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H.S. FOOTBALL: Chambersburg deals with distractions to win 1st game of the season


CHAMBERSBURG >> Distractions surrounded the Chambersburg football team heading into Friday night's game with Mifflin County.

For starters, the Trojans' head coach, Mark Saunders, resigned that morning, and on top of that, it was Homecoming week.

But Chambersburg put everything behind it and played its most impressive game of the season in a 28-7 Mid Penn Commonwealth win.

"The motto of tonight was to just focus on the next play," Chambersburg interim head coach Scott Mitchell said. "We had plenty of distractions tonight, but we battled through a lot of adversity and just kept fighting."

The Trojans (1-5, 1-2 MPC) battled through plenty of adversity on the field, too. On their first drive of the game, they drove down the field on just five plays, and Darius Johnson scored from 10 yards out to give Chambersburg a 6-0 lead.

But for the rest of the first half, the Trojans struggled with turnovers. In the two drives following the touchdown, Chambersburg fumbled twice, and after Carter Edmonson put the Trojans up 13-0 with a 10-yard touchdown run, they threw an interception and had a field goal blocked at the halftime whistle.

Said Johnson, who finished with 81 rushing yards and another 31 receiving, "You're never going to have a perfect game, but it's how you bounce back from those mistakes that matter. We put ourselves in a hole a couple times, but each time we made plays to get out of it."

On their first drive of the third quarter, the Huskies (0-6, 0-3 MPC) were forced to punt, but Chambersburg fumbled the ball and Mifflin County recovered at the Trojan 41. Five plays later, quarterback Isaac Maclay punched it in from six yards out to put the Huskies down only 13-7.

But Chambersburg answered right back. Led by the rushing attack, the Trojans drove down the field, and Edmonson made it 21-7 with a nine-yard score. They then put the game away on a 17-yard run by Warren Lee early in the fourth quarter.

"It's just like a broken record," Mifflin County coach Brent Hartman said. "We go out and we work hard every day, but sometimes hard work isn't enough. I thought we had a chance to win this game, but we just didn't perform."

Edmonson finished with 10 carries for 96 yards, and Lee had 17 carries for 111 yards. Overall, the Trojans had 45 carries for 304 yards.

Lee said, "The offensive line made things happen tonight. They made some big holes for us, and we just hit them and made plays."

"This win feels great," offensive and defensive lineman Kelton Chastulik said, "Offensively, we just wanted to come out and play the way we knew how. We knew we had the potential, but tonight we wanted to show it."

Chambersburg's defense took care of the rest. The Trojans totaled four interceptions and held Mifflin County to just 155 yards, including just 73 yards rushing on 33 carries.

"I'm very proud of this team tonight," Mitchell said. "We saw what we were capable of tonight; now we just need to be consistent with it."

Chambersburg 28

Mifflin County 7

Mifflin County0070—7Chambersburg6787—28

First Quarter

Ch — Darius Johnson 10 run (Nazeer Taylor kick blocked), 10:06

Second Quarter

Ch — Carter Edmondson 10 run (Taylor kick), 3:56

Third Quarter

MC — Isaac Maclay 6 run (Davis Wagner kick), 5:59

Ch — Edmondson 9 run (Warren Lee pass from Kaden Hoover), 3:06

Fourth Quarter

Ch — Lee 17 run (Taylor kick), 9:24

MCChbgFirst downs1014Rushes-yards33-7345-304Passing8-22-43-7-1Passing yards8290Total yards155394Punts4-25.51-39Fumbles-lost0-03-3Penalties-yards4-266-51
Individual statistics

Rushing — MC, Malik Sechler 9-29, Drew Williams 3-21, Maclay 16-15, Cole Baker 2-6, Nathan Earnest 1-4, Nic Copenhaver 2-(-2). Chbg, Lee 17-111, Edmondson 10-96, Johnson 9-81, Brandon Miller 2-10, Kammeron Green 3-4, Hoover 1-4, Hunter Leedy 3-(-2).

Passing — MC, Maclay 5-15-2-44, Williams 3-7-2-38. Chbg, Hoover 3-7-1-90, Leedy 0-2.

Receiving — MF, Sechler 4-55, Nicholas Poche 2-16, Nathan Bargo 2-11. Chbg, Sam Blevins 1-40, Johnson 1-31, Griffin Leedy 1-19.

Interceptions — MC, Drew Williams. Chbg, Lee, Austin Kopp, Jack Kunkleman, Spencer Seaman.

Missed field goal — Chbg, Taylor (18, blocked).