Lancaster Catholic is 0-2 for the first time since 2003: L-L Saturday Morning Quarterback

LANCASTER — News, notes and other random thoughts after Football Friday, Week 2 style …

OH-AND-2 FOR CRUSADERS: Anyone have Lancaster Catholic going 0-2 to start the season? Yeah, me neither. But two weeks in, and the Crusaders have yet to taste a victory; Governor Mifflin came to Rossmere Friday night and blanked Lancaster Catholic 28-0.

Two funky stats for you:

1. This is Lancaster Catholic’s first 0-2 start in 10 years; the Crusaders dropped their first two games in 2003, a 21-14 setback to Trinity and a 34-28 loss to Elco.

2. Governor Mifflin pinned the first shutout loss on Lancaster Catholic since the Crusaders were blanked by Trinity 20-0 in a Week 1 game on Aug. 29, 2008 in Lancaster.

In between, all the Crusaders did was win four district titles and a pair of PIAA state championships — which makes this 0-2 start very, very weird.

The most alarming thing about Lancaster Catholic’s 0-2 getaway: Lack of offense.

In Week 1, the Crusaders managed just 133 yards in a 21-6 loss against Dallastown.

Against Governor Mifflin, Lancaster Catholic had just 110 total yards.

That’s 243 yards — in two games.

The Crusaders averaged practically that many yards per half over the last nine or 10 seasons.

The Mustangs picked off Crusaders’ quarterbacks three times, including starter C.J. Gantz twice. That led coach Bruce Harbach to insert freshman Jordan Scott behind center. He was picked, too, as Gantz and Scott combined to go 6-of-13 for 63 yards.

Week 3 won’t be any easier for the Crusaders, who face a 3-hour bus ride to Altoona to take on Erie McDowell in their third and final nonleague game.

McDowell is 1-1, with a 44-30 loss to Menton, Ohio, in Week 1 and a 35-0 whitewash over General McLane on Friday.

McDowell swamped Lancaster Catholic 49-20 last year, also in Altoona in the first of two meetings at a neutral site between the two teams.

McDowell’s Week 4 opponent: A trip to Cleveland to take on national power St. Ignatius. Hello.

CEDARS SACK STREAK: It’s over. It’s finally over. Tip of the cap to Lebanon, which snapped its 11-game losing skid, compliments of a crazy 40-39 OT win over neighbor Northern Lebanon.

Cedars’ QB Mark Pyles produced one of the best stat lines of the night: 17-of-27 for 207 yards and six — count ‘em, a half dozen — touchdown passes. He was not intercepted, and also rushed 18 times for 87 yards, as Lebanon won for the first time since a Week 10 victory over Elizabethtown in 2011.

Pyles’ favorite target vs. the Vikings: Nicholas Negron, who had six catches for 88 yards and — get this — five TD grabs. Negron’s fifth and final TD catch of the night came in OT.

Negron also hauled in Pyles’ 2-point conversion pass to win it, as Northern Lebanon suffered its 10^th loss in a row — in agonizing fashion.

NO TRIMBY, NO PROBLEM: Donegal ace RB-LB Kris Trimby went down with an ankle sprain in the first half last Saturday in the Indians’ 20-6 loss to Elizabethtown at Lebanon Valley College. Trimby will likely be out until Week 4, when Donegal hosts Garden Spot in a much-anticipated Section 3 game.

Friday, with Trimby in street clothes, the Indians earned their first win compliments of a nip-and-tuck 27-24 home win over Fleetwood.

just because im out for a couple weeks doesn't mean im not getting that trophy. its only makin me strive harder for it. #Football#LIfe

— Kristofer Trimby (@BigBadBear24) September 5, 2013

MILESTONE UPDATE: With its 52-19 win over Hempfield on Friday, Manheim Central pocketed career victory No. 495 — just two shy of Wilson, which won its 497^th game last week, a 38-7 victory at Governor Mifflin.

The Bulldogs will go for 498 on Saturday at 1 p.m. when Wilson visits Harrisburg in a rematch of last year’s District 3 Class AAAA title game, won by the Bulldogs.

Bad news for the Cougars: Rutgers recruit Robert Martin, Harrisburg’s dynamite RB-LB, is out of the season after tearing an ACL in Week 1 vs. Bishop McDevitt.

