Crusaders advance to Hershey on miscue

Lancaster Catholic hasn’t been to Hershey since 2009 when they beat West Catholic, 23-21, to earn their trip to Hershey to beat then District 7 champion Greensburg Central Catholic to win a AA State Title.

Last year, West Catholic won the AA State Title with a resounding 50-14 win over South Fayette.

Today, Lancaster Catholic and West Catholic (10-4) met at Red Raider Stadium in Coatesville for the right to play for another AA State Title next Saturday, against Tyrone, who beat Aliquippa 20-19, today. The kickoff is schedule for 12 noon.

It seemed like the Burrs of West Catholic were making their second trip to Hershey in as many seasons, when Roman Clay fumbled the ball into the endzone with West Catholic recovering it for a touchback with 2:22 left in the game.

But as the Burrs had the ball at their own 28 yard line with 1:09 left in the game, after taking two timeouts, the West Catholic center snapped the ball high, causing the punter to fumble the ball. Crusader linebacker Robert Depietro recovered the ball at the Burr 16 yard line.

From there, it took the Crusader offense 2 plays and 0:16 seconds to take the lead, when Crusader quarterback Andrew Dzurik (8 for 17, 137 yards, TD) threw a 16 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Sean Titus (4 catches, 84 yards, TD), in the corner of the endzone.

West Catholic had 0:47 seconds and 53 yards to work with but Sean Titus interception of West Catholic quarterback Jaleel Reed at the Crusader 10 yard line gave Lancaster Catholic their trip to Chocolatetown, 23-20.

The way the game started, it looked like Lancaster Catholic (15-0) was well on their way to a win.

With 5:03 left in the first quarter, Ramon Clay (21 carries, 154 yards, TD) scampered 39 yards for a score to put his team ahead 7-0. It would seem like West Catholic would answer back, with the ball on the Crusader 16 yard line but Adam Depietro would recover a David Williams fumble to end the threat.

After an exchange of punts in the second quarter, the Crusader offense would get the ball at the Burr 36. 8 plays, 2:04 later, Brandon Hollister (15 carries, 54 yards TD) would burst 18 yards for his team’s second score of the game, for a 13-0 lead. The two point conversation was missed.

West Catholic’s offense would answer the Crusaders with a 70 yard drive with four minutes left in the second quarter. Quarterback Jaleel Reed (14 carries, 126 yards, TD) would sneak into the endzone from a yard out, to make the score 13-6. PAT was short.

Hollister and Clay would march their team down the field, with the assist of a 30 yard connection from Dzurik to Titus to advance the ball to the Burr 1 yard line. A Satchel Ziffer 18 yard field goal would give Lancaster Catholic a 16-6 lead at halftime.

At halftime, Crusaders had 211 yards of offense, the Burrs had 161 – including 29 rushing yards.

The second half seemed like a tale of two halves.

The Burrs would receive the second half kickoff, and 3 plays later, Jaleel Reed (7 for 17, 202 yards, TD, 2 INT) would connect with his receiver Bruce Mapp, Jr. on a 57 yard catch and run to bring their team closer, at 16-12.

West Catholic would take their first lead of the game with a little less than 10 minutes to go in the game as they would march 84 yards for the score. With the aide of a 43 yard scramble by Reed to the Crusader 19, David Williams would run off the right side of his offensive line for 3 yards, for a 20-16 West Catholic lead.

In the first half, David Williams had 13 yards rushing – 2nd half, he rushed for 42. Burr quarterback rushed for 7 yards in the first half, 119 in the 2nd half. As a team, the Burrs had 3 fumbles but two in the second half.

Both teams had 15 first downs. The Crusaders had 10 in the first half, 5 in the first half. The Burrs had 6 in the first half, and 9 in the second half.

And, total yards for both teams – West Catholic 402, for the Crusaders 328.

Scoring by Quarters
1st Quarter
LC – 5:03 – Ramon Clay 39 yard run

2nd Quarter
LC – 7:08 – Brandon Hollister 18 yard run
WC – 3:54 – Jaleed Reed 1 yard run
LC – 0:00 – Satchel Ziffer 18 yard field goal

3rd Quarter
WC – 10:16 – Reed 57 yard pass to Bruce Mapp, Jr.

4th Quarter
WC – 9:53 – David Williams 3 yard run
LC – 0:53 – Andrew Dzurik 16 yard pass to Sean Titus

http://www.d11football.com/news/12/10/crusaders-advance-to-hershey-on-miscue/