Northern can't hang with McDevitt

Northern York hung with five-time defending district champion Bishop McDevitt for a quarter and a half Friday, but ultimately the Polar Bears were unable to contain the Crusaders' stable of playmakers.

That inability resulted in Northern's season-ending, 49-21 loss in the District 3 Class AAA football quarterfinals at Rocco Ortenzio Field in Harrisburg.

Bishop McDevitt (11-1) moves on to the semifinals where it will host Solanco, a 54-20 winner against Lampeter-Strasburg at 7 p.m. Friday.

"I'm proud of our effort. They wore us down, and we made some mistakes that really cost us," Northern head coach Greg Bowman said. "Our kids came out and fought hard. We did some really nice things offensively tonight."

Northern (8-4) trailed 20-7 in the second quarter when a screen pass attempt when awry. It was intercepted by a Crusader defensive lineman, and the hosts cashed in immediately.

Junior quarterback Tayvon Bowers threw a dart that hit Kobay White in stride on a slant route, and White broke a tackle to score from 30 yards out to boost the lead to 20-7 with 4:13 left in the first half. But McDevitt wasn't done scoring in the first half.

The Crusaders' next possession lasted one play, but was a 66-yard touchdown pass on a 1-yard hitch route from Bowers to Bryce Hall, who broke one tackle before navigating through the Northern defense. Hall had also done that on his 95-yard kickoff return to start the game and on another short hitch that he took 70 yards to paydirt with 6:53 left in the first half.

Hall caught three balls for 146 yards and a pair of scores, while Bowers was 8-of-11 throwing the ball for 243 yards and three touchdowns.

Northern trailed 34-7 at the half and then fumbled on the opening kickoff of the second half. It took five plays, but when Mike Jones barreled in from 4 yards out on the ground and tacked on the two-point conversion with a run, the mercy rule was enacted with 10:03 to go in the third quarter.

Michael Kearney scored on a 4-yard run for the Bears late in the third quarter, and after Jones capped McDevitt's scoring early in the fourth quarter, Kearney returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown with 1:31 left in the game.

The Bears answered Hall's opening kickoff for a score with a 10-play, 55-yard foray that Bobby Shelly capped with a 10-yard touchdown run with 8:11 left in the opening frame to give the visitors their only lead of the game, 7-6.

Jones put the Crusaders ahead to stay with a 15-yard touchdown run with 6:19 to play in the first quarter.

For the evening, Jones carried the ball 18 times for 137 yards and three touchdowns. 

Northern York_ 7_ 0_ 7_ 7_ - _21

Bishop McDevitt _13 _21 _8 _7 - _49

First Quarter

BM — Bryce Hall 95 kickoff return (kick failed) 11:46

Nor — Bobby Shelly 10 run (Aidan Alves kick) 8:11

BM — Mike Jones 15 run (Nick Miletic kick) 6:19

Second Quarter

BM — Hall 70 pass from Tayvon Bowers (Miletic kick) 6:53

BM — Kobay White 30 pass from Bowers (Miletic kick) 4:13

BM — Hall 66 pass from Bowers (Miletic kick) 0:59

Third Quarter

BM — Jones 4 run (Jones run) 10:03

Nor — Michael Kearney 8 run (Alves kick) 4:37

Fourth Quarter

BM — Jones 8 run (Miletic kick) 11:53

Nor — Kearney 29 interception return (Alves kick) 1:31

_._Nor_BM

First Downs _13 _18

Rushes-Yards _39-149 _27-152

Passing _8-20-3 _10-14-1

Passing Yards _73 _261

Total Yards _222 _413

Fumbles-Lost _2-1 _1-1

Punts _3-33.3 _2.31.5

Penalties _4-35 _5-48

Rushing — Nor, Shelly 13-55, Kearney 15-44, Curtis Robison 8-41, Wyatt Lewis 1-6, Justin Markle 2-3. BM, Jones 18-137, Bowers 4-15, Tory Vajdic 3-0, Chase Diehl 2-0.

Passing — Nor, Robison 8-19-73-2, Markle 0-1-0-1. BM, Bowers 8-11-243-0, Diehl 2-3-18-1.

Receiving — Nor, Kearney 3-13, Joey Razzano 2-17, John Kearney 2-12, Dylan Baxter 1-31. BM, Hall 3-146, White 3-62, Nazir Burnett 3-42, Michael Tokar 1-11.