If you’re a high school football fan living in central Pennsylvania unless of course you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of years I suppose, you’ve probably already heard the news by now that the 13 football programs that as of just this past season who had made up the Berks County Interscholastic Athletic Association have since joined forces with the more than two dozen schools that already compete within the Lancaster-Lebanon League to form a mammoth 37-team high school super conference that will almost surely rub elbows with that of other illustrious and prideful leagues from around the state. Yet for all the newfangled changes that such a seismic shift has already brought about and will almost certainly continue to bring about within the local landscape of all things pigskin, perhaps the one common phrase that was uttered the most amongst those who have taken the time to digest such a large swath of teams suddenly getting intermingled in a hopper with one another almost overnight was that “Section One largely remains unchanged save for the addition of Reading High.”
Yes, while the Red Knights –the football program hailing from the largest high school in the entire state that is to say – are once again going to be competing inside Lancaster-Lebanon Section One once again for the first time since the 2009 season with the likes of Penn Manor, Manheim Township and rivals Wilson and McCaskey to name just a few, there is likely one school above all others within that pack that will likely take exception if Section One continues to operate in the status quo once again in 2022.
When you think of L-L Section One, it’s likely those same familiar names that jump to the surface of the discussion. You know, your Wilsons and Manheim Townships of the world, particularly of the last half-decade or so. And sure, while those same two squads along with the possibility of an up-and-coming Hempfield bunch likely figure to run with the lead pack in the division once again this season, the Cedar Crest Falcons would love nothing more than to tear down the balloons, devour the cake, and crash everyone’s party.
Quietly, almost too quietly, the group from the southern end of Lebanon city finished in a convoluted tie for second place in the division last season without much in the way of fanfare with a 5-4 overall mark, just nine games due to a COVID shutdown that nixed their game against Governor Mifflin. Granted, while losing a physical freak the likes of one Aadyn Richards at the tailback and linebacker position –the Section One Back of the Year no less– who walked across the stage for graduation a few months ago will leave a sizable void to fill, the cast of what were once young Falcons not all that long ago have since lost some of that green behind their collective ears and are now ready to make a splash and plant their flag at the summit of Section One once again. And if you know anything about the collective makeup of Cedar Crest athletics as a whole, proving outside doubters wrong is something they happen to take the utmost joy in. After all, while some schools may have chips on their shoulders, the Falcons routinely have something akin to that of what would come out of some sort of geological survey it would seem.
But before Cedar Crest has a chance to make noise by jumping into the pool with the other big boys in divisional play by going head-to-head against them in just a few short weeks, the nonconference slate the Falcons assembled for themselves for the 2022 campaign certainly didn’t come fresh from any bakery. No, there aren’t any cupcakes to be found here. Case in point, the lid-lifter of the season that came on a hot and steamy opening night in the metropolis of Cornwall, PA at Earl Boltz Stadium against Lincoln.
Full disclosure, but please don’t find fault with anyone around the greater Lebanon community if they happened to outwardly ask in the last couple of weeks, “Who is Lincoln?” Simply put, having an L-L League squad host a team hailing from the historic Philadelphia Public League is certainly not something seen all that often around these parts. But the Railsplitters, yes, the Railsplitters, aren’t your typical run-of-the-mill squad either. Suffice to say, if you can emerge out of “ The Pub” with a 7-1 overall record just as the Railsplitters were able to do last year, much less hold every opponent except for one to single digits with four shutouts added within that cluster of lights-out performances as well, that’s no fluke. And with a full complement of players who will keep opposing defensive coordinators up late at night all season long, there’s reason to believe that the program that one Sylvester Stallone once suited up for isn’t planning on slamming the breaks on this freight train of success any time soon.
So, for two teams that entered the evening with high hopes for the season that was about to get underway in earnest, the opportunity was ripe for the picking for someone to take a massive step forward right out of the starting blocks against a more than worthy opponent standing across from them on the opposite sideline. Yet while it may not have ended up being the most glitzy and glamorous span of play that they’ll put forward this season, Cedar Crest’s largely dominating display of ‘ball was good enough to catapult the Falcons to a 1-0 mark to start the season.
In the first quarter, it quickly became evident that one of Lincoln’s primary goals for the evening was to play a game of keep away from their hosts. To the Railsplitters’ credit, the plan seemed to be paying dividends in the early going on Friday night as a pair of first downs by way of tosses from 6’2 senior quarterback, Khani Knight, to the waiting hands of Rolling Davis and Nate Rivera respectively, helped moved the chains for the visitors from Philadelphia in the opening few minutes. However, the Railsplitters’ kryptonite seemed to be themselves despite their promising early and time-consuming first foray with the football as an untimely ineligible man downfield penalty eventually took the wind out their sails albeit while knocking on the door of entering the red zone, which would later lead to a punt following an incompletion on 3rd & 18 at the midfield stripe.
