BY JEFF FALK

PHOTOS FROM LORI MESSERSMITH

LEBANON – Happy, classy and downplaying. Or angry, frustrated and now equipped with even more resolve.

It really all depends on which side of the rivarly one falls emotionally.

On Friday night at Lebanon Alumni Stadium, the 47th edition of the Cedar Bowl played out eerily similar – almost predictably – to the previous six, as Cedar Crest again dominated Lebanon, 42-19 in their season-opening clash. The Falcons raced out to a quick start, gained control of the line-of-scrimmage on both sides of the ball and then forced the Cedars into mistakes.

Behind senior quarterback Logan Horn, Cedar Crest tallied touchdowns on its first two possessions of the season, on its way to a 35-0 halftime bulge that brought the mercy rule into play. Lebanon High did find its stride in the form of three fourth-quarter touchdowns against the Crest reserves, but only after the Falcons had increased their advantage to 42-0 late in the third period.

The result was Cedar Crest’s seventh straight triumph over Lebanon in the Cedar Bowl, and the Falcons now lead the all-time series 31-15-1. In those seven victories, the Falcons have outscored Lebanon by a combined margin of 298-102.

Obviously those numbers are open to interpretation.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” said Cedar Crest head coach Rob Wildasin. “That’s for you guys to write about. It’s all about the 2018 Cedar Crest Falcons. That’s cool to them (his players).

“They’ve out played us,” said Lebanon head coach Gerry Yonchiuk of the series. “I don’t know if it’s the weight room, but something’s there. When you get pushed around, it’s tough. We had way too many pre-snap penalties. You can’t do that and expect to have success, or stay in this game.”

With Horn making good decisions with the ball, Cedar Crest grabbed the early momentum and never really relinqhished it.

He led the Falcons on a massive 12-play, 76-yard march on their first possession, and capped it himself with a six-yard TD burst off left end. Then following a short Cedar punt, Horn’s 23-yard pass to Cole Miller set up the six-yard Tyler Cruz touchdown that made it 14-0 CC, with 57 seconds left in the opening quarter.

“We expected to have success,” said Wildasin. “I thought we were able to dictate with our offensive line. I think that’s kind of what happened.

“It was a team effort,” continued Wildasin. “The offensive line established the control of the game early. That’s what we needed.”

“You go through an emotional roller coaster when you try to dissect everything,” said Yonchiuk. “The game was over at halftime. They (the Falcons) were classy and played their seconds (in the second half).

“My biggest fear came true,” Yonchiuk continued. “They took it to us up front. We made a lot of mistakes. As a coaching staff, we’ve got to get those things cleaned up.”

Cedar Crest scored three times in the final 7:53 of the first half.

Cruz notched his second touchdown, on a run from 15 yards away. Horn found Kyle Poorman with a 17-yard scoring strike to extend the Falcons’ margin to 28-0. And Horn completed a perfectly executed two-minute drive with a 20-yard touchdown toss to Christian Morales, with 41 seconds to go before the break.

In the first half, Cedar Crest out gained Lebanon 277 total yards to 32. The Falcons piled up 13 first downs and held the Cedars to just one.

Over the first two quarters, Horn was a very precise ten-for-12 for 179 passing yards.

“We had opportunities and things just didn’t click on the first drive,” said Wildasin. “They (the Cedars) stunted a lot early. They were a little different defensively than we saw on film.

“He’s (Horn) obviously a pretty good football players,” added Wildasin. “He’s a heady football player, and he made things happen. I think he could’ve been better, just with the little stuff. You always expect perfection, even if it’s unrealistic.”

“We couldn’t let Horn run all over the field,” said Yonchiuk. “He was smart. He moved the ball around. He was able to take care of the ball. He saw early on that we wanted to take him away as a runner.

“He’s improved as a passer,” Yonchiuk added. “He did a heck of a job as a game manager. Some of the things we knew were coming.”

With 1:14 left in the third quarter, Cedar Crest scored for the sixth time. After holding Lebanon on downs, reserve quarterback Chris Danz sneaked one in from a yard out.

“The message at halftime was, ‘No matter who’s in the game, you’re expected to execute the way you’re coached,'” said Wildasin. “We want all of our kids to learn the game and play well.

“There’s a lot of things to fix,” Wildasin continued. “I knew it was going to be sloppy. But overall, we did some good things. They’re things to build on.”

“There were some good signs early on,” said Yonchiuk. “But we fatigued early. We’ve got to get in better shape.

“They’ll (the Falcons) be a challenge and a handful in Section One (of the Lancaster-Lebanon League),” continued Yonchuik. “They certainly earned it, and took it to us.”

The fourth quarter turned out to be something for the Cedars to build upon. Lebanon recorded three touchdown runs over the game’s final 6:49 – a three-yarder by sophomore quarterback Isaiah Rodriguez and a 28-yarder and a 60-yarder from junior Joseph Mejias-Rios.

“I felt our defense was improved,” said Wildasin of the three-quarter shutout. “I was proud of the steps they made. I’m already looking forward to taking another step.

“They (the Cedars) played hard,” added Wildasin. “They’ve got some talent. If they keep grinding, they’re going to grow. I bet they’ll be a much better football team in Week Ten.”

“You want them to keep competing,” said Yonchiuk. “You never want to see anyone fold. We won’t allow our guys to and they won’t allow themselves to. We’ll take that (the fourth quarter) as a positive, no matter what the situation.

“It showed us we have some guys who are going to get chances,” Yonchiuk added. “All jobs are open. You’ve got to perform to keep your job. That’s the way it is in life. We’ve got to get some football lessons out of it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Cedar Crest Football Schedule