The Game: District 3/4 “AA” Quarterfinal
Where: Hersheypark Stadium
When: Saturday, Nov. 29th, 2008, kickoff @ 12 noon
Open up Webster’s New World Dictionary, and turn to the definition of “rolling.” Do you see a photo of Bruce Harbach’s Lancaster Catholic Crusaders?
If not, worry not – their photo will be there soon, because the Crusaders are a perfect and timely example of a team that is literally “rolling.”
Red-hot Lancaster Catholic (12-1) gets equally red-hot Mount Carmel (13-0) this Saturday in the third meeting of the two programs. Lancaster Catholic won the previous two meetings, but this edition of Mount Carmel is better than the previous meetings. So too is the Lancaster Catholic squad.
While Mount Carmel had a couple of early exits in the playoffs, Catholic has been on fire. Since 2004, the Crusaders have played in four of the last five District 3 “AA” title games, winning in 2005 in addition to 2008.
Catholic lost in 2004 to Littlestown and in 2006 to Wyomissing. Both the Thunderbolts and the Spartans played in Eastern Finals, and lost to eventual PIAA champions in both years.
Catholic also won the 1982 and ’83 “AA” titles, giving the school four titles in its history. And since the start of 2004, Catholic is an impressive 55-8 (.887).
How has Catholic done it? The Crusaders entered Week 4 of the season with a 2-1 record and 100 points scored. But the team had yet to really explode offensively. Ever since, Catholic has scored 424 points – and hasn’t been held below 41 points in any of the games.
Catholic’s school record for points scored in a season is 545, set in 2005 when Nick Downey & Co. rolled to the PIAA playoffs before falling to Montoursville 27-21.
But Catholic has a quarterback that is even better than Downey. His name is Kyle Smith.
Smith, only a junior, has thrown for 2,691 yards and a state-leading 39 touchdowns. His 9.75:1 TD-to-INT ratio is tops in the state. For his brilliant career, Smith has already thrown for 5,305 yards and 66 touchdowns. He smashed Downey’s old school record of 4,359 passing yards a few weeks ago, and he’s broken the school’s season touchdown passes mark two years in a row.
Smith already made visits to Michigan and Notre Dame, according to lancsports.com, and you can expect Smith will be highly sought after come next year.
But Lancaster Catholic isn’t all about passing. The Crusaders’ ground attack averages close to 175 yards per game. Jordan Stewart and Quinn Houser have each run for over 500 yards and have combined for 18 rushing touchdowns. Rhys McCall, Smith, and Alan Berlucchi each have run for over 300 yards on the year.
Travis Jankowski (46 rec., 1,010 yards, 19 TD) and Tyler Purvis (44, 969, 11) could become the mid-state’s second-known 1,000-yard receiving duo, which last happened in 2004 when Mechanicsburg boasted a pair of 1,000-yard receivers. But don’t get caught sleeping – Andrew Millay, Steve Remley, Neal Fox, and Jordan Stewart combine for 42 catches, 543 yards, and six touchdowns.
Defensively, Lancaster Catholic has allowed a total of 132 points, posting two shutouts.
Lancaster Catholic statistics are from lancsports.com and the Pennsylvania Football News’ Resource Guide.
