LC shuts down McDevitt
WYNCOTE >>Under a minute remained in the first half when Lansdale Catholic went a little old school, and swung momentum strongly back in its favor.
“That was a great call,” running back Ryan Quigley said of the hook-and-ladder play that he would turn into a 37-yard score. “It worked out perfectly. It was great blocking, we had plenty of time to throw, and Marlen (Fenstermacher) just caught it and pitched it to me. I wasn’t gonna stop until I got in that end zone.”
Facing 3rd-and-6 at the Bishop McDevitt 37, quarterback Michael Basilii completed a 10-yard pass to Fenstermacher, who pitched it out to Quigley, and the senior back raced down the right sideline untouched for a pivotal touchdown that provided the Crusaders a 14-0 lead at the break, and sent them on their way to a 20-6 victory over the Royal Lancers in a Philadelphia Catholic League Class AA game at chilly Cheltenham High School Saturday night.
“You put those kinds of plays in during camp,” Crusader coach Tom Kirk said with a smile, “and you never know when you’re gonna need it. That was a big score for us.”
The touchdown helped LC hold off a Royal Lancer offense that came alive after the break.
The Crusader defense, dominant in the first half in not allowing a single first down by McDevitt, came up with a pair of fourth-down stands in the third quarter to keep LC in control.
Quarterback Max Bryson threw for 149 yards in the second half, including a 26-yard touchdown pass to Jaron Macon – on 4th-and-16 – that closed the gap to 14-6 early in the fourth quarter.
But LC would recover a muffed punt by the Royal Lancers and drive 43 yards for clinching score, an eight-yard keeper by Basilli that made it 20-6 with 6:44 to play.
“It’s good to get back on a winning streak,” Quigley said. “That’s our goal. One down, and now we have a big game next week (against Conwell-Egan) that we’re already onto.”
The win improved the Crusaders’ overall record to 4-2 and evened their PCL mark to 1-1 on the season.
Lansdale Catholic completely controlled the first half, running 36 offensive plays as compared to just 12 by the Royal Lancers (2-4 overall, 0-1 in the PCL, Class AA).
The Crusader defense, getting sacks and plenty of pressure from Tyler Scheetz and Alex Linn throughout evening, held the Royal Lancers to just 16 offensive yards in the opening half, and McDevitt further hampered itself by committing six first-half penalties for a total of 50 yards – that total would grow to 12 penalties for 130 yards by the end of the night.
Quigley and Fenstermacher got the ground game rolling for LC, with Quigley rushing for 75 yards and Fenstermacher adding 55.
Fenstermacher’s two-yard plunge opened the scoring on the first play of the second quarter, capping a 12-play march.
“We tried to just capitalize and move the ball, and that’s exactly what we did,” Quigley said.
After LC had a 10-play drive come up empty with a missed field goal, the Crusaders were right back on the move again, moving 55 yards in six plays, including the hook-and-ladder to Quigley that provided the 14-0 edge at the break.
“I saw no one was in front of me,” Quigley said, who caught the pitch at around the 30 and took it all the way in. “I just started sprinting.”
It looked as though the Crusaders might increase their lead early in the third, but a fumble was scooped up by McDevitt’s Vince DiLeo and returned all the way down to the 10.
The Crusaders would come through with a defensive stop, keeping the margin at two scores.
“I think the biggest play of the game was when we fumbled, they ran it back, and our quarterback, Michael Basilii ends up tackling (DiLeo) on the 10-yard line,” Kirk said. “If Mike doesn’t make the hustle play, doesn’t go down and tackle the kid, it’s probably a different game.”
Follow Kev Hunter on Twitter @khunter10
