EasternPAFootball.com

Michael Martone

  • Harrisburg vs. Cumberland Valley

    Cumberland Valley hosted the Harrisburg Cougars on their senior night. This was by far CV’s most emotional game of the season; one that you hate to see them lose. After the touching ceremony introducing the Cumberland Valley marching band, dance team, cheerleading, and of course football seniors, the teams finally took to the field.

    Unfortunately for the Eagles, Harrisburg ran away with this game from their first offensive possession. Literally.  As their first play from scrimmage, RB Robert Martin burst through a wide open hole and outran everyone on the field for an 87 yard touchdown. On Harrisburg’s next possession, Martin again showed his ridiculous speed and took off for a 50 yard run. Martin took the Cougars first three offensive plays for 147 yards before the first quarter even ended.

    To cap off this drive, QB Kyle Cook snuck it in for a 2 yard touchdown run. Tyler Updegraff blocked the extra point. Cumberland Valley’s answering drive was the highlight drive of the game. The Eagles drive started out like any other – a handoff to FB Jeremy Salmon. But as Salmon headed down field in a movie like moment, he fully hurdled a Harrisburg pursuer for a twenty yard run. As the stadium erupted, it only seemed right for Jeremy Salmon, someone that has been so important to this Cumberland Valley football organization, to score the 1 yard touchdown. It truly was a magical moment for CV, but it was short lived. The Eagles kicked off, looking to build on some momentum, but return man Jalen Kent took it 74 yards for the touchdown to silence the crowd. Tim Spinelli blocked the extra point.

    CV went into the locker room down 19-7 at the half.

    After multiple punts, Harrisburg picked back up halfway through the quarter. Cook took the Cougars down to the goal line, and finished it off himself with a one yard            QB sneak. Harrisburg faked the extra point – #64 Brian Finley ran it in for the two point conversion, making the score 27-7.

    The Eagles took their next drive down to the goal line thanks to a 30 yard screen to RB Tyler Hartzel, who then ran a sweep to the right from 5 yards out for the touchdown. After an electrifying 55 yard kickoff, and a 30 yard run from RB Jalen Williams that would have been a touchdown without a ridiculous open field tackle by Tyler Updegraff, Kyle Cook snuck it in from the 2 for his third rushing touchdown of the night. That would be the last time either of the teams would score.

    The final score – Cumberland Valley(6-3) 14, Harrisburg(7-2) 34.

    Both of these teams showed very run-oriented offenses. There was a total of 9 completed passes, and 0 touchdown passes; but 6 rushing touchdowns between the two. Robert Martin led Harrisburg in rushing with 166 yards on 11 carries (15.1 ypc) and a TD, while Jeremy Salmon rightfully led Cumberland Valley in rushing with 73 yards on 10 carries and a TD.

    But the real story of the night was this group of Cumberland Valley seniors. They may have lost, but CV played hard. There wasn’t much room to run on offense, but Salmon and Hartzel grinded it out as they always do. It was great to see each of them score a touchdown. It was a bitter-sweet night filled with emotion and passion. These players left their hearts out on the field, none more than team captain, and leader Jeremy Salmon who said after the game “We’ve been playing with each other since we were five years old, we’ve been brothers. We’re going to be brothers until the end. We’re a family, and it’s going to be hard leaving it.” He has certainly left his mark on this Cumberland Valley football program. Thank you to the Cumberland Valley seniors Brady Miller, Devon Walker, Corey Johnson, Patrick Lauer, Jason Houy, Ian Clelan, Jason Fenicle, Tom D’Arcy, Bret Waggoner, McClain Fultz, Ben Fernback, Tyler Hartzel, Garret Long, Matt Marrazzo, Spencer Sheely, and Jeremy Salmon. Good luck to you all, go Eagles!

  • Cumberland Valley Controls Chambersburg

    With two of their key players, Garret Long and Tyler Updegraff, out for the game, things were looking shaky for Cumberland Valley before they even stepped onto the field. That did not last very long. The score was close and Chambersburg was actually winning at one point through the first three quarters, but CV dominated this entire game.

