In high school football, there are teams and then there are programs. When speaking on the Cocalico Eagles, rest assured that they comfortably fall into the “program” category.
Every year, the narrative surrounding the program from Denver largely feels the same. A tough-as-nails, no-nonsense team that seems to enter the starting blocks surrounded by a thick fog of question marks that ultimately overachieves in some respects and fights tooth and nail for every inch and in turn, Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 and District 3 supremacy. And wouldn’t you know it, the storyline that encapsulated the 2019 Eagles appeared to fit snugly into that very same mold.
Now sure, while Cocalico entered this fall without the services of graduating studs such as Garrett Longenecker, Danny Engle, Austin Landers and Ben Sola just to name a few, the cupboard wasn’t exactly bare when head coach Dave Gingrich reassembled his troops at the start of fall camp. And while it is admittedly a light number in terms of seniors on this year’s roster, what they lack in quantity they certainly make up for in quality. Just look no further than the likes of quarterback Noah Palm, a New Hampshire commit, Brock Gingrich, an all-state lineman this past season, and Ronald Zahm, a running back equipped with jetpacks for legs, all who reenter the fold for Cocalico yet again this season.
So, while some on the outside fringes of the Lancaster-Lebanon League may be quick to point to Manheim Central yet again this season in terms of the L-L Section 2 and District 3-5A odds on favorite while paying no mind to any of the other teams stacked behind them, those native to these parts have seen this old familiar movie a time or two before. Discount Cocalico and you’ll likely pay dearly in your friendly inner-office wagers come November.
And while it’s still probably too early to get a truly definitive read on what a return investment on Cocalico will ultimately end up looking like this season, the early signs appear to be quite favorable considering the Eagles’ victory crusade at Conrad Weiser to begin the 2019 season campaign in the form of a 42-15 triumph last weekend, a game highlighted by Noah Palm’s dazzling five touchdown performance.
Sure enough, Cocalico found themselves back on the road a mere six days later with a trip to perennial Mid-Penn stalwart Cedar Cliff next on the docket, and a program that found itself just one game shy of playing Cocalico last season when the Colts were bounced in the District 3-5A semifinal round against Manheim Central who went on to best Cocalico one week later in the championship tilt.
So, with two of central Pennsylvania’s most revered and highly respected programs set to tee it up, Thursday night at West Shore Stadium was sure to provide fireworks aplenty as the Colts and Eagles officially kicked off the long Labor Day weekend.
Following a Cocalico punt on the Eagles’ opening possession of the ballgame, Cedar Cliff promptly went right to work their first time with the football by turning to their bread and butter of handing it off to senior battering-ram running back, Jaheim Morris. And with Morris and the Colts’ offense up to their usual tricks while also getting a 15-yard facemask called whistled against Cocalico added into their opening effort, the Colts quickly found themselves flirting with the aspect of entering the Eagles’ redzone their first time with the ball. However, with their backs both literally and figuratively pushed up against the wall, the Cocalico defense proved up to the task at hand, eventually forcing the Cedar Cliff offensive troops into a 4th& 19 attempt.
Say hello to Ronald Zahm.
While Zahm routinely gets most of his accolades due to his propensity for making game-changing plays when coming out of the offensive backfield for Cocalico, Zahm proved to be equally effective from his perch in the defensive backfield as well on Thursday night. And right on cue, the 6’0 senior rose up and stole the errant Cedar Cliff pass on the aforementioned 4th& 19 attempt, returning with his newfound prize out to the Eagles’ own 23-yard line.
That wouldn’t be the last time the West Shore would hear from Zahm.
While aided by way of a roughing the passer called against Cedar Cliff on Cocalico’s ensuing offensive possession, the visitors from Denver continued to inflict harm on the Colts’ defense on the very next play as sophomore running back Steven Flinton dashed all the way down to the Cedar Cliff 17-yard line, good for a 23-yard pickup.
