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Suburban's Kerr: Crusaders 'have it all'


Yesterday, we threw up a post in which New Oxford coach Matt Muller offered his take on Susquehanna Township, who West York will face in the Class AAA semifinal Friday.

Now, it's time for some insights on District 3-AA finalist Lancaster Catholic.

The top-seeded Crusaders (11-1) will face No. 2 Delone in Hershey Friday night for the District title. Lancaster Catholic started its playoff run two weeks ago, with a 48-21 bashing of York Suburban.

Earlier, I spoke with Trojans coach Bill Kerr to get his thoughts on Lancaster Catholic, ranked the third-best AA team in the state by the Pennsylvania Football News.

Needless to say, Kerr had plenty of compliments for a team that's scored at least 48 points in each of its last seven games.

"They're big. They're physical. They have it all," Kerr said. "They have size, they have speed, and they have strength. Obviously Kyle Smith their quarterback is one of the best that Pennsylvania has seen in a long time."

How balanced and dangerous are the Crusaders offensively? They put up 620 total yards against Suburban -- 310 rushing yards and 310 passing yards.

Of course, the player getting the most pub for LC is Smith, the team's senior quarterback. The 6-foot-4 lefty has cracked 8,000 passing yards for his career, and is 159 shy of breaking the state record in that category. He's thrown 42 touchdowns this year versus four interceptions.

"He's a great quarterback," Kerr said. "And it's just not his ability to throw the ball, it's his ability to move around in the pocket. There were times we had their receivers covered, but we weren't able to contain him. Especially in the second half, they converted a couple third downs on the ground."

Kerr also cautioned the Crusaders aren't one-dimensional. Their running back, Jordan Stewart, has 1,279 yards this year and is averaging 7.75 yards per carry.

If Lancaster Catholic does have a weakness, Kerr said, it may be their susceptibility to big plays on defense. York Suburban gashed the Crusades for several long gains in the first half two weeks ago, and only trailed by seven at halftime.

"If you can get to the corner and get outside on them," Kerr said. "We had some success on them with the option in the second quarter, but they adjusted to it in the second half.

"They kind of wore us down with their size. They had some receivers that were bigger than our linemen. They're a very physical team."

That said, Kerr gave the Squires a shot at the upset.

"If Delone can get up on them and have some success offensively holding onto the ball and keep their offense off the field, I think it can be a close ball game," Kerr said. "I'd like to see how Lancaster Catholic would react being down in a football game. "