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Cedar Crest finishes season strong with 35-6 victory


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LEBANON - In their first season in Section 2 for football, the Cedar Crest Falcons entered the night out of contention for a section title, but with an outside shot at a District 3 playoff berth and the chance to send their seniors out on a high note with the first six-win season since 2004.

The Falcons jumped out to an early lead with a robust ground game that saw the Falcons gain 347 yards on 36 carries, and kept up the intensity throughout for a 35-6 victory over the Lampeter-Strasburg Pioneers to improve to 6-4, 4-3 in Section 2.

Cedar Crest coach Rob Wildasin said, “We knew coming in that there were going to be some opportunities on the edges and the O-line did a great job, but our wideouts on the wings really blocking like crazy are what caused some of those big plays to pop.”

After L-S deferred, it took the Falcons only five plays to overcome their first of eight penalties and go 60 yards to take the early lead on Tate Seyfert’s 22-yard run.

On their second possession, Logan Horn connected with Greyson Williams for a 23-yard touchdown with 23 seconds to go in the half.

Meanwhile, the Cedar Crest defense once again had a solid effort, highlighted by Ethan Strickler’s early tackle for loss, an interception by Garrett DeBien, and a sack late in the half by Tanner Miller. Plus, senior Devon Bernard scored on a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the third.

“Our defense has been phenomenal all year. Our staff does an excellent job of prepping the kids and the kids have bought in,” Wildasin said. “That was something I said when I took over that we had to get better defensively and we’re tough defensively.”

Lampeter-Strasburg did manage to get on the board in the second quarter, but the Falcons responded on their very next possession with Seyfert’s second touchdown of the evening, a 20-yard run. Seyfert ended his career at Cedar Crest with 255 yards on 11 carries and a third touchdown on a 15-yard pass from Horn.

Fellow senior Justice Belleman also got loose several times with 15 attempts for 72 yards, and Wildasin tapped Michael Rubinstein for the final extra point, which the senior nailed.

“They (the seniors) stepped up,” Wildasin said. “We talked about it before the game that this is their last moment together. These moments come and go in life and you have to cash in on them when you can, and I think they did that.”

Cedar Crest now waits for the final district power rankings to see if they will get another game, but even if they don’t make it, Wildasin said his group has made huge strides and will be ready for another season in Section 2.

“I’m really proud of these guys,” said Wildasin. “That’s the whole program top to bottom, including my coaches, and I think we have things going in the right direction. We’re definitely in the mix.”

Cedar Crest 35, Lampeter-Strasburg 6 

L-Strasburg _ 0 _ 6 _ 0 _ 0 _ — _ 6

Cedar Crest _ 14 _ 7 _ 6 _ 7 _ — _ 35

First Quarter

CC — Tate Seyfert 62 run (Chad Ryland kick), 3:41

CC — Greyson Williams 23 pass from Logan Horn (Ryland kick), 0:23

Second Quarter

LS — Shane Lawler 1 run (kick failed), 5:34

CC — Seyfert 20 run (Ryland kick), 2:43

Third Quarter

CC — Devon Bernard 47 interception return (Ryland kick), 4:57

Fourth Quarter

CC — Seyfert 15 pass from Horn (Michael Rubinstein kick), 2:13

Team Statistics

_ L-S _ CC

First downs _ 12 _ 14

Rushes-yards _ 37-90 _ 36-347

Passing _ 16-30-2 _ 6-9-1

Passing yards _ 214 _ 116

Total yards _ 304 _ 463

Punts _ 3-35.0 _ 1-30.0

Fumbles-lost _ 1-1 _ 3-2

Penalties-yards _ 3-20 _ 8-70

Individual Statistics

Rushing — LS: Niemeyer 6-8 Lawler 20-82, Gaudino 3-8, Shelley 6-(-15), Kreider 1-1, Lopez 1-(-1), Team 1-6; CC:  Belleman 15-72, Seyfert 11-255, Dorvil 3-(-2), Apple 4-16, Horn 3-1.

Passing — LS: Shelley 16-20-2-214; CC: Horn 6-9-1-116.

Receiving — LS: Smith 1-3, Lopez 4-47, Gaudino 5-103, Lawler 5-51, Niemeyer 1-0, Edwards 1-10; CC: Dunlop 1-16, Keffer 1-30, Seyfert 2-26, Williams 1-23, Loehr 1-21.