Clay Myers has breakout game in Chambersburg win
This is just what the doctor ordered.
Not only did Chambersburg win its first game of the season for the first time in three years, but the Trojans dismantled Greencastle-Antrim's offense and posted a much-needed 20-0 victory in Friday night's non-league football game at Trojan Stadium.
While Kelton Chastulik was the star of the defense, landing three tackles for a loss, it was Clay Myers who turned heads offensively.
Myers, who rushed for just two yards last year, finished with 134 on 16 carries, and after the end zone thwarted him twice in the first half, he capped off the victory with a highlight worthy touchdown. After getting into some space, he had just one Blue Devil to beat. Myers put on a nifty spin move to get around the defender, and easily scored a 40-yarder.
"Normally coaches don't like me doing a spin move, but I saw the opportunity with the open field," Myers said. "I thought I'd make the Crazies (Chambersburg's student section) go a little wild, so I tried it. It ended up working, and I ran it in the end zone. It was an awesome play; I loved it. Such a great feeling."
It was well-deserved, too. Seventy-five of Myers' rushing yards came in the first half, but each time Myers got the Trojans close to the end zone, Greencastle's defense clogged it up. Chambersburg had to settle for a pair of 25-yard field goals by Nazeer Taylor. But Myers kept his hard-nosed run game going, and made the Blue Devils pay.
"He ran hard," Chambersburg coach Mark Luther said. "He had been working hard all summer, so it wasn't a surprise for us. But he did a really nice job running well, and that last run was just icing on the cake for him."
Not only was Myers Chambersburg's leading rusher, he also led the Trojans with three catches for 39 yards.
Posting its first shutout since 2014, Chambersburg's defense had some help from the Blue Devil offense, which constantly seemed stuck in the mud. Greencastle managed just 177 yards of offense, and only 64 yards in the first half.
"Well, our offensive line needs to do a better job, and we need to be able to throw the ball a little bit better," G-A coach Chuck Tinninis said. "Those are two big things. We had some drops by kids that would've been huge plays, so throwing the ball is on everybody."
The few times the Blue Devils did threaten, mistakes got the best of them. Late in the third quarter, G-A had Chambersburg pinned deep after a series of penalties, and the Trojans were ready to punt. But the Blue Devils mishandled the return, and Sean Vessah made them pay by scooping up the fumble for a 60-yard touchdown. Austin Kopp also picked off a Blue Devil ball midway through the final frame.
"On a lot of the punts, they acted like they were going to fair catch it, but then they decided to run," Vessah said. "As soon as I saw him break one tackle, I started going even harder. Thank you to Kelton for hitting him and making that fumble possible. I was lucky enough to grab it and take it down to the house."
The win ensures at least as many victories as the Trojans had a year ago, but they're even hungrier now after finally getting a taste of victory.
Chambersburg 20, Greencastle 0
Greencastle _ 0 _ 0 _ 0 _ 0 _ — _ 0
Chambersburg _ 3 _ 3 _ 7 _ 7 _ — _ 20
First Quarter
C — Nazeer Taylor 25 field goal, 4:30
Second Quarter
C — Taylor 25 field goal, 6:20
Third Quarter
C — Sean Vessah 60 fumble recovery (Taylor kick), 0:31
Fourth Quarter
C — Clay Myers 40 run (Taylor kick), 5:30
Team Statistics
_ GA _ Chbg
First downs _ 10 _ 14
Rushes-yards _ 30-147 _ 37-220
Passing _ 6-14-1 _ 6-13-0
Passing yards _ 30 _ 58
Total yards _ 177 _ 278
Punts _ 6-31.2 _ 2-39
Fumbles-lost _ 1-1 _ 2-0
Penalties-yards _ 4-25 _ 11-108
Individual Statistics
Rushing — GA, Demetrius Burton 11-54, Cade McDowell 6-41, Caleb Schaeffer 6-32, Kyrin Zimmerman 4-16, Isaiah Peck 2-6, Tanner Bain 1-(-2). Chbg, Myers 16-134, Kammeron Green 7-52, Tyler Collier 6-33, Tucker Heckman 4-5, Kaden Hoover, 1-(-1), Team 1-(-3).
Passing — GA, McDowell 6-14-30-1. Chbg, Collier 5-10-52-0, Hoover 1-3-6-0.
Receiving — GA, Burton 3-11, Zimmerman 2-12, Schaeffer 1-7. Chbg, Myers 3-39, Seth Brouse 2-5, Sean Vessah 1-14.
Interceptions — Chbg, Austin Kopp.