S. Lehigh makes most of its good fortune

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Southern Lehigh made a few defensive personnel changes for Friday night's game with visiting Northwestern.

Those switches were met with rave reviews.

The Spartans shrunk their offense down to the basic Delaware Wing-T, virtually eliminating dangerous pitches and all but scrapping their spread look.

That went over real well in a game played mostly in a downpour.

And, the grunts up front on both sides of the line won the battle in the mud.

But what excited coach John Toman and his Spartan players the most was that a break finally went their way.

After the opposite held true in the early part of this season and in a few recent meetings with the Tigers, the Spartans had momentum shift on a crazy play.

Nine combined punts into the game, Southern Lehigh quarterback Ty Edmond attempted a pass. It deflected off a Northwestern defender and right to an alert Jake Meluskey.

The Spartans fullback ran 41 yards to the Tigers' 4-yard line.

Edmond scored on the next play.

"They never let up from that point on," Northwestern coach Tom Linette said. "… Their line outplayed our line up front."

That big play and subsequent score broke the ice as Southern Lehigh scored on three of its next five series en route to a 28-6 thumping.

"We finally caught a break," Toman admitted of the re-directed pass.

The Spartans (2-2) didn't need any good fortune the rest of the way. They dominated the second half. For the game, they allowed only 47 yards total offense and four first downs.

Twenty-two of those yards came on Ty Cunningham's scoring run with 3:23 left. That was set up by Payton Bachman's 61-yard kickoff return.

"I think what we did defensively, [the changes we made], seemed to work," Toman said.

Collin Kendrick, the Spartans' leading tackler this year, led a swarming linebacking crew that also included Edmond making his first defensive start at "Sam" linebacker this season. And, Jake Meluskey moved back to his previous spot at "Will" linebacker.

"Ty is a crazy guy. He loves to just hit people," Meluskey said.

Up 6-0 starting the second half, the Spartans forced a three-and-out.

Southern Lehigh then put together a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, all of which was on the ground until Edmond hit Meluskey for a 6-yard scoring play. Edmond hit Matt Durkin for the two-point pass and a 14-0 cushion.

That second score really kicked in the emotion for the Spartans.

"Being up 6-0 after the way things have gone for us this year, we were very uneasy about that," Toman admitted. "One big play and we would have been down 7-6.

"We were a little more emotional than we have been. We've been methodical on offense. We've been putting up points, but I think we put more emotion into this one."

Ben Harmony's interception on the next defensive series set Southern Lehigh up again. On the second offensive play after the turnover, Dylan Schmidt blew around right end and outran the Northwestern defense for a 60-yard score.

A 10-play drive midway through the fourth quarter culminated with Jared Gerhard's 3-yard TD run for a 28-0 lead.

"We've been expecting big things from [Schmidt]," Toman said. "That was a glimpse of what he can do.

"Once we went back to the traditional Wing-T offense, to be able to do that and line up, our line executed real well. Our backs hit the holes well. Being able to run the Wing-T in these conditions was a blessing."

"They were trapping the hell out of us and we didn't own up," Linette added.

The Spartans racked up 264 yards on the ground, averaging better than five yards per carry. Edmond completed six of his eight pass attempts for 68 yards, 41 coming on the big deflection.

Conversely, the Tigers, who racked up 137 points in their first three games, managed just 51 yards rushing on 31 attempts.

"For them, the zone-read option, it's all shotgun," Toman said. "Zone-read option is not the best thing you want to be doing in these conditions. It's tough to pitch the ball, hand the ball off and read."

Linette, who was an assistant for more than 20 years on a Northwestern team that ran the Wing-T, left impressed with Southern Lehigh's ability to run that offense in the slop.

"That's a tough offense to run in the mud," the second-year Northwestern head coach said. "We tried it for years and were shut down."

Surprisingly, neither team lost a fumble.


http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-southern-lehigh-football-0923-20110923,0,770211.story