BY JEFF FALK

SOUTH LEBANON – Try as they may, defenses can’t always take everything away. It’s up to offenses to take what they’re given.

But for a Cedar Bowl, either the Cedars were way too generous or the Falcons were just extremely opportunistic.

On a perfect Friday night on Arnold Field at Earl Boltz Stadium, time after time Cedar Crest took advantage of the Lebanon High defense, and the result was a 42-14 Falcon victory in Cedar Bowl XLVI. After spotting the Cedars an early 6-0 head start, the Falcons ripped off 35 unanswered points on the decision-making and play-making of junior quarterback Logan Horn.

Mostly on keepers to the outside, Horn tallied four touchdowns and racked up 170 rushing yards on just ten carries. In all, Cedar Crest rushed for 284 yards and out gained Lebanon 425 total yards to 243.

It was merely the Falcons’ latest domination in what was once Lebanon County’s most spirited athletic rivalry.

Cedar Crest has now won six straight games in the Cedar Bowl series, by a combined margin of 254-83. The Falcons have doubled up the Cedars’ number of triumphs in the all-time rivalry, 30-15-1.

“I know why you want to focus on him. I get it,” said Cedar Crest head coach Rob Wildasin of Horn. “But he took what the defense gave him. That’s what he did. They (the Cedars) were bottling everything up with (running back) A.J. Apple. I thought Logan was great, but it was a good team effort.

“They kind of took him (Apple) out of it,” continued Wildasin. “The game got wide. Those other kids have worked hard.”

“You saw the Logan Horn show,” said Lebanon head coach Gerry Yonchiuk. “It was a great performance. Outstanding. He’s a heck of an athlete. Everything he did, we couldn’t contain him. We couldn’t stop him.

“With Apple’s speed, he can fly,” Yonchiuk continued. “And Number 11 (Kendall Shand) can run too. I thought we had a good game plan to stop them. But on the flip side, we didn’t do a good job of stopping Horn. We didn’t think they’d run him. He did what he needed to do.”

After Lebanon had marched down the field to score a touchdown on its opening possession, it may have been the place kicking of senior Chad Ryland and Cedar penalties that helped turned the momentum in the Falcons’ favor.

Cedar Crest responded with a pair of touchdowns just 1:17 apart to take the lead for good.

First Horn connected with senior wide out Cole Laney on a six-yard fade in the left corner of the end zone. Then Horn hit pay dirt from 15 yards away to put the Falcons ahead 14-6.

“The goal is to win every game we play,” said Wildasin. “It’s (the Cedar Bowl) important. It’s definitely important. It’s almost like there’s two seasons – the Cedar Bowl and the regular season. In a way, I’m glad it’s over. Now we can focus on the regular season. We have to bounce back, and so does Lebanon.

“We’re in a a great section (Two of the Lancaster-Lebanon League),” added Wildasin. “We have to clean up some things we do. We’re going to face some really good team. It’s too early. It’s the beginning of the season.”

“They took it to us. Let’s not sugar coat it,” said Yonchiuk. “It’s definitely a concern. I thought this was the first time in four years we matched up with them. They’re a very good football team, and we’re not.

“There was no carry-over from practices and scrimmages,” Yonchiuk added. “We’ve got to find out where it all went wrong.”

With momentum squarely in Cedar Crest’s corner early in the second period, Horn got to the edge on the option and pitched a lateral to a trailing Nate French, who took it 14 yards to the left pylon for a 21-6 Falcon advantage. Exactly 1:05 before halftime, the Falcons scored again, on Horn’s 26-yard run through the heart of the Lebanon defense.

The Falcons all but put the outcome to rest just 1:25 into the second half, when Horn rambled for his third rushing touchdown of the evening and a 35-6 CC lead.

“I learned that they’re the exact same kids they’ve been all summer,” said Wildasin of his charges. “They worked their tails off.

“We’ll take what the defense gives us,” added Wildasin, “and we played well defensively. We did what we wanted to do.”

“We needed to settle down a little bit,” said Yonchiuk. “Maybe we were more worried about not losing the game than winning it. I don’t know what made the wheels come off.

“There were moments,” continued Yonchiuk. “But there were breakdowns and penalties. A couple of times Zakee (quarterback, Sailsman) took off because he was being pressured. To move the ball, we’ve got to make him comfortable in the pocket.”

The Cedars emerged from the locker room and took the opening kickoff 80 yards in 11 plays to get a 22-yard Sailsman touchdown run and a 6-0 lead. Lebanon did most of its work on the ground, but did get two key completions from Sailsman to Luis Aquino-Rios and Jeremiah Beckley to keep it going.

After that, the Falcons were in Sailsman’s face most of the evening. He did complete a 33-yard touchdown strike to Aquino-Rios late in the third quarter to make it a 35-14 score.

