The Susquehannock defense was able to consistently pressure Littlestown quarterback Jerrod Reynolds. The Warriors had a bevy of defenders in the secondary in their cover-2 scheme. All the ingredients were there to shut down the passing game.

Reynolds and his receivers still couldn't be stopped.

The senior quarterback completed 13 of his 27 throws for 239 yards, throwing four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Thunderbolts' 42-14 road victory over the Warriors on Friday night.

The victory improves Littlestown to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in Division II, a level of perfection that has even surprised coach Mike Lippy.

"How many teams get to start 5-0?" Lippy asked. "When these kids were in seventh grade, they didn't win one game. When they were in eighth grade they won one game. When they were freshmen, they won three games.

"Now, their senior year, they are 5-0. That's what our coaches absolutely thrive on -- being able to see these kids feel so good about themselves and so confident and have a sense of purpose that they're achieving something."

The Warriors (1-4, 1-1 Division II) had a chance to strike first midway through the opening quarter when a strong play-action fake from quarterback

Patrick Miller left Tyrone Robertson wide open downfield. Miller delivered the ball, but Robertson could not hold on.

After stopping the Thunderbolts a second time, Miller delivered the ball to another uncovered receiver downfield, but Dakota Heath bobbled the ball, and it fell incomplete.

Littlestown scored on its next possession -- with a 5-yard run from Sean Doherty -- and then struck twice in the final 80 seconds of the first half.

Reynolds connected with Justin Emig on a 5-yard TD pass, Evan Bowers intercepted Miller on the next play from scrimmage and Reynolds led the Thunderbolts on a seven-play, 38-yard drive that culminated in a 5-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone to Ryan Wickline, putting Littlestown up, 22-0.

"I would like to think if we catch those then maybe it's a little different," Susquehannock coach Tom Waranavage said. "Maybe we put them back on our heels a little bit. When all is said and done, you have to make those plays against good football teams.

"We threw two critical interceptions -- an interception is never good, but there are some times when it's real bad to throw one, and we threw them at real bad times. That's unfortunately what starts to happen when you have balls being dropped and you got a kid back there throwing and he's thinking, 'Is my kid going to catch it?' Unfortunately, we as a team, are not helping our quarterback."

Reynolds, who Lippy said wasn't interested in being a quarterback as recently as his sophomore year, had plenty of weapons in Wickline, Emig, Doherty and Matt Koontz. All had at least two catches and more than 40 receiving yards.

Susquehannock scored on its first drive of the second half on a 15-yard run from leading rusher Toby Bonitz (99 yards), cutting the Warriors' deficit to 14 and forcing Littlestown to punt on the ensuing possession. But the Thunderbolts capitalized on Miller's third interception of the night deep in his own zone.

Littlestown scored on a 13-yard run from Tyler Fodor to go up by 20 -- and led comfortably the rest of the way.

"We throw a pick, they get the ball at the 20, that's the game," Waranavage said. "That's the ball game."
smclernon@ydr.com; 771-2045






 
Littlestown  0  22  12  8 -- 42
Susquehannock  0    0  14  0 -- 14

Second Quarter
   Lt -- Sean Doherty 5 run (kick failed), 11:54
   Lt -- Michael Warner tackles Micah Collins for safety, 7:48
   Lt -- Justin Emig 5 pass from Jerrod Reynolds (Adam Hunt kick), 1:20
   Lt -- Ryan Wickline 10 pass from Reynolds (Hunt kick), 0:19
Third Quarter
   Sus -- Toby Bonitz 15 run (Tyler Ward pass from Patrick Miller), 9:42
   Lt -- Tyler Fodor 13 run (kick failed), 7:12
   Lt -- Wickline 57 pass from Reynolds (kick failed), 4:54
   Sus -- Bonitz 19 run (pass failed), 1:47
Fourth Quarter
   Lt -- Daniel Buckley 32 pass from Reynolds (Emig pass from Reynolds), 9:56
 
-- Lt -- Sus
First downs -- 16 -- 11
Rushes-yards -- 38-109 -- 43-198
Passing -- 13-27-0 -- 2-14-3
Passing yards -- 239 -- 21
Total yards -- 348 -- 219
Punts -- 6-37.7 -- 5-37.6
Fumbles-lost -- 3-1 -- 1-0
Penalties-yards -- 1-5 -- 3-39

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- Littlestown, Sean Doherty 16-73, Tyler Fodor 5-26, Thomas Senseney 3-9, Joshua Lombard 1-7, Tanner Mintz 3-5, Matt Koontz 1-4, Matt Zuber 1- (-2), Kyle Arentz 1- (-3), Jerrod Reynolds 7- (-10); Susquehannock, Toby Bonitz 10-99, Jordan Robertson 11-51, Tyler Ward 6-29, Brad Vecere 6-19, Jimmy Weaver 1-3, Brian Quinn 2-2, Josh Ravkin 1-2, Drew Crane 1- (-2), Patrick Miller 3- (-5).
   Passing -- Littlestown, Jerrod Reynolds 13-27-0-239; Susquehannock, Patrick Miller 1-11-3-6, Matt Olphin 1-3-0-15.
   Receiving -- Littlestown, Sean Doherty 4-42, Justin Emig 3-41, Ryan Wickline 2-67, Matt Koontz 2-47, Daniel Buckley 1-42, Kevin Gibson 1-10; Susquehannock, Brian Quinn 1-15, Brandon Jones 1-6.