Second Half Surge Propels Erie Prep to State AAA Title Game

by Phil Myers

Down by two scores at halftime and needing to find a way to stop Bishop McDevitt’s potent offense, the Erie Cathedral Prep Ramblers scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to defeat the Crusaders 38-34 in a fantastic game Friday night at DuBois’ E.J. Mansell Stadium.  The Rambler defense was shredded for 281 yards and four touchdowns in the first half with 240 of that through the air.  (McDevitt also ran a kickoff back for a TD.)

Prep had no answer for the Tayvon Bowers to Bryce Hall passing combination that torched them for 204 yards on nine catches and two touchdowns in the first two quarters.  But in half two the Rambler ‘D’ reversed its fortune by limiting McDevitt to 127 total yards.  It also clamped down on Hall allowing him only one catch for 14 yards.  “We had to get better leverage and put pressure on their quarterback,” stated Rambler head coach Mike Mischler.  Prep also began to put defenders right up on the line of scrimmage to disrupt the McDevitt receivers’ routes.

In the meantime, Coach Mischler’s offense constantly kept McDevitt off balance by mixing the passing of son Joe Mischler with the running of Sullivan Johnson and then using the wildcat formation to give speedy Ta’Nauz Gregory touches.  Prep rolled up 522 yards for the game and McDevitt had 408, but the Ramblers never led in the game until they went ahead early in the fourth quarter.  This contest featured some really talented players, was extremely hard hitting, and never let up in intensity.

The game started out with Prep attempting an on-side kick, but it went out of bounds giving McDevitt the ball at their 47.  Erie forced a quick three and out as did the Crusaders. Bishop McDevitt began its second possession at its 37.  Bowers hit a couple of passes to Hall for 10 and 16 yards which were sandwiched around a couple of runs, including a nice scramble for 21 by Bowers, to put the ball on Erie’s 18.  An incomplete pass, an 8 yard run by Michael Jones, and another incomplete pass put the Crusaders in a fourth and two situation at the Prep 10.  Foregoing a field goal, Coach Jeff Weachter elected to go for it and was rewarded for that decision when Bowers connected with Kyree Cali for the score and a 7-0 lead after Nick Miletic’s PAT.

When McDevitt’s kickoff stayed in bounds inside the ten, Gregory picked the pigskin up but stepped out of bounds at the seven.  A couple of first downs gave Cathedral Prep some breathing room, but Bishop McDevitt held and forced another punt.  Beginning at their own 21 the Crusaders traveled 79 yards in just six plays.  The final play of the drive was a Bowers to Hall 52-yard touchdown toss.  And with 2:21 left in the first McDevitt had a 14-0 advantage.

Prep then drove 65 yards to score their first points.  On the fifth play of the drive, Gregory caught a pass for a 39 yard gain to put Prep in position at the McD eight.  Johnson gained three before Mischler found Dajon Heidelberg for a five-yard scoring strike.  Anthony Lupo made the point after and the Crusaders’ lead was down to 14-7 with 17 seconds still left in the opening quarter.  Cali returned the Prep kick off 21 yards to the McD 42.  After an incompletion, Bowers again hit the very fast Bryce Hall for a 58-yard touchdown as the quarter expired.  Erie’s Matthew Bauer blocked the PAT and at the end of one Harrisburg’s Bishop McDevitt led 20-7.

The second quarter began with both teams punting a couple of times.  Eventually the Prep Ramblers had to begin a drive at their 12.  Coach Mischler decided it was time for Gregory to take the snap out of the wildcat formation.  On the first play he broke loose for a 56-yard jaunt.  This was followed by Johnson taking the ball to the house from the 32 and just like that Cathedral Prep, from District Ten, was within a score at 20-14.  As they did all of the first half, McDevitt answered Prep’s score with one of their own.  On the fourth play of the drive, Hall grabbed a pass and gained 23 yards down to the Erie 26.  On first down the center hiked the ball when QB Bowers was still barking signals and luckily Kobay White recovered back at the 45.  On third down Bowers threw an incomplete pass, but Prep was called for roughing the passer to give McDevitt a first down on the Rambler 30.  Two plays later Jones ran it in from the 18 to put the Crusaders back on top 27-14.