“We had them in third downs and they converted,” said Wildasin of the Cedars’ opening drive. “But it wasn’t like we needed to throw our game plan away.

“That’s (answering on the next possession) huge,” Wildasin continued. ‘You’ve got to settle in and play. We talked about it. We knew they were going to come out swinging.”

“We came out and on the first drive we scored,” said Yonchiuk. “And I thought it was going to be a heck of a game. I thought it might come down to the last possession.

“I thought (offensive coordinator) Karl Lietdka did a great job of mixing the run and the pass,” continued Yonchiuk. “It allowed us to move the football. It was positive. After that, I couldn’t put my finger on it. It just wasn’t there.”

Horn also completed eight of his 13 pass attempts for 141 yards.

“He’s a weapon,” said Wildasin of Ryland. “I made a joke that he might be the best player on our team. But I might not be joking.

“They (the Cedars) have great skill kids,” Wildasin added. “(Number) Two (Sailsman) can play. Luis (Aquino-Rios) can play. Jerry (Beckley) can play. They’re a threat at every point in time. I didn’t feel like we won it, because they have guys who are so talented.”

“They (the Falcons) played (scrimmaged) (Bishop) McDevitt and I saw them live,” said Yonchiuk. “McDevitt’s very good, and it helped them, it made them better. Against Dallastown, I was very impressed. When I saw the film, I said, ‘These guys are good’.”

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CEDAR BOWL HISTORY
(Cedar Crest leads series 30-15-1) 

2017 – Cedar Crest 42, Lebanon 14
2016 – Cedar Crest 26, Lebanon 14
2015 – Cedar Crest 41, Lebanon 7
2014- Cedar Crest 38, Lebanon 24
2013  Cedar Crest 40, Lebanon 24 
2012  Cedar Crest 67, Lebanon 0 
2011  Lebanon 47, Cedar Crest 13 
2010  Lebanon 35, Cedar Crest 7 
2009  Cedar Crest 33, Lebanon 14 
2008  Lebanon 39, Cedar Crest 7 
2007  Cedar Crest 30, Lebanon 19 
2006  Lebanon 28, Cedar Crest 7 
2005  Lebanon 14, Cedar Crest 13 
2004  Cedar Crest 34, Lebanon 7 
2003  Lebanon 29, Cedar Crest 24 
2002  Cedar Crest 14, Lebanon 7 
2001  Cedar Crest 42, Lebanon 24 
2000  Cedar Crest 39, Lebanon 6 
1999  Cedar Crest 42, Lebanon 6 
1998  Cedar Crest 63, Lebanon 21 
1997  Cedar Crest 49, Lebanon 12 
1996  Lebanon 41, Cedar Crest 6 
1995  Cedar Crest 28, Lebanon 0 
1994  Cedar Crest 28, Lebanon 0 
93  Cedar Crest 35, Lebanon 20 
1992  Lebanon 7, Cedar Crest 0 
1991  Cedar Crest 20, Lebanon 14 
1990  Lebanon 35, Cedar Crest 31 
1989  Lebanon 13, Cedar Crest 6 
1988  Lebanon 0, Cedar Crest 0 
1987  Cedar Crest 14, Lebanon 6 
1986  Cedar Crest 14, Lebanon 0 
1985  Cedar Crest 28, Lebanon 23 
1984  Lebanon 23, Cedar Crest 7 
1983  Cedar Crest 14, Lebanon 7 
1982  Cedar Crest 23, Lebanon 0 
1981  Lebanon 15, Cedar Crest 9 
1980  Cedar Crest 15, Lebanon 13 
1979  Cedar Crest 34, Lebanon 0 
1978  Lebanon 14, Cedr Crest 0 
1977  Cedar Crest 20, Lebanon 8 
1976  Lebanon 14, Cedar Crest 6 
1975  Cedar Crest 32, Lebanon 14 
1974  Cedar Crest 39, Lebanon 8 
1973  Lebanon 22, Cedar Crest 0 
1972  Cedar Crest 15, Lebanon 13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2017 Lebanon Football Schedule

 

 

 

2017 Cedar Crest Football Schedule

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION
09/01	Lebanon	7:00 PM	Cedar Crest High School
09/08	Northern Lebanon	7:00 PM	Northern Lebanon High School
09/15	@Lower Dauphin	7:00 PM	Cedar Crest High School
09/22 *	Ephrata	7:00 PM	Ephrata High School
09/29 *	Garden Spot	7:00 PM	Garden Spot High School
10/06 *	Cocalico	7:00 PM	Cedar Crest High School
10/13 *	Solanco	7:00 PM	Cedar Crest High School
10/20 *	Manheim Central	7:00 PM	Manheim Central High School
10/27 *	Elizabethtown	7:00 PM	Elizabethtown High School
11/03 *	Lampeter-Strasburg	7:00 PM	Lampeter-Strasburg High School