    A large factor in CV’s success was their control of the clock. The time of possession was completely lopsided in the Eagles’ favor starting with the opening possessions. After a three and out by the Trojans, Cumberland Valley put together nearly a six minute drive ending in QB Ben Fernback converting a 4th and goal for a 3 yard rushing touchdown. The next eight minutes were filled by sloppy play from both sides of the ball. Chambersburg quarterback Ryan Martin could not hit his open receivers and CV’s running backs Tyler Hartzel and Jeremy Salmon could not get a grip on the ball.

    Finally in the second quarter, someone put together a drive. Chambersburg came alive after converting on a fourth and one. Martin connected with WR Kellen Williams who quickly weaved his way in and out of defenders for a 40 yard gain to set up a wide open 11 yard touchdown catch by Tay Charles.

    Cumberland Valley quickly responded. Tyler Hartzel burst through a  hole and plowed over a few Chambersburg defenders for an electrifying 55 yard touchdown run. The Trojans answered right back with a few quick rushes by running back Jamal Pickett who then finished the drive off with a tough ten yard run for the touchdown, but CV’s Jeremy Salmon blocked the extra point.

    CV’s next drive was the Ben Fernback show. After going through his progressions, Fernback decided to pull it down and take off for a 45 yard run. But he was not done there. Fernback capped off his drive with a 12 yard touchdown run to put CV up 20-13 after the extra point failed.

    As the half started winding down, Chambersburg started their final possession. RB Pickett, aided by poor CV tackling, put on some shifty moves to “pick” his way into Cumberland Valley territory where running back Jordan Brown punched it in for the final score of the half.

    With only 40 seconds left in the half, it looked like the action was just about done. But as CV wide receiver Tommy D’Arcy went to make a catch, he got laid out from a vicious helmet to helmet hit. The entire crowd fell to a hush as D’Arcy hit the ground. After a few minutes of medical attention, he walked off the field under his own power. The teams went into the locker rooms with a tied score of 20.

    Cumberland Valley chewed up nearly the entire third quarter with their opening drive. Hartzel reminded everyone how much of a workhorse that he is by running the ball play after play on this drive. Eventually he set up Jeremy Salmon for two yard touchdown run. The extra point again failed. With the clock at 3:44, Chambersburg received the ball for the first time in the third quarter. They must have been well rested because the first play from scrimmage resulted in a 65 yard touchdown reception by Kellen Williams.

    Trailing for the first time in the game must have set the Eagles off because they went on to score two more times in the fourth quarter. Jeremy Salmon scored from one yard out followed by a Ben Fernback two point conversion rush. Tyler Hartzel ended the game with a beautiful cut for a five yard touchdown run. The final score Cumberland Valley 41 Chambersburg 27.

    At the end of the game, two things stood out to me.

    The first was the combination of Jeremy Salmon and Tyler Hartzel. These two were absolutely dominant as always. Along with QB Ben Fernback figuratively and literally ran this game. Hartzel finished with 20 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns, Salmon finished with 26 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns and Fernback finished with 13 carries for 139 yards (over 10 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. Fernback passed for 52 yards completing six of 11 attempts. Four of his passes went to Jeremy Salmon and the other two went to Tyler Hartzel. Outside of these three, Cumberland Valley totaled 30 yards from scrimmage.

    The second was Cumberland Valley’s defense. The tackling on this team was just horrendous. CV cannot seem to stop anyone’s run game lately. Something needs to change. The Eagles head coach Tim Rimpfel agreed saying “Our tackling was still bad, we’ve got some fundamental breakdowns so we’ve got to do better on defense”.

    Getting back to the basics on defense will be the main concern for CV this week while preparing for their away game at Carlisle. Cumberland Valley (4-1) at Carlisle (0-5) does not have “headline” written all over it, but it should be a good test to see if the Eagles have been able to restore their fundamentals on defense.

     

  • McDevitt tramples Cumberland Valley

    As a Cumberland Valley student and fan, this one was hard to watch. The final score of Bishop McDevitt 48-CV 28 indicates that this game was completely one sided. And through all four quarters, it was exactly that.

