Who: Bishop McDevitt Crusaders vs. Archbishop Wood Vikings
What: The PIAA AAA State Championship
When: Friday, December 13 at 7 p.m.
Where: Hershey Park Stadium
About Bishop McDevitt:
The Bishop McDevitt Crusaders are certainly no stranger to the state finals in Hershey. Bishop McDevitt will get its third chance in the last four years to finally bring home AAA gold. This is the second time they will face Archbishop Wood, though Head Coach Jeff Weachter is hoping this time his Crusaders will fair much better. Wood throttled McDevitt 52-0 in 2011 for the AAA title. Bishop McDevitt won the AA state title in 1995, defeating Burrel 29-0.
Quotes from Coach Weachter:
-“We knew from the beginning of the year we had a team capable of getting to Hershey. Our goal every year is to get there. We have a lot of kids back from last year’s team so we knew we had experience”.
-“My biggest surprise this year is the resiliency this team has. They’ve battled all year long”.
-“We have good team leaders in Jordan Mosley, Mike Perloski, Steve Marrazzo Jr. and Rashad Lawson. Those guys keep the team focused with their experience”.
-“This team’s defining moment was that loss to Cedar Cliff. I think it showed the kids they were human, defeatable. It showed that they had to work harder, practice harder”.
-about Wood: “They’re big and physical up front on both sides of the ball. We can’t get stood up at the line, we have to dig down and push them around”.
-Coach’s key to winning: “We have to get the ball away from them, can’t let them play ball control offense”.
Keys to victory on offense:
-Bishop McDevitt will need to do what it has been doing all year on offense, keep it balanced.
-Robinson, Robinson and more Robinson. Jr. running back Andre Robinson has rushed for 2,276 yards on only 249 carries. He’s got over 3,000 all purpose yards and accounted for 32 touchdowns. He’s also a very dangerous return man. Senior Rashad Lawson (1,070 yards, 19 tds) also joins the Crusader rushing attack. They’ll need that big offensive line of Jordan Mosley, Tommy Moore, Devon Deibler, Kendrick Lewis and Anthony Long to continue to open holes for them to run through.
-Jr. quarterback Nick Marsillio is playing very well in the last few wins. He’ll need to stay consistent and not make mistakes. Marsillio will be looking for receivers Byron Hall (last week’s hero), Kobay White and Tyrone Gibson. White has over 1000 yards receiving this year. It’s a young but speedy group of receivers.
Keys to victory on defense:
-Find a way to penetrate Woods huge line. 285 pound lineman Ryan Bates anchors a Viking line that averages over 260 lbs. per man. The Crusaders can’t perform like they have in their last two games, giving up over 200 yards on the ground.
-Find a way to contain Jarrett McClenton. The jr. running back has rushed for over 1,500 yards while scoring 30 touchdowns.
-Get pressure on sophomore qb Tom Garlick. They need to attack on the passing game so fierce LB Nate Monroe can have his way with the Wood receivers. Monroe leads all Crusaders with 85 tackles, 2 interceptions and 8 pass break-ups
Keys on Special Teams:
-Bishop McDevitt needs to stay disciplined on special teams. Wood has returned 5 kicks for touchdowns and also have 5 more returns of 60 yards or better.
Bishop McDevitt Schedule:
August 31 Harrisburg W 35-14
September 6 Central Dauphin W 34-14
September 13 Cumberland Valley W 27-7
September 20 at Mechanicsburg W 43-14
September 27 at Susquehanna Twp. W 36-19
October 4 Hershey W 49-20
October 12 Lower Dauphin (Homecoming) W 25-14
October 18 at Red Land W 48-13
October 25 Cedar Cliff (Senior Day) L 49-41
November 1 at Palmyra W 60-7
November 8 New Oxford* W 63-14
November 15 Muhlenberg* W 55-21
November 22 Conrad Weiser* W 49-21
November 29 Manheim Central*at Hershey Stadium W 48-7
December 6 Erie Cathedral Prep at Clearfield W 47-42