The Prep Ramblers bounced right back when Gregory went 23 yards with a Mischler pass to pull Prep to within six at 27-21 and 1:02 still left on the clock.  A highlight of that 79 yard drive was a 27-yard pass to Koran Williams a couple plays after an unnecessary roughness penalty on McDevitt.  On the ensuing kickoff Kobay White, a Boston College recruit,  fielded the ball at the 18 and electrifyingly raced 82 yards to paydirt giving his team a 34-21 advantage at half time.  “We made a mistake kicking to him,” Mischler admitted.

What led to the second half comeback and how was Cathedral Prep’s mindset?  Besides finding a way to put more pressure on McDevitt’s QB, Ta’Nauz Gregory said, “We just had to settle down and play our game.  We were over reacting in the first half.  We were confident we could do it.”  Johnson scored at the 9:46 mark to open the third when he took a pitch two yards on fourth down finishing off a 63-yard drive.  When Prep dumped Jones for a seven-yard loss on a third down screen, one could feel the game’s momentum swinging to the orange and black Rambler side of the field.

Prep’s next two possessions began at the McDeviit 49.  The first ended with an interception by White at the two.  The second resulted in some points, a 29 yard field goal by Lupo that cut the Crusader lead to 34-31.  Cali returned Lupo’s kick off 45 yards to the Prep 44, but after a first down to the 33, Erie stopped the Crusaders on downs as the third stanza ended.

It took Erie Cathedral Prep all of five plays and 1:02 to take the lead for the first time and for good.  Gregory ran 18 yards and then two plays later picked up another first down catching an eight-yard pass to the McDevitt 39.  On the very next play Mischler hit a streaking Tim Beveridge over the middle and Erie was up 38-34.  “I just wanted to make up for the dropped pass in the first half,” Timmy stated.  Asked how it felt when he scored, an elated Beveridge said, “I just blacked out I think.”

McDevitt got the ball and on the first play, Bowers hit White for 34 yards to the Prep 35.  But the Ramblers held their ground allowing a five-yard run, and then forcing three incompletions to take over on downs.  The Harrisburg team got the ball back with six minutes remaining and drove to Erie’s 15 where on second and eight Bowers threw two incomplete passes setting up a fourth and eight with 1:35 left in the game.  Bowers’ pass intended for White in the end zone was intercepted by Terry Roberts as he got position on the receiver.  “It felt great. I’m glad I could help the team,” commented the smiling Roberts, “…and that was the only time I guarded him tonight.”  In fact, Roberts was only in the game on that play because of an injury to Heidleberg on the previous down.  McDevitt had a chance to get the agate back one more time as they had three time outs left, but on third and inches Gregory’s QB sneak for two yards in essence ended the game.

Notes and Quotes:  Bishop McDevitt ends their season with a record of 13-2, while Erie Cathedral Prep moves to the PIAA Class AAA finals next Friday night in Hershey with a 14-1 mark.  Prep will have their work cut out for them as they  play #1 ranked Imhotep Charter, who was a 72-27 winner over Saucon Valley.  “I dreamed of this as a little kid,” said Beveridge who appeared to be on cloud nine. “These guys are all my brothers and I’m just so happy.”  Gregory, who had 261 all-purpose yards, led Erie in rushing (146) and receiving (115) yardage.  Mischler was 11 for 23 for 210 yards, three TDs, and one pick.  Sullivan Johnson was an important part of the Rambler offense too as he chipped in 122 yards.  For McDevitt, Jones was 20 for 42 passing with 351 yards and three scoring tosses.  He also threw one INT.  Kobay White was gracious in defeat when he said, “It was one heck of a game.  They hit hard.  It always seem to be fun and a great game when we play them.”  Kobay was right except for one thing, both teams hit hard.