BY JEFF FALK

HARRISBURG – It is extremely important to accentuate the positives and downplay the negatives.

But sometimes it is difficult to see the positives through the noise. Then is when it’s even more important to celebrate them.

On a crisp Friday night at Central Dauphin Middle School’s Landis Field, the Cedar Crest football team’s bountiful campaign came to an end, with a 36-6 loss to Central Dauphin in the quarterfinal round of the District Three Class AAAAAA postseason. Following a competitive first half, the Falcons committed four turnovers early in the third quarter – including two pick-sixes in a span of seven seconds – that led to 21 Central Dauphin points, a 36-0 deficit and the mercy rule coming into play.

Cedar Crest was limited to 209 yards of total offense.

The result left the sixth-seeded Falcons with a 7-4 overall mark for 2019. The playoff game marked the third time in five years that Cedar Crest had qualified for the District Three tournament.

All four of Cedar Crest’s losses came to teams which reached the district playoffs. But in those games, the Falcons were outscored by a combined total of 167-27.

Third-seeded Central Dauphin upped its record to 9-2 on the fall. Next week, the Rams will meet number-two seed Manheim Township in the semifinal round of the District Three Class AAAAAA postseason.

“It was a success,” said Cedar Crest head coach Rob Wildasin of the season. “We went 7-3 during the regular season and made it to the district playoffs. I’m proud of these guys. We had a heck of a year.

“I think people forget where we came from,” continued Wildasin. “This season was the next step. Tonight was a huge step.”

The Falcons avoided being shut out by scoring on the last snap of the game. Quarterback Chris Danz hit teammate Lawson Seyfert with a 12-yard touchdown strike.

The extra point was not attempted.

“You see when you play teams like Central Dauphin a big difference in the weight room, the difference in the size of the teams, the number of Division One athletes, the commitment of the administration,” said Wildasin. “We’re not there yet. But we’re going to be.

“The teams we lost to are a lot bigger than us,” Wildasin continued. “Those teams have a weight program in school, and we don’t. That’s the commonality of the losses. We need a weight program in school, just like those other teams have. Right now, ours is very limited. We need all 79 of our players in the weight room.”

Down 15-0, but still very much in the contest, Cedar Crest imploded early in the second half. The Falcons opening possession of the third quarter ended with an interception that led to Ram Timmy Smith’s ten-yard touchdown run.

Then on successive snaps, Central Dauphin’s Nyeem Sims returned an errant CC aerial 24 yards for a touchdown and teammate Jackson Talbot picked off a Falcon pass and rambled 13 yards for a score, to all but turn out the lights.

“We just melted down a little bit,” said Wildasin of the third quarter. “The turnovers definitely hurt us. You can’t beat a good football team when you turn the ball over.

“At halftime, I just told the kids to go fight,” added Wildasin. “I don’t think they didn’t do it in the second half. We just made mistakes.”

Central Dauphin drove the opening kickoff 59 yards on 12 running plays to grab an 8-0 lead. Smith rambled in from three yards away for the touchdown, and quarterback Max Mosey hit Elijah Vargas for the two-point conversion.

“I thought we played tough in the first half,” said Wildasin. “We had a good game plan, offensively and defensively. We didn’t turn the ball over in the first half.”

With 6:14 remaining before halftime, the Rams upped their advantage to 15-0. Vargas’ 12-yard touchdown reception from Mosey came at the end of a six-play, 65-yard Central Dauphin march.

“What I’ll remember is a great senior class,” said Wildasin, “and great senior leadership. These kids have been committed since the seventh and eighth grades. They were the catalyst for the season.”

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com.

2019 Cedar Crest Football Results

Date	Opponents	Outcomes
8/23 7:00 pm	Lebanon at Cedar Crest	6 28
8/30 7:00 pm	Hershey at Cedar Crest	13 42
9/06 7:00 pm	Cedar Crest at York High	17 14
9/13 7:00 pm	Cedar Crest at McCaskey	49 20
9/20 7:00 pm	Hempfield at Cedar Crest	21 34
9/27 7:00 pm	Cedar Crest at Warwick	14 34
10/04 7:00 pm	Penn Manor at Cedar Crest	10 37
10/11 7:00 pm	Cedar Crest at Manheim Township	0 62
10/18 7:00 pm	Wilson at Cedar Crest	35 7
10/25 7:00 pm	Cedar Crest at Garden Spot	42 14
11/01 7:00 pm	Cedar Crest Central Dauphin at Landis Field, Central Dauphin Middle School, Harrisburg

PIAA District Three

Final Class AAAAAA Power Rankings

AAAAAA	School	W	L	T	Rating	TWP	OWP	TWPW	OWPW	TWPL	OWPL
1	Wilson	9-	1-	0	0.839720	0.935897	0.722169	11.0	75.3	0.8	29.0
2	Manheim Township	10-	0-	0	0.830742	1.000000	0.623872	12.3	62.2	0.0	37.5
3	Central Dauphin	8-	2-	0	0.790441	0.867257	0.696555	9.8	68.8	1.5	30.0
4	Harrisburg	7-	2-	0	0.762753	0.852217	0.653409	8.7	57.5	1.5	30.5
5	Central York	9-	1-	0	0.753160	0.933628	0.532587	10.6	52.3	0.8	45.9
6	Cedar Crest	7-	3-	0	0.695801	0.782407	0.589950	8.5	58.7	2.4	40.8
7	Cumberland Valley	5-	5-	0	0.653705	0.617347	0.698142	6.1	69.5	3.8	30.1
8	Chambersburg Area	6-	4-	0	0.642230	0.705882	0.564433	7.2	54.8	3.0	42.3
9	Red Lion	6-	4-	0	0.635790	0.685714	0.574771	7.2	56.5	3.3	41.8
10	HEMPFIELD	4-	6-	0	0.601886	0.505263	0.719981	4.8	75.0	4.7	29.2
11	Lebanon	6-	4-	0	0.560716	0.612903	0.496933	5.7	48.6	3.6	49.2
12	Central Dauphin East	3-	7-	0	0.514878	0.405556	0.648494	3.7	62.5	5.4	33.9
13	Reading	5-	4-	0	0.508042	0.617486	0.374276	5.7	32.3	3.5	54.0
14	Penn Manor	3-	7-	0	0.495977	0.390110	0.625370	3.6	63.4	5.6	38.0
15	Carlisle	2-	8-	0	0.452664	0.279070	0.664835	2.4	66.6	6.2	33.6
16	Dallastown	2-	8-	0	0.452330	0.272727	0.671845	2.4	69.2	6.4	33.8
17	J P McCaskey	0-	10-	0	0.328755	0.000000	0.730567	0.0	76.6	7.8	28.3
18	York County School of Technology	0-	10-	0	0.193910	0.000000	0.430911	0.0	42.1	10.8	55.6

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