H.S. FOOTBALL: Lower Dauphin lowers the boom on Chambersburg, 38-0

HERSHEY >> A tough start to the football season for Chambersburg and head coach Mark Saunders just got tougher.

Lower Dauphin dominated in all phases of its non-league contest with the Trojans on Thursday night to lay a 38-0 defeat on Chambersburg at Hersheypark Stadium, dropping the club's record to 0-3.

"We're not playing with poise, we're not playing heady ball," Saunders said. "It's not from not trying; we go over things in practice every day. And that's the most frustrating and difficult part about it.

"I'm going to get up in the morning, I'm going to make adjustments, and we're going to get back at it. We've got to get it going. We'll keep working."

There was not a heckuva lot that broke Chambersburg's way in this one. Four forays into LD territory all met with foul ends – a pair of failed fourth-down conversions and a pair of interceptions.

On the other side of the ball, spurts of resistance were negated by breakdowns, both mental and physical.

On LD's opening drive, the Trojans let the Falcons off the hook with an offsides penalty on fourth-and-5, and the infraction kept the drive going. Two snaps later, Saunders' defense was flagged for pass interference. It all led to a nine-play, 88-yard effort capped by Falcon quarterback Tommy Klock finding wide receiver Charlie Fries for a 43-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Later in the quarter, Klock beat man coverage at the pylon on a fouth-and-21 play at the Chambersburg 28. Skyler Swartz snared a perfectly-located dart just beyond the reach of Trojan corner Warren Lee to double the lead and break the spirit.

"Those are the types of plays that have hurt us to this point," Saunders said. "And it's been the older guys who are making most of the mistakes. It's an uphill battle right now for us."

Klock was on-point during the first half for LD (3-0). He added a third long scoring strike – this one to Evan Morrill – good for 34 yards with just 52 seconds left in the first half to award the hosts a full-throttle choke hold on the game. The Falcon signal-caller wrapped the half 7 of 11 for 171 yards and three TDs before backing off after the break, as the ground game took over.

"Our passing game has definitely stepped up this year," LD coach Rob Klock, Tommy's father, said. "I think Tommy's matured in a year. He's making good decisions, he's taking charge, and I do think we have a nice line protecting him. We also have a nice core of receivers. We've had good receivers before, but never this many. He has options. And they're young, so we're excited."

Trojan QB Kaden Hoover was harassed into a tough evening by an LD defense that is living up to its reputation through three weeks. Hoover went just 6 of 14 for 33 yards and threw two picks, including one that Morrill, playing defense, ran back 36 yards to make it a 28-0 game four minutes into the second half.

Hunter Leedy took over with the game out of reach.

"Our talent level is better than it has been, across the board," Rob Klock said, referencing his receivers specifically, but is something that can be said team-wide.

Kicker Antonio Heredia finished off a long 11-play, 72-yard march – helped along by a roughing the passer call -- by nailing 23-yard field goal to make it 31-0. Then Brendan Shaffer ripped off a 69-yard run early in the fourth, untouched down the near sideline, for the final margin, putting the mercy clock in motion. Shaffer had 94 yards rushing on just five carries, complementing bulldozing backfield mate George Hatalowich, who compiled 65 crunchy yards on 14 totes.

Chambersburg's lone real bright spot was running back Carter Edmonson, who ate up some tough yardage trying to navigate the choppy waters of LD's interior defense. He finished with 50 yards on 11 carries.

Lower Dauphin 38

Chambersburg 0

Chambersburg0000—0Lower Dauphin147107—38

First Quarter

LD — Charlie Fries 43 pass from Tommy Klock (Antonio Heredia kick), 4:20

LD — Skyler Swartz 28 pass from Klock (Heredia kick), 0:57

Second Quarter

LD — Evan Morrill 34 pass from Klock (Heredia kick), 0:52

Third Quarter

LD — Morrill 36 interception return (Heredia kick), 8:29

LD — Heredia 23 field goal, 0:28

Fourth Quarter

LD — Brendan Shaffer 69 run (Heredia kick), 9:36

ChbgLDFirst downs720Rushes-yards30-7333-183Passing9-19-38-12-1Passing yards72186Total yards145369Punts5-33.41-39.0Fumbles-lost1-01-1Penalties-yards5-503-20

Individual statistics

Rushing — Chbg, Carter Edmondson 11-50, Warren Lee 5-14, Darius Johnson 5-7, Kaden Hoover 2-(-3), Barrington Slavery 7-5. LD, Shaffer 5-94, George Hatalowich 14-65, Cole Etchberger 5-16, Angel Cruz 4-8, Klock 3-2, Michael Geesaman 2-(-2).

Passing — Chbg, Hoover 6-14-33-2, Hunter Leedy 3-5-44-1. LD, Klock 8-12-1-186.

Receiving — Chbg, Johnson 4-33, Caleb Thompson 1-12, Spencer Seaman 1-11, Clay Myers 1-8, Griffin Leedy 1-5. LD, Fries 3-97, Morrill 2-47, Swartz 2-33, Justin McIntyre 1-11.