Cedar Crest comes up just short at Cocalico, 22-13
DENVER - Proving time and again that they will rise in the face of adversity and just keep coming, the Cedar Crest football team traveled to Cocalico to take on the Eagles for first place in Section 2 on Friday night.
On the heels of arguably their best defensive game this year, the Falcon defense was once again impressive, but Cedar Crest fell 22-13 to the Eagles, who were fresh of their own impressive victory over Manheim Central last week.
Justice Belleman was inactive for the Falcons, but that didn’t stop Cedar Crest from jumping out to an early lead after the Eagles' opening drive, 20 plays that chewed up 8:37, stalled inside the red zone at the 12 with back-to-back penalties and a missed 43-yard field goal attempt.
The Falcons (4-2, 2-1) then went 80 yards in 4:07 to take a 7-0 lead when AJ Apple ran in from the 3-yard line and Chad Ryland tacked on the extra point early in the second quarter.
The Eagles tied the game on their next possession, and a fake punt by Cedar Crest on fourth-and-1 at midfield was ruled just short of the line to gain.
But the Falcon defense just kept coming, forcing one of two turnovers on Cocalico’s ensuing possession, keeping the game tied 7-7 at halftime.
“They (Cedar Crest) have a nice team. (Cedar Crest coach) Rob (Wildasin) does a nice job,” said Cocalico coach Dave Gingrich. “Their defense was very tough to move the ball against tonight.”
Cocalico was able to tack on a field goal in the third and a touchdown early in the fourth, but Logan Horn and the Falcons took to the air to take the ball back down the field for Tate Seyfert’s 5-yard score. Horn finished with 143 yards on 13 completions.
Wildasin said, “I thought our offense showed signs of really starting to click and I just love how physical we are and coachable.”
The defense almost allowed the Falcons to come away with their second impressive win in back-to-back weeks. Brandon Showers recovered the second Eagle fumble midway through the fourth quarter, but Cocalico’s Brandon Brubaker, who rushed 34 times for 159 yards and a touchdown, came up with perhaps the biggest play of the night when he snagged a pass by Horn and returned it 65 yards for a score.
“Thank goodness,” said Gingrich. “You make plays and you prevent plays and that was a big play at the right time for us. We were just fortunate to come out on top tonight.”
Once again facing a two-score deficit, Horn had the Falcons driving when he took a shot near the Cedar Crest sideline and remained on the field for several minutes. He was able to get up and walk off on his own power, but it proved to be too much adversity for the Falcons to overcome.
“We played our tails off,” said Wildasin. “That was a one-touchdown game basically, and nothing to hang our heads about. We’ll be ready for next week.”
Cedar Crest is on the road again next week at Solanco while Cocalico travels to Garden Spot.
Cocalico 22, Cedar Crest 13
Cedar Crest _ 7 _ 0 _ 0 _ 6 _ — _ 13
Cocalico _ 0 _ 7 _ 3 _ 12 _ — _ 22
First Quarter
CC — AJ Apple 3 run (Chad Ryland kick), 11:16
Second Quarter
Coc — Brandon Brubaker 3 run (Benjamin Puodziunas kick), 7:44
Third Quarter
Coc — Puodziunas 29 field goal, 1:48
Fourth Quarter
Coc — Colton Goodman 14 run (kick failed), 7:39
CC — Tate Seyfert 5 run (kick blocked), 5:19
Coc — Brubaker 65 Interception return (kick blocked), 2:56
Team Statistics
_Cedar Crest _ Cocalico
First downs _ 16 _ 13
Rushes-yards _ 40-100 _ 50-301
Passing _ 14-29-2 _ 0-4-0
Passing yards _ 144 _ 0
Total yards _ 244 _ 301
Punts _ 3-28.0 _ 0-0
Fumbles-lost _ 0-0 _ 5-2
Penalties-yards _ 3-35 _ 4-35
Individual Statistics
Rushing — CC: Apple 17-55, Horn 8-36, Ebersole 3-12, Seyfert 1-5, Williams 1 -(-8); Coc: Goodman 13-72, Brubaker 34-159, Frey 3-13, Sawyer 7-15, Landers 3-42.
Passing — CC: Horn 13-28-2-143, Ryland 1-1-0-1; Coc: Sawyer 0-4-0.
Receiving — CC: Seyfert 3-48, French 1-13, Dunlop 5-48, Dorvil 2-18, Williams 2-4, Loehr 1-13.