BIGLERVILLE -- Delone Catholic wasn't supposed to win this easily, this emphatically, but after 48 minutes -- in Biglerville Canner country, mind you -- the Squires left no question as to whether they are ready to repeat as champs in YAIAA Division III.

The Squires were an undeniable big-play force on Friday at Musselman Field as they used three touchdown passes from Noah Landi to secure a 35-0 rout of the Canners.

With that ever important first division win under his team's belt, Delone head coach Steve Wiles was almost in awe.

The Squires, in his estimation, were almost flawless.

"We ran a few plays of misdirection and we caught them," Wiles said. "And then we just kept going from there. We just kept mixing it up. We went

Delone Catholic's Joshua McNutt moves the ball up the field during Friday's game against Biglerville. The Squires posted a 35-0 shutout.
(Daily Record/Sunday News - James Robinson)
inside, outside and we threw the pass in there really well, too.

"It was probably the best execution we've had this year."

The Squires' defense proved early just how ready and prepared it was against Biglerville threat Parker Showers, too. Showers led the Canners with four touchdowns against Spring Grove last week in a 34-12 win that raised a lot of eyebrows into the validity of this Canner team.

Against Delone, the senior running back was ambushed the entire first quarter as he faced an overloaded box of linemen and linebackers.

Wiles overloaded the line of scrimmage consistently with seven, eight and nine men. Showers, in turn, ended up with six yards in the first quarter.

His lack of production wasn't entirely his fault. Biglerville leaned toward the pass in its first series Friday instead of establishing the run game that had enabled the Canners to solidify their win over the Rockets in Week 3.

The Canners' first drive, a 13-play, 68-yard effort, ended with a 37-yard missed field goal from Matt Guise.

Senior Jared Picarelli threw the ball 10 times in the opening drive and was successful, going completing six throws for 52 yards. But in doing so, the Canners allowed the Squire defense to control the line of scrimmage.

In turn, Delone's defensive pressure gave its refined offense confidence.

The Squires (4-0, 1-0) scored on their first possession in the first quarter with 9:33 left. Dustin Reed capped off the five-play, 54-yard drive with a 43-yard run after he scampered past the left edge and outran a slow-to-react Canner secondary.

Biglerville (2-2, 0-1) forced the Squires to punt on their next possession, but then failed to score themselves. From there, the Squires picked up the pace of the game and started to take control.

Landi only threw the ball five times all game, but he completed four of his attempts and was the most complete player on the field. He directed a crafty misdirection play with 11:51 left in the second quarter that found Justin George in the end zone for a 45-yard touchdown.

"It all goes back to the line play," Landi said. "They did a fantastic job. They gave me all night to throw and we took advantage of it."

Biglerville went into halftime trailing 21-0.

Then, on the Squires' first play from scrimmage in the second half, Delone pretty much eliminated any notion of a Canner comeback.

At the 10, Wesley Smith found a hole on the right side of the field and bolted for a 90-yard touchdown and a 28-0 cushion.

"We're a big-play team," Landi said. "We took advantage of it. We've been playing well all year long and making big plays all year long."

 
Delone Catholic  7  14  14    0 -- 35
Biglerville  0    0    0    0 --   0

First Quarter
   DC -- Dustin Reed 43 run (Porter Strickler kick).
Second Quarter
   DC -- Justin George 45 pass from Noah Landi (Strickler kick).
   DC -- Reed 46 pass from Landi (Strickler kick).
Third Quarter
   DC -- Wesley Smith 90 run (Strickler kick).
   DC -- Allen Neiderer 8 pass from Landi (Strickler kick).
 
-- DC -- Big
First downs -- 15 -- 17
Rushes-yards -- 32-304 -- 34-194
Passing -- 4-5-0 -- 10-23-0
Passing yards -- 132 -- 79
Total yards -- 433 -- 273
Punts -- 1-40.0 -- 4-44.8
Fumbles-lost -- 0-0 -- 0-0
Penalties-yards -- 0-0 -- 1-20

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- DC, Wesley Smith 11-120, Dustin Reed 8-88, Joshua McNutt 6-77, Aidan Carroll 2-6, Dan Wildasin 1-4, Cody Reed 1-4, Noah Landi 1-3, Joe Plummer 1-2, Sam Comly 1-0; Big, Parker Showers 23-129, Nic Lieberum 9-52, Jarred Picarelli 2-13.
   Passing -- DC, Landi 4-5-0-132; Big, Jarred Picarelli 10-23-0-79.
   Receiving -- DC, Reed 1-46, George 1-45, Neiderer 2-41; Big, Zach Witherow 1-27, Kranius 4-24, Wagner 4-21, Showers 2-7.