There’s an old saying that goes “sometimes your best defense is a good offense”. Leading by a score of 7-3 with 4:11 remaining in the third quarter, the Viking’s of Archbishop Wood were pinned at their own 3 yard line following a 47 yard punt by Bishop McDevitt’s Bobby Zwigart. The Vikings of Archbishop Wood decided they’d give that saying a new meaning. Jarred McClenton took the first hand off of the drive and got exactly one yard on the carry. Try again. Luke Spahits took the next two hand offs and got 12 total yards and a first down. Then another short gain. And another…and another… Twenty one plays, 12 minutes, 6 seconds and 97 yards later the Vikings had a 14-3 lead on a 1 yard run from Tom Garlick and were on their way to the schools second PIAA AAA state title defeating Bishop McDevitt 22-10 at Hersheypark Stadium.
Bishop McDevitt started the game just as they have all year, driving immediately down field using all-everything back Andre Robinson. The Jr. running back led his Crusaders all the way to the end zone on a 12 yard td run. The only problem was the last play of the first drive was negated on a holding penalty. “That drive right there, we felt like if we got the touchdown we would have had the momentum but it didn’t happen that way, we weren’t the same offense after that” said Crusader coach Jeff Weachter. Instead of a 7 point lead, Bishop McDevitt settled for a 3-0 lead on a 33 yard field goal.
Those would be the only points scored in the half as what was expected by most to be an offensive explosion turned out to be a defensive battle. Looking at the first half statistics you would never believe that one running back would end the game with 238 rushing yards. That running back, Jarred McClenton, ran for 80 of Woods 86 yard total in the first two quarters of the game. “Coach kept telling me get outside but I just kept trying to hit the gaps. I couldn’t get it going” said the running back who would eventually lead his team to victory.
The Vikings started the second half at their 28. On the very first play McClenton did exactly what his coaches told him he should be doing, he took the ball and sprinted for the left edge. Twenty two yard later he was forced out of bounds. McClenton carried the ball 6 more times in the 11 play drive, the last a 4 yard td run. The drive was also highlighted by a masterful play action fake by qb Tom Garlick that got the Vikings to the 4. With the extra point, Wood had their first lead of the night, 7-3.
“We knew we had to keep the ball away from them or we didn’t have a shot. That’s how they beat you, they just hammer you and control the ball then they shut you down with that stingy defense” said Weachter. “We didn’t do that, and they did what they do”. What they did was shut down an offense that averaged 44 points per game this year. The defense was led by Chris Gary who had 5 tackles and 2 key sacks. “Man, after they went right down the field we got angry. We said we aint gonna let them do that the rest of the night” said the senior defensive end.
Trailing 14-3 with just 4:01 remaining, the Crusader’s offense was completely snuffed out for good as the Wood defense kept pressure on McDevitt qb Nick Marsillio’s last gasp attempt to get his team down field. 4 straight pass incompletion’s sealed the Crusader’s fate. The Viking’s then stamped their exclamation point with a 15 yard McClenton touchdown run and two point conversion.
Andre Robinson closed out the scoring on the ensuing kick with a 75 yard td run but it was just too late in the game to give his team a fighting chance.
“We knew we had to get a couple first downs, we had to adjust. They’re a great team there. They took some of the stuff we were doing there and they stopped us. We just had to make plays” said Viking head coach Steve Devlin. “That was certainly the best 12 minute drive I’ve ever been a part of” he said of the game defining drive.
10 Responses
@RedDawgs,
I didn’t want to argue with this guy about it. I was just pointing out that Messina did a nice job blocking in the 2nd half. So I did, and between the tackles was used even more in the 2nd than I remembered. Oh well, is what it is. I’m pretty psyched to watch todays games. I hope the Imhotep game is a blow-out. Either team, doesn’t matter to me. Just gonna be tough walking away from a good game to watch the Eagles.
Jive
You are exactly right. On those sweeps and off tackle runs, you could see McClenton has the option to go outside or cut it back up. Much depends on the LBs and if they over pursue.
Just for the record Billy, first carry of the second half was an up the gut carry. The A gap on the right side for 2 yards. Are you sure we are both talking about the Wood/McDevitt 2013 game? Not sure how much you know about football, the A gap is between the center and guard.
@Billy,
Didn’t mean to insult you in the previous post.
First half
1 Draw up the middle
5 Runs between the tackles
3 Runs off tackle
7 Sweeps, all outside of the end
Second half
11 Runs between the tackles
2 Runs off tackle
11 Sweeps, only 6 sweeps went outside of the TE. 5 Sweeps were cut back inside the end.
Both of McClentons TD’s were runs inside the tackles.
Billy, please tell me again about how he got to the edge more in the second half.
nah…interviewed nearly everyone afterwards…all said same thing…he wasn’t running at the edges…watch the game again, first half he keeps trying to run between the tackles…first carry of second half he hit the edge…his speed was the difference, he figured out how to use it
Could have been adjustments too, Billy. The reason I think the change at FB was a factor is because in the first half, when he did try to get outside, he was getting caught from behind. I noticed it 2 or 3 times. Wood was pulling from the opposite side to lead the back. The D-end was coming down the line and getting him from the back side. Instead of picking up the back side rusher, the FB was doubling the ball side end. McClenton didn’t get touched from the back side in the second half. Messina may not have been the only factor for being able to run the ball in the second half, but he was a major factor. The kid’s a good FB. Maybe they didn’t want to over work him in the first, because he was riding Robinson all over from MLB. However, he did make a big difference lead blocking in the second half.
McClenton told me the difference was he was tryin to go up the middle, coaches wanted him to hit the edges…that was the difference…he finally went to the edge…..
@reddawgs,
Agree 100% about that long drive, demoralizes a defense! I don’t think the line was the difference. First half Wood couldn’t run the ball. Second half they went back to what they did all year, put Messina at fullback. No offense to Spahits, he’s a nice player, just not a fullback. There were several missed blocks in the 1st half, Messina made the blocks to spring McClenton in the 2nd half. #5 looked like he would own the game after McD first drive. Gotta give that Wood defense credit for neutralizing him. Not an easy thing to do, that kid is a very special back.
Wood’s drive that ate up 12 minutes was remarkable. In
The age of spread offense in HS football, watching this team
Go old school and simply pound it for 97 yards was something to see. Wood was telling McD where they were running every play and still couldn’t be stopped. The offensive line for AW is so well coached in their execution. Offensive lines win
Big games in December and Wood’s proved it again.
Kudos to Wood for adjusting to mcD running game. #5 was a flat out stud and it looked like he was going to trounce all over Wood after that first series. But well coached teams make adjustments and apparently Wood made them. Congrats to McD on a fine year.
The McD penalty on the TD was for an illegal formation. IF McD lined up legally then Wood arguably would have accounted for it and made stop. So technically the play never existed. If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying:)