Lancaster Catholic's Downey comes alive in second half to beat Littlestown

For two quarters on Friday night, the Littlestown football team showed it could play with the big boys.

But the Thunderbolts offense stagnated in the second half against Lancaster Catholic, and the defense gave up 219 yards and four touchdown runs to quarterback Bryan Downey as the Crusaders handed the Bolts a 28-13 loss at home.

Littlestown dropped to 0-3 this season and has lost 11 of its last 14 games, making undefeated regular seasons in 2009, 2010 and 2013 seem like a distant memory.

Still, Thunderbolts head coach Mike Lippy saw positives in the loss.

"Tonight, I saw some of the old Littlestown football I'm used to seeing," Lippy said. "I don't take any moral victories in this, but I'm proud of the way the kids played.

"Tonight, our kids found out they block and run and throw, even against a great team like this."

Littlestown was in for a challenge from the very first play, when Downey hit 6-foot-4 receiver Ricky Poillon for 32 yards over the middle, and the Crusaders marched into Thunderbolt territory.

They got as far as the Bolts 25, but Littlestown stiffened and earned a stop on fourth down.

The offense took the field and snapped 12 plays, 11 of them runs, while facing third down just twice.

Andrew Matthews wiggled through a low tackle and scored from five yards out to give Littlestown a lead for the first time this season.

Downey led the Crusaders back, wrestling away from a tackle at the 16 on a 29-yard scoring run that tied the score at 7-7.

However, the Bolts fought back, scoring on an 11-play drive. Quarterback Cody Boyd, who was 4-of-4 on the drive for 41 yards, found Matthews in the flat on third-and-8, and he fought his way through traffic for a 15-yard touchdown.