yards a lot of times, which is something you usually just don't see from an Elizabethtown defense.

Muhlenberg also converted on a bunch of third downs, going 6-for-11 on third down plays, which is better than 50 percent.

However, despite what could be considered an "off" night by the E-town defense, they still were in the game throughout and had a chance to win.

E-town's special teams:
Here's the bottom line for the Bears' special teams. They have to find a way to convert their PATs. Period. End of sentence. E-town has scored 12 touchdowns in the first two games.

• Of the 12 TDs, they have successfully made four PAT attempts.
• 2 of the 12 attempts have been blocked (one in each game).
• 2 more were nearly blocked and were subsequently missed.
• The Bears have gone for two-point conversions four times, and are 2-for-4 on those.

Missed kicks happen, and there's not much you can do about that. However, blocked PATs shouldn't happen very often, and it's happened to E-town two straight weeks now, forcing them to attempt two-point conversions. They've got to block better on those PAT attempts, or it is going to come back to haunt them again.

That said, I think head coach Jeff Polites' decision to go for two in overtime was absolutely the right call. It's not a knock on the kicking game, but the bottom line is that he had to go with what he felt was his team's best chance to succeed in that moment, and he felt that a conversion attempt had a higher chance of success than a PAT.

OK, that's all for now, but I'll check in later with a look at the E-town vs. Manheim Township game, and plus some news and notes on EAHS field hockey, boys soccer, the Wall of Honor and the upcoming Pep Rally Bonfire....