Much like their counterparts on this night, the Falcons’ first drive of the 2022 campaign would also show similar flashes of brilliance and wherewithal before eventually coming to an end due to a self-inflicted wound.
Despite ushering their offense onto the field for the first time all year while inside the shadows of their own goalposts at their own 10-yard line, the Falcons promptly began moving outside of such a precarious position thanks to a well-rounded concoction of dinking and dunking. With senior trigger man Jay Huber operating at the controls, a nice blend of tosses to a willing and able Gabe Lewis on the outside flanks combined with a dose of powerful runs up the gut by way of powerful tailback, Izaiah Gonzalez, Cedar Crest seemed to find its rhythm early on. Fortunately for them, the good juju and positive vibes seemed to be extra fortuitous later on in the drive as a 3rd & 20 at their own 42-yard line was ultimately converted, albeit in the most unorthodox of ways, as 5’11 sophomore wideout, Jack Waranavage, came up with the reception along the Falcons’ sideline, despite while being down on his back, as the tipped pill eventually found its way into his hands to prolong the Cedar Crest series by giving the Falcons a fresh set of downs. However, Waranavage’s heroics would prove to be short-lived as on the very next play from scrimmage, a Cedar Crest fumble recovered by the Railsplitters would end the Falcons’ impressive initial march.
And with a majority of the first frame already having been evaporated courtesy of both squads’ time-sucking drives, the first quarter would crescendo with the score still deadlocked, 0-0.
As one may have imagined with neither team being able to crack its proverbial goose egg inside the opening 12 minutes of play, stingy defensive play was the soup de jour in the early going on Friday night.
So much so in fact that Lincoln’s Samuel Scell had earned himself one heck of an impressive series from his rush end spot as the 5’11 senior Railsplitter tallied two sacks of his own to promptly thwart a Cedar Crest drive to just three plays and out near the midway mark of the second quarter.
Suffice it to say, with the game so clearly up for grabs at this juncture, having someone be able to come up with a momentum-shifting play for his respective side figured to serve as a catalyst for one of the two sides to finally gain some traction. In that case, enter Leo Tirado stage right.
While Lincoln seemed to be working its way into a groove of its own thanks to a steady dose of Scell runs up the gut following his pair of sacks defensively on the previous series, the Railsplitters then went away from the run game just briefly. There, unfortunately waiting for them was the cardinal sin of throwing late across the middle which proved to be Lincoln’s downfall at the moment as Cedar Crest’s 5’8 junior defensive back, Leo Tirado, saw the opportunity to seize the moment. And then seize the moment he would be screaming downhill to pluck the errant throw out of the night sky for a key interception that promptly breathed life into the Cedar Crest sideline.
And once they took over at their own 49-yard line following Tirado’s pick, the Falcons’ collective muscle helped seal the deal from there.
Behind a bevy of powerful totes from Izaiah Rodriguez, thanks in large part to the Cedar Crest offensive line beginning to expose some cracks of the Railsplitters’ interior forces, the Falcons were quickly on the doorstep. The “doorstep” as it would turn out would be the 6-yard line which is where junior running back, Fernando Marquez, entered the fray.
Despite coming off the bench cold without a carry to his name at that point in the contest, the second dose of the Falcons’ hammer backs more than made up for a lost time as Marquez’s 6-yard touchdown rumble cracked the scoring seal with Cedar Crest now out in front, 7-0, with 2:01 remaining before the intermission.
But as it turned out, two minutes and change was more than enough time for Cedar Crest to land another crunching body blow.
After stymying Lincoln to a prompt three-and-out on the Railsplitters’ ensuing offensive series, the Falcons took over possession at their own 32-yard line a mere 30 seconds following the earlier touchdown. This time around, the Falcons went with their preferred mode of transportation given their nickname for their second score of the evening as a wonderfully-constructed screenplay through the air behind the backside of the oncoming Lincoln pass rush thanks to the senior duo of Jay Huber to Izaiah Gonzalez was good enough for the 11-yard scoring strike which appeared to serve as the back-breaker with Cedar Crest proceeding to trot off into the halftime dressing room while owning the 14-0 bulge on the scoreboard once the final 45 seconds ticked off the first half clock.
