Central Dauphin “Smacked” around Happy Valley

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Despite being some 70 miles apart, both Central Dauphin and State College featured offenses reliant on the ground.  And with a steady rain pouring down upon Memorial Field, the ground game that worked most effectively would ultimately decide which team won the game.

            State College’s ground game was efficient, too efficient for the Rams’ liking.

            The Little Lions (3-0) racked up 373 rushing yards and limited Central Dauphin to just 162 yards of total offense in a 27-13 win.

            “It was just a great victory,” State College head coach Al Wolski said.  “They’re (CD) good, but our guys just stepped up.  They stepped up and did a great job.”

            The Lion that stood out the most was Jamar Smack, one of the many running backs in SC’s revolving-door option offense.

            Normally spreading the ball around is the MO for Wolski’s team, but tonight, Smack saw over 40 percent of the rushing attempts go through him.

            “To have my number called that many times on offense feels great,” Smack said.

            That number he speaks of is 21.  Twenty-one times did Smack register a carry, and he finished with 185 yards.  Three of his rushes went for 20 yards or more.

            “He’s a fast kid,” Rams head coach Glen McNamee said of Smack.  “He impressed me in the films that I watched.”

            But Smack, despite the gaudy rushing total, didn’t score a touchdown this night.  The SC player responsible for the scoring was #8, James Avedesian.

            Avedesian scored three rushing touchdowns and threw for another.  His first score, a five-yard run, gave SC a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.  His one-yard scoring run in the second quarter halted a 13-0 Central Dauphin run and knotted things up at 13-apiece.

            The big play, a 29-yard touchdown pass to Alex Kenney, gave State High a 20-13 lead, which it never relinquished after the 1:26 mark of the third quarter.

            Avedesian capped the SC scoring spurt with a 26-yard run with nine minutes left in the game.  In all, he finished with 90 rushing yards on 17 carries and completed 4-of-7 passes for 46 yards.

            Central Dauphin got a pair of field goals from Division-1 prospect placekicker Dan Fisher, who is one of the Ram team captains, according to McNamee.

            CD took a 13-7 lead in the second quarter on Justin Shirk’s three-yard scoring run.  That play was set up by a Shirk 52-yard scamper to the State College three yard line.

            Shirk finished the night with 13 carries for 94 yards, and completed 1-of-2 passes for 2 yards.

            Ram quarterback Tyler Thompson finished the night 6-of-12 for 31 yards and an INT.  Fullback Kyle Wolfe added 40 yards on six rushes.

            In addition to Avedesian and Smack, State College saw solid efforts on the ground from Kenney (6 rushes, 33 yards) and Logan Belinda (9, 50).  Rob Stupar added 15 yards on four carries for the Little Lions.

            Central Dauphin returns to Harrisburg to take on Bishop McDevitt, while State College takes to the road to play John Marshall High, a school from West Virginia, at Wheeling Island Stadium.