Chester learns lessons in loss to Bishop McDevitt

CHELTENHAM — For Chester coach LaDontay Bell, none of the following was on his list of priorities for the non-league portion of his schedule: Easy games, empty victories, early celebrations.

This was: Learning, winning.

For that, Bell and the Clippers would emerge from a 28-6 loss Saturday to sneaky-good Bishop McDevitt having settled for 1-for-2. For the moment, the loss dropped Chester to 1-2. In the long term, the experience should help.

“Absolutely,” Bell said. “And that’s what I am coaching them up to, to understand it’s not how you start, but how you finish.”

McDevitt, which improved to 2-1, used a balanced, dangerous running attack to remind Chester – which was coming off a win over Great Valley – that the season isn’t characterized by Labor Day.

Playing the first on-campus game in the 60-year history of the school, McDevitt’s marketing goal was to “Fill the Hill,” hoping spectators would enjoy the view from a sideline slope. Even better for the enjoyment of their fans, the Lancers filled the stat sheet.

Jon-Luke Peaker rushed for 167 yards on 27 carries, not including a two-point-conversion trot, leading McDevitt’s 244-yard rushing attack. Quarterback Lonnie Rice threw touchdown passes to Lawrence Richardson and Mike Price, and included a one-yard scoring keeper among his 59 rushing yards.

The Lancers out-gained Chester, 409-142, that despite losing three fumbles. Then again, Chester lost four in a game moistened by a slight, day-long drizzle. The Clippers rushed for just 25 yards on 33 carries, a stat warped by two errant long snaps, costing them 46 yards.

“A lot of turnovers,” said Malachi Langley, who scored the only Chester touchdown on a 15-yard pass from Tahree Fuller-Bryan. “And a lot of adjustments had to be made. So we’ll be looking to next week to come back strong.”

The Clippers play Archbishop Ryan at George Washington next weekend. They will be able to build on some positives from the McDevitt experience.

“They got the momentum in the first half, and we really couldn’t bounce back,” Langley said. “We didn’t give up. But they did have the momentum the whole game.”

Rice had the Lancers in command early, flipping a 20-yard, third-down touchdown pass to Richardson and then scoring on a one-yard run, good for a 13-0 lead after one quarter.

Shaheem Pharr, who led the Clippers with 53 rushing yards, recovered a McDevitt fumble with 2:51 in the half at the McDevitt 12, and on fourth down, Fuller-Bryan connected with Langley to narrow the difference to 13-6.

“We were down, 13-0, and I said, ‘I have to do what I have to do,’” Langley said. “I wanted to get the ball in my hands, and my quarterback made a great play. The linemen did an awesome job blocking and I was just in the right place at the right time.”

Despite the touchdown, the Lancers quickly regained momentum and, with 12 seconds left in the half, Rice connected with Price, who was crossing from right to left in the end zone. Peaker’s conversion gave McDevitt a 15-point lead.

“We’ve got some things to clean up,” Lancers coach Mike Watkins said. “We had some bad penalties and we didn’t protect the ball very well in the first half.”

Peaker’s 10-yard scoring run, and Austin Alcorn’s second point-after, put McDevitt ahead, 28-6, with 8:24 left in the third.

“They had momentum, and we couldn’t catch any momentum,” Bell said. “We started out and had a couple of plays go our way, but after a while, we started to get some penalties and self-destruct. So it’s something to bounce back from.”

“I think we were just fighting against each other, instead of finding a better way of being teammates,” said Malik Langley, who included a 50-yard run in his 43-yard rushing effort. “We just have to bounce back next week.”