    Right from the opening possessions, McDevitt manhandled CV. The Eagles went three and out and were forced to punt away their opening drive. The Crusaders received and went to work right away. RB Rashad Lawson took McDevitt’s first play to the house with a 53 yard catch and run only to have it called back by a holding penalty. But that wasn’t going to stall or even slow down #5 Andre Robinson. The very next play Robinson ran right up the middle, shed a few tacklers, and was gone for an easy 62 yard touchdown.

    That set the tone for the night.

    While the Eagles were able to answer with a 7 yard touchdown run by RB Tyler Hartzel, that would be their only score in the entire first half. With the score 7-7 going into the second quarter, CV had the opportunity to  have their only lead of the night, but Garret Long missed a 36 yard field goal and the Crusaders were going to make him pay for that. Lawson decided it was his turn and took the first handoff 80 yards for a touchdown. This one was not called back.

    After a Tyler Updegraff fumble and an offensive pass interference call stalled the Eagles next two drives, McDevitt received the ball with 3 minutes to go in the half. Helped by a big 30 yard catch by #7 Brian Lemelle, Robinson burst through a hole for a 21 yard touchdown run giving the Crusaders a 21-7 lead. Leaving only two minutes on the clock, you would think that The Crusaders were done for the half, but they weren’t.  McDevitt forced yet another CV punt, and got the ball back with 46 seconds left on the clock. 46 seconds was plenty of time for them to drive all the way into Eagle territory and kick a 30 yard field goal capping off the half for a 24-7 lead.

    The Crusaders continued their absolute domination in the second half. WR Brian Lemelle really seemed to come alive and the two headed monster of a backfield didn’t miss a beat. Lemelle was all over the field on McDevitt’s opening drive, setting up a 28 yard field goal to distance the Crusaders further from the Eagles. CV came out looking almost defeated. QB Ben Ferback dropped back for his first pass of the second half…and threw an interception. Capitalizing on the turnover, Lemelle ran right past the defense for an easy 34 yard touchdown catch to continue to bury Cumberland Valley.

    While the Eagles (mainly RBs Jeremy Salmon and Tyler Hartzel) were not out, their fans definitely were. As fans were exiting the stadium, the two put together a nice drive ending in a Salmon seven yard touchdown run to spark some hope into their team. If it worked, it was short-lived as Andre Robinson reminded everyone that he was still on the field, busting through the Eagles D for a 63 yard touchdown run.

    As if that wasn’t enough, his counterpart Lawson rumbled for a 12 yard touchdown to put the nail in the Eagle’s coffin with McDevitt’s final score of the game. CV kept their starters in for one more drive, giving Hartzel and Salmon one last hoorah. Hartzel fought his way to get down to the 17 yard line and Salmon finished it off with a 17 yard touchdown run.

    The rest of the quarter was garbage time but that meant quality reps for the second team. Backup QB Chris Harrell, and TE Logan Short connected for a 21 yard touchdown pass to end the game. The final score: Bishop McDevitt 48 – Cumberland Valley 28. The Crudsaders improved to 3-0 on the season as the Eagles fall to 2-1.

    After the game, on the topic of McDevitt’s RBs Andre Robinson and Rashad Lawson, Cumberland Valley Head Coach Tim Rimpfel said, “They kept us off balance on defense. You can be concerned about the two running backs, but they killed us on the line. Those two are good, but they hammered our ends, our tackles, our linebackers, then got into the secondary and we couldn’t tackle.”

    And he was absolutely right. The offensive line knocked CV’s defense around and created huge holes for these two all night long but that’s not to take anything away from the individual skills of the two dominant backs. They were absolutely phenomenal. Andre Robinson rushed 14 times for 226 yards and three touchdowns. This kid is a beast at 5’10 and weighs 205 pounds and he’s just a sophomore! He showed power to run over people and speed down the sideline winning foot race after foot race. He’s rushed for two or more touchdowns in every game this season. The rest of the league better look out. Oh and not to mention the other head of the monster Rashad Lawson. He rushed 13 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

    That’s better than CV’s leading rusher Tyler Hartzel who ran 12 times for 126 yards and a touchdown. Jeremy Salmon had the other two rushing touchdowns and 86 yards on 15 attempts. These two created the only bright spot for an otherwise embarrassed CV team. QB Ben Fernback badly overthrew open receivers all night and the defense could not wrap up a tackle. Besides the run game, CV looked like they need work.