Much like they had done in the first half, both defenses kept a lid on the other’s offensive attacks once the third quarter got underway. And while successful defensive stands that would ultimately lead to punts seemed to encapsulate the initial stages of the third frame for either side, Cedar Crest had the antidote for curing that dry spell once again.
Granted, while the Falcons’ second offensive series coming out of the break looked like it may reach a similar conclusion to that of its most recent predecessor, ending without points albeit while operating inside Railsplitters’ territory, Cedar Crest obviously had other ideas about that.
Other ideas or not, staring down the barrel of a 4th & 10 isn’t exactly the most comfortable way to try and make a living of it. No matter though. Not when you can dump the ball off to a back like Fernando Marquez that is to say. Case in point, Marquez bulldozing his way for a 12-yard pickup to move the sticks for the critical conversion to give the Falcons a fresh set of downs with the ball now resting on the Lincoln 18-yard line. From there, while Cedar Crest would pick up four yards over the next two plays from scrimmage, Jay Huber went back to the skies for his second TD toss of the night as a 14-yard scoring strike to fellow senior, Nolan Groff, then made it a 21-0 Falcons’ advantage as Groff’s second effort run after catch nearly seemed to put the game out of reach despite 4:24 still left to tick off the third quarter clock which is precisely where things would remain upon entering the final dozen minutes of play.
Ironically, while Lincoln’s last significant threat of an offensive attack hadn’t been seen since the first quarter, by and large, the Railsplitters tried their best to make up for lost time with the clock starting to serve as their primary enemy.
Yes, while it may it have taken them some time to finally crack the code of the Cedar Crest defensive troops up until that point when the Lincoln offensive unit can get churning, it can strike at a moment’s notice. In that regard, with their offense finally working into a groove and starting to click following a nice pitch and catch from Khani Knight to Nate Rivera for a 14-yard pickup which moved the ball down to Falcons’ 12-yard line, that was all the further the Railsplitters needed to travel as a Knight touchdown toss to Samuel Scell for the Lincoln 12-yard score made it a 21-6 affair following the unsuccessful two-point conversion attempt with 5:32 left to play.
But that wasn’t the last of it as far as Lincoln was concerned.
After a quick three-and-out following the Railsplitters’ touchdown, the white-clad visitors then took over at their own 21-yard line following the Cedar Crest punt. And while it still wouldn’t be easy in terms of trying to solve the riddle known as Cedar Crest, a fact best evidenced by a 3rd & 9 in which Lincoln quickly found themselves upon taking over, a key conversion on the said play by way of a strike from Knight to Rolling Davis then moved the chains for the Railsplitters on the 15-yard gainer which simultaneously moved the ball out to Lincoln’s own 37-yard line as well. Shortly thereafter, however, the first real breakdown displayed by Cedar Crest’s defense all night long would prove costly as a 43-yard touchdown throw from Knight to a zig-zagging Darius Hill across the Earl Boltz Stadium turf suddenly put the Railsplitters within reach at 21-12 with 2:12 still left to play.
Needless to say, the upcoming two-point conversion play that was about to take place would likely serve as to whether or not the final two minutes and change would be far more exciting than anyone in attendance could have imagined just moments earlier. Well, fortunately for the hometown patrons, many of whom nixed their traditional blue and gray attire for that of highlighter green in honor of the “Bright Out” taking place on this evening, they could head home breathing easy as the Railsplitters’ two-point try ended in running out wide that ended just shy of the chalk line, critically preserving Cedar Crest’s nine-point gap.
And with Lincoln’s ensuing onsides kick attempt resulting in Fernando Marquez pouncing on the bouncing pigskin while residing on the Falcons’ hands team, Cedar Crest was able to finish things off in the most desired of formations, the victory formation, as the Falcons began what they hope proves to be a fruitful and prosperous 2022 campaign with a 21-12 victory over Lincoln to move to 1-0 out of the gate to begin the year.
NEXT UP: For Cedar Crest, the nonconference dynamos just keep coming at them. Following their triumph on Friday night over Lincoln, another explosive unit with dynamite-like weapons all over the place comes to Cornwall next week, the CD East Panthers, fresh off a 31-12 victory in their own right over the lone new addition to the Falcons’ Section One slate this season, Reading High.
And how about this? If traveling nearly two hours outside of the city to face a hungry Cedar Crest outfit wasn’t already enough for the Railsplitters, Lincoln will now travel even further –much further — to face what is arguably one of the best high school football teams in the entire state of Pennsylvania next week regardless of classification level, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, as the Lincoln World Tour continues onward and upward.