Yet even with mojo clearly riding alongside at that time, the Eagles were promptly met with resistance from the Cedar Cliff defense as the Colts eventually would force Cocalico into a 3rd& 13 try with the ball sitting 15 yards away from the chalk of the goal line.
No matter.
Following a timeout to gather the troops and discuss the play yet to be called, the Cocalico braintrust landed on a slant play to Ronald Zahm. Nice choice, considering Noah Palm was able to find Zahm for the 15-yard pitch and catch touchdown as the Eagles successfully drew first blood at 7-0 before the first quarter eventually reached its climax.
Sometimes in football, its simply better to be lucky than good. While Cocalico undoubtedly checks the box of the latter, they were blessed with a good bit of fortune at the end of the ensuing Cedar Cliff offensive possession as well.
With the Colts set to punt the ball back Cocalico following another successful stand put forth by the Eagles’ defense, a low snap would lead to the Colts’ punter having his knee unfortunately graze the fieldturf at West Shore Stadium in an effort to collect the bounding and bouncing pigskin, officially marking the play dead with Cocalico now sitting just 17 yards away from tacking on another score.
Rest assured, they would.
It wouldn’t take them very long either. After the Eagles were able to negotiate three initial yards at the onset of the drive, senior quarterback Noah Palm was able to sashay his way into the endzone as Palm’s second TD night, this one coming on a 14-yard option keeper, propelled Cocalico out to the 14-0 advantage with 10:33 left to play in the first half.
Needless to say, Cedar Cliff needed to offer a rebuttal. Pronto.
For a while, the chances of seeing the Colts respond and punch back appeared rather strong following a handful of powerful runs administered by Jaheim Morris when coupled with a gorgeous pass play from junior quarterback Gannon McMeans to senior wideout Ashton Gombola, which ushered the Colts’ effort all the way down to the Cocalico 7-yard line.
Oh yeah, Noah Palm also plays defense too.
With Cedar Cliff appearing to be on the verge of answering back to get back within a score of their guests, Palm immediately said no more by coming up from his safety spot, ripping the ball out for the clutch of the Cedar Cliff running back, and then promptly racing back to the house for the 90-yard defensive scoop and score to put Cocalico in early command at 20-0 with 7:21 left in the opening half after the PAT try sailed wide as a noticeable hush from the home stands was quickly countered with jubilation from the visiting bleachers just across the way.
This next time around however, Cedar Cliff would their answer.
With Jaheim Morris carrying the bulk of the load again, the Colts’ powerfully-built senior running back would eventually be able to reap the rewards of his hard work up to that point by toting the rock and scurrying 20 yards up the gut for the first Cedar Cliff touchdown of the evening as the Colts were able to narrow the Cocalico lead back down to 14 at 20-7 with 5:42 left showing on the second quarter clock.
For that brief moment, it had appeared as if Cedar Cliff was right back in the thick of things. As Noah Palm and Cocalico offense would quickly prove however, that was not to be the case.
After becoming the beneficiaries of yet another personal foul called whistled against Cedar Cliff on their next offensive series, the Eagles’ offense appeared to be back operating in high gear later on in the drive as a successful sneak from Palm on 4th& 1 allowed the Cocalico drive to stay alive. From there, Palm went to the skies where he would find a streaking Trey Griffin racing down the seam as the senior duo was able to collect 27 yards on the play, allowing Cocalico to now set up shop at the Cedar Cliff 11-yard line. And while leaning on their tried and true method of running the ball right at the opposition, the Eagles would shortly find themselves just one yard away from tallying yet another score. Sure enough, the Eagles would indeed punch it across as sophomore running back Austin Vang was able to get into the action with a 1-yard TD plunge to make it 28-7 in favor of Cocalico following the successful two-point conversion as the Eagles raced off the field and into intermission just 38 seconds later with ownership of the somewhat surprising 28-7 advantage at the break.