    Taking that into consideration, I asked Coach Rimpfel what his biggest area of concern is and he said that “it’s to reestablish the team’s confidence. We got spanked, and that’s not just something that we blow off. It’s painful.”

    Hopefully next game will be a confidence builder for Cumberland Valley against a 1-2 Central Dauphin East team.

  • Cumberland Valley Runs Over Central York

    After an anxious hour of waiting for the lightning to end, it finally came. Friday Night football arrived and this one did not disappoint. Don’t let the final score of Cumberland Valley 35 – Central York 17 fool you, this game was as action packed as any.

    The game started out with a bang. CV’s return man Tyler Updegraff fumbled the opening kickoff and the Panthers quickly pounced on it at the eight yard line. They took advantage of their opportunity, and kicked a field goal for the first score of the game. Once CV got the ball back, QB Ben Ferback dropped back and Panthers CB Keith Staggers picked off his FIRST pass of the game and returned it 32 yards however the Central York drive ended in a punt. Soon after, CV’s Jeremy Salmon took control of the game with his legs. A 30 yard catch by Tommy D’Arcy, and a couple of very impressive runs by Tyler Hartzel and Salmon put the Eagles at the two yard line. From there, Salmon easily punched it in to make the score 7-3 CV.

    On Cumberland Valley’s very next possession, Salmon again scored from the 2 yard line to put the Eagles up 14-3. Salmon wasn’t done there. The Panthers fumbled the ensuing kickoff and CV recovered at the 31. Hartzel picked and spun his way down to the one yard line, and then guess who? Jeremy Salmon ran for his third touchdown of the night (on three consecutive possessions) extending the Eagles lead to 21-3.

    Central York’s offense was almost non-existent until the clock wound down to 1:30 in the first half. They finally came alive, more specifically the combination of QB Corey Hart and WR Darian Hampton. After a few perfectly thrown passes by Hartz, the duo connected for a beautiful one handed catch followed by a ten yard touchdown catch by Hampton. The teams went into the locker room at half time with the score Cumberland Valley 21-Central York 10.

    To start the second half, Hartz and Hampton picked up right where they left off with a 31 yard catch and run. The Panthers were driving again but CV’s Garret Long, wasn’t about to let that happen. He stepped in front of a pass, and was off to the races for a 70 yard pick making seven since he added his own extra point. On Central York’s very next drive, Long jumped another route for his second interception of the game.

    The rest of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth were relatively quiet until CV’s Garret Long went down to the ground without being touched while running after a pass thrown over his head. The whistle had blown, and no one was within 10 yards of him when he went down. Long sat out the rest of the game but he gave CV fans a good sign by walking off on his own. Later head coach Tim Rimpfel told us “he was just cramping up”.

    Eventually CV got the ball back at the Panther’s 18 looking for another score. The drive started out going the opposite direction when Ferback was sacked for a loss of 11 but Tyler Hartzel soon made up for it by scoring from 29 yards out to make the score 35-10. Kicking must run in the family, because when Garret Long went down, he was replaced by his younger brother Connor Long to kick the extra point. The Panthers answered back with a touchdown of their own. Hartz connected with #10, Marquis Fells, for a seven yard catch for the last score of the game. CV ran the clock out, happy with their 35-17 victory.

    After the game, when asked about the Hartz-Hampton relationship that seemed to blossom tonight, Central York head coach Brad Livingston said “It’s been there all along. It’s just been a matter of doing it under the lights.” Hartz completed 19 of his 37 passing attempts for 264 yards, and he really impressed the fans in doing so. Hartz was making accurate throws on the run, while still putting zip on the ball. He showed great arm strength and accuracy. His “other half”, Darian Hampton was outstanding as well catching ten passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. Hartz and Darian Hampton showed chemistry and created hope for Central York.

    When asked about Garret Long, Cumberland Valley head coach Tim Rimpfel said that Long is “strong, fast, quick and very competitive.”

    Cumberland Valley plays arch rival Bishop McDevitt next week at home. It’s going to be a challenge, but with a roster this loaded with talent, look for Cumberland Valley to continue their win streak this season.