BY JEFF FALK
ELIZABEHTOWN – It missed an extra point. It did put the ball on the ground once. And another time one of its players didn’t tie the shoelace on his cleat properly.
That’s what went wrong for the Cedar Crest football team last night. Other than that, everything else couldn’t have gone better.
But it was more than the Falcons’ most complete win of the year.
It was the type of win to hang a season on.
It was also the kind that can make one wonder exactly what Cedar Crest was capable of.
On Friday night at Elizabethtown High School, the Falcons put it all together, in every phase of the game, during a 27-0 blitzing of the hometown Bears. Cedar Crest dominated the line of scrimmage, ran a balanced and efficient offense and its opportunistic defense limited Elizabethtown to less than a hundred total yards,
In opening a 20-0 halftime lead, the Falcons tallied a pair of touchdowns less than three minutes apart in the middle of the second stanza, then cruised through the second half of play. Four different Cedar Crest players found their way into the end zone.
But what made the result even more impressive was the fact that Cedar Crest was coming off its most difficult stretch of the season – a three-game losing skein that doomed its hopes of a second straight District Three playoff appearance. The Falcons, who were seeded 16th in the latest District Three Class AAAAA power rankings, are now 5-4 overall and 3-3 in Section Two of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
Elizabethtown slipped to 5-4 on the fall and 2-4 in the circuit.
“I knew it was coming, if we could play the way we did the last few weeks,” said Cedar Crest head coach Rob Wildasin. “We were on the wrong end the last three weeks. But we just had to bring that effort.”
It was the type of streak that could’ve caused tents to fold.
“Not me. Not this coaching staff. Not this group,” said Wildasin. “That’s not going to happen.”
The Falcons sandwiched a pair of three-and-outs around a scoring drive on their first possession of the game.
Cedar Crest’s nine-play march covered 52 yards and ended with sophomore quarterback Logan Horn toting it in from seven yards out. The key plays in the drive were 25 and 14 yard runs from shifty Tate Seyfert.
“We could’ve blocked a punt,” said Wildasin, when asked what could’ve gone better for his side. “We just didn’t quite get there. You can see things when you go back and look at the film.
“We didn’t win (the previous three weeks),” continued Wildasin. “I’m not worried about that. It’s over.”
It was a fumble recovery by Luis Minaya that helped the Falcons take control of the outcome for good.
First, Horn hit Greyson Williams on a 20-yard crossing pattern for the touchdown that capped an eight-play, 66-yard possession, 2:17 into the second period. Then, Belleman carried six times on a seven-snap drive, including the last one from a yard away, to put Cedar Crest up 20-0, 6:50 before the break.
“We played pretty well tonight,” said Wildasin. “But we’ve been pretty close to putting things together. We just needed to clean things us.”
So how well did the Falcon defense play? “Eighty yards,” Wildasin replied.
The Falcons’ fourth touchdown – an 11-yard touchdown toss from Horn to Seyfert – was set up by a Seyfert interception on the right sideline. It was 27-0 with 6:37 of the third quarter yet to play.
“That goal’s over,” said Wildasin of a preseason aspiration of seven wins. “Our goal is to have a winning season. We had to get this one this week to make that possible.”
By holding the Bears to a paltry 12 yards rushing, Cedar Crest out gained E-town 320 total yards to 96. The Falcons recorded an eye-popping 11 tackles for loss.
The Bears did not register their first first down until five-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter had elapsed. Elizabethtown’s deepest penetration all evening was the Falcon 16-yard-line, and that came in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Belleman carried 22 times for 86 yards. In his first game back from injury, Horn completed 15 of 23 pass attempts – including a string of nine straight in the first half – for 132 yards.
“No,” said Wildasin, when asked if the win had the power to make the season a success. “It’s not over. The story’s not written. Just like your article.”
To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to www.https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/?page_id=40462.
2016 Cedar Crest Football Results
| DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME |
RESULT |
|
|
| 09/02 |
@Lebanon
|
7:00 PM |
W 26-14 |
|
|
| 09/09 |
Northern Lebanon
|
7:00 PM |
W 41-12 |
|
|
| 09/16 |
@Lower Dauphin
|
7:00 PM |
L 7-10 |
|
|
| 09/23 * |
Ephrata
|
7:00 PM |
W 49-16 |
|
|
| 09/30 * |
Garden Spot
|
7:00 PM |
W 11-7 |
|
|
| 10/07 * |
@Cocalico
|
7:00 PM |
L 13-22 |
|
|
| 10/14 * |
@Solanco
|
7:00 PM |
L 21-38 |
|
|
| 10/21 * |
Manheim Central
|
7:00 PM |
L 7-41 |
|
|
| DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME |
LOCATION |
|
| 10/28 * |
@Elizabethtown
|
7:00 PM |
Elizabethtown High School |
|
| 11/04 * |
Lampeter-Strasburg
|
7:00 PM |
Cedar Crest High School |
|
Lancaster-Lebanon League
Section Two Standings
| TEAM |
LEAGUE |
OVERALL |
| Garden Spot |
3-3 |
5-4 |
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