New half, same ole’ Cocalico.
After coming out of the halftime break and offering up another successful defensive stand, the Eagles were out to show that their offense had experienced no ill-effects of the mandated respite when action would later resume. And while they would eventually be forced into a punting situation, that is all it would prove to be. A rather harmless situation in fact.
While it’s already been well-noted that Noah Palm stars in both the offensive and defensive backfields for Cocalico, he also just so happens to be the Eagles’ punter as well. So, if you are thinking that another Noah Palm splash play in the works here, you’d be correct.
After seeing something available to pillage in the Cedar Cliff return formation, Palm quickly took off running from his punting spot, darting off for the 22-yard gainer to push the Eagles across the midfield stripe and give the Eagles a fresh set of downs. But he wasn’t done there.
Give the ball to Palm and let him have the keys? Not a bad idea there either.
In fact, on the very next play, Palm was off to the races as his 46-yard touchdown run on the QB keeper allowed the Eagles to see their lead swell up to 36-7 with 6:33 left to go in the third quarter following Palm’s successful 2-point conversion pass play to Trey Griffin in the back of the endzone.
And while Cedar Cliff would later take advantage of a Cocalico miscue as the Eagles coughed up the football relatively deep in their own territory in the form of a 16-yard TD strike from Gannon McMeans to Ashton Gombola which closed the gap down to 36-14 with 38 seconds left to go in the third stanza, the damage inflicted by Cocalico over the course of the previous 36 minutes had appeared to be too much for the Colts to overcome the rest of the way home.
But even with the outcome not appearing to be in question anymore for the rest of the night, there was still more than enough time for Noah Palm to contribute one more highlight play to his already long reel thus far in 2019.
In their opening game a week ago, Noah Palm was able to account for a grand total of five touchdowns. Just six days later, Palm would again make it another five TD night as his fifth and final one of this evening was perhaps the most ho-hum of all, as Palm’s 78-yard touchdown dash on the option keeper closed out the scoring for the duration of the evening as Cocalico had successfully put the rest of the Lancaster-Lebanon League and District 3 audiences on notice by virtue of the their 43-14 road triumph over Cedar Cliff on Thursday night.
“I’m a straight shooter and I tell our guys the truth,” Cocalico head coach Dave Gingrich said in the glow of his team’s victory on Thursday night. “I said to our guys that we’re going to go up there Thursday night and you’re going to see a big, physical team of 70-75 kids. When we got here tonight, I said ‘Guys, I lied to you.’ They have like 86 (players).”
“We have 44 players which includes two kickers who are not position players and six freshmen,” Gingrich went on to say in reference his team’s roster make up. “When you take 40 kids going against 86, those aren’t good odds, but we’ll play hard and for the most part we’re disciplined.”
And having a stud quarterback who loves the game of football and all the necessary dirt, grit, and grime involved in the total overall process who runs the show doesn’t exactly hurt either.
“He’s just so competitive and he loves to practice too,” the Eagles’ head man said of his star triggerman, Noah Palm. “In practice, we have to watch what he does because he’s out there jumping, diving and doing this and that…..He’s like a little kid in a big boy’s body. He’s very good. Very, very, good.”
NEXT UP: Cocalico will certainly look to keep their early season dominance in full effect next Friday night when the Eagles play their home opener in Eagle Stadium against Governor Mifflin, a squad who coincidently fell at home to Cedar Cliff 18-13 last week and could very likely be staring 0-3 in the face next weekend in Denver should the Mustangs fall short against bitter rival Wilson this Friday night.
For Cedar Cliff, the good vibes experienced in their win at Governor Mifflin last week were likely totally washed away following their 29-point loss at home to Cocalico. However, the Colts will have very little time to lick their wounds considering their next opponent is quite possibly the best team on this side of the state as the Colts welcome the vaunted Harrisburg Cougars to West Shore Stadium next Saturday morning.
