TodayHigh School Football: Jones, Crusaders run past CV
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Article RatingHARRISBURG -- On Saturday morning at McDevitt Field, Mike Jones was running with a heavy heart.
Only hours after finding out his closest cousin, Deion Jones, had been killed in Chicago, Jones blasted a shell-shocked CV defense to the tune of 206 yards on 27 carries -- a 7.6 average per carry -- with a touchdown as the Crusaders smacked CV 30-13 in a Mid-Penn Conference Commonwealth Division game.
"I came out today and I wanted to play for (Deion)," said Jones, who heard the news while enroute to the game. "That made me focus even more and go that much harder."
When Jones wasn't shaking off the feeble attempts to bring him down, he was blowing by the Eagles for big chunks of yards.
"(Mike) played like he was playing for somebody today," McDevitt coach Jeff Weachter said. "He did a good job."
Three plays after CV evened things up at 7-7 in the first quarter, Jones broke free on a 54-yard run to the 6-yard line. Nick Vucurevich caught Jones from behind, but on the next play Jones went untouched up the middle for a his only score. The Crusaders (3-1 overall, 2-1 division) never looked back.
"Mike Jones is phenomenal, I'll tell you that," CV coach Tim Rimpfel said. "He did a heck of a job. Some of the times we were blocked but most of the times he just ran right by us. Athletically, he's gifted and he just had more power and speed. We couldn't tackle him.
"It comes down to blocking, tackling and making plays. We didn't make enough plays and we couldn't tackle him."
Jones spearheaded a Crusaders offense that churned out 371 yards -- 294 on the ground -- and took a comfortable 23-7 lead on Mike Comasco's 31-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter.
But CV (3-1, 3-1) drew within 10 on Cody Page's 38-yard touchdown run with 9:29 to play. Quarterback Chris Jordan faked a handoff to workhorse Tyler Guise, who totaled a team-best 74 yards on 20 carries, and gave the ball to Page, who sprinted through the line and out-raced Comasco to the end zone. Page finished with 65 yards on only six carries.
The two-point pass failed but CV was in the game. Needing to drain the clock Weachter turned to Jones.
Quarterback Kyle Koncar, who earlier escaped trouble and ran 61 yards for a touchdown and a 20-7 lead in the second quarter, handed the ball to Jones eight times on the ensuing drive for 44 yards. Koncar put CV away with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Salath Williams with 3:26 remaining.
"(McDevitt) played well, they played a solid game," Rimpfel said. "It starts with that kickoff return. We were on our heels the whole way."
Before the sun poked out from a behind a heavy blanket of morning clouds, Bill Stair ripped through the CV kickoff coverage, froze kicker Andrew Reiersen with a nifty move and was gone for an 88-yard touchdown only 15 seconds into the game.
"That was real important to get our confidence up," Weachter said. "We had a real good week of practice so I thought we would play well."
CV answered with a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that ate up 6:05. Guise polished the drive off with a tough 2-yard touchdown.
McDevitt adjusted accordingly and kept the Eagles off the scoreboard until Page's burst in the fourth.
"It was a combination of different things," Rimpfel said as to what McDevitt did to stymie his offense. "We were just too inconsistent running the football."
Jones had no such trouble, despite lugging that heavy heart.
"It was tough but I had to work through it," he said. "I'm the running back, I can't lose my head. I just had to keep my head and act like I was playing for (my cousin) out there."
Cumberland Valley hosts rival Carlisle while Bishop McDevitt travels to State College next Friday. Both games start at 7 p.m.
Notes: A moment of silence was observed prior to the game for the late Mechanicsburg coach Rich Lichtel, who died Friday night due to health problems. ... Rimpfel was honored at midfield prior to the game for leading the 1987 Crusaders to the District 3 Class AAA championship in his last season at McDevitt. The team was awarded the district title trophy at halftime. ... The game at State College on Friday will be McDevitt's first at night this season. ... CV and McDevitt are not scheduled to meet for at least the next two years.