Wilson and Manheim Central are vying to become the second and third L-L programs to hit 500 career victories, joining McCaskey.

UNDEFEATED — AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: Six L-L League teams are 2-0. Considering there are 23 teams in the L-L, that sounds kinda low. But that’s the list.

* Cocalico pounded Reading 44-6, and has now outscored its first two opponents 93-20. When’s that Manheim Central game again?

* Columbia squeaked past Northeastern 8-7 on Friday, in one of the more bizarre final scores of Week 2. That makes the Crimson Tide 2-0 under first-year coach James Burke, who is living right. QB Kyle Warfel heaved a 55-yard TD pass to Marquel Wansley with 1:43 to play, and Warfel’s 2-point pass to Jerod Helton gave the Tide the lead for good. We’ll see exactly where Columbia stacks up after the next two weeks: Tide gets District 3 boppers Trinity and Berks Catholic next.

* Garden Spot won its 12^th regular season game in a row with a 27-7 victory over neighbor Ephrata. QB Mitch Martin had another whopper game throwing the ball, completing 12-of-29 for 298 yards and three TD — giving him eight TD tosses in two weeks. Spartans will go for 13 regular-season wins in a row in Week 3 against winless Conestoga Valley.

* Manheim Central wasn’t looking so hot in the first quarter against Hempfield on Friday, falling behind 12-0 before breaking a sweat. Then the Barons got mean, scored 35 unanswered points and blew past the Knights, 52-19. When’s that Cocalico game again?

* Penn Manor survived a tussle against Lampeter-Strasburg, which was coming off a 40-7 setback to Hempfield in Week 1. Charles Bell was the star for the Comets, rushing for 130 yards, catching 110 yards worth of passes, and scoring three TD in Penn Manor’s eke-it-out 28-14 win over the pesky Pioneers. Comets are still missing Brett Caggiano (collarbone) and Tyler Spangler (arm). But they’re 2-0 and picking up steam. Bell, who helped Lancaster Catholic win a state title in 2011 as a sophomore, has been an absolute terror.

* Pequea Valley, in its drive for five wins to equal the program mark for victories in a season, is on its way. The Braves improved to 2-0 with a 21-19 victory over Kutztown, when Tyler Hershey hauled in the game-winning TD catch from Hunter Smith with less than four minutes to play. PV will go for 3-0 against Octorara, which has had the Braves’ number the last couple of years.

WINLESS — AND IT FEELS NOT SO HOT: The number of 0-2 teams in the L-L is larger than the undefeated group: Eight.

* Annville-Cleona dropped a 25-22 decision to Hamburg, when Hawks’ K Tyler Seidel booted a 20-yard field goal for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. Hamburg won that nutty 55-54 game vs. Elco in Week 1, making the Hawks 2-0 against L-L competition so far. Still say the Dutchmen will be a factor in the Section 3 hunt.

* Conestoga Valley is 0-2 in the Mark Pieters Era, after a 35-16 setback to Warwick. Bucks have yielded 88 points in two games — and get mega-hot Garden Spot next.

* Ephrata fell to Garden Spot 27-7. Pegged the Spartans to score more than 27 in this one, so a spirited defensive effort for the Mounts, who have scored just 14 points in two games. Gotta pick that up.

* Lampeter-Strasburg gave Penn Manor a battle, one week after getting axed by Hempfield. Still say the Pioneers will be in the Section 2 mix.

* Lancaster Catholic: See above. Total head-scratcher there.

* McCaskey fell to York 28-7, and needs a momentum-building showing in Week 3 against Exeter, because big, bad Wilson will be waiting in Week 4 for the Section 1 opener. Bulldogs will bring that nifty 36-game league winning streak into that one.

* Northern Lebanon now owns the longest losing skid in the L-L, at 10 games, after the 40-39 OT setback to Lebanon. Up next for the Vikings: Hamburg, which has picked off two Lebanon County teams already this season.

* Solanco punched in a TD in its 13-6 loss to Dover. The Golden Mules had been shutout in four of their previous five games dating back to last season. Baby steps.

WEEK 4 PRIMER: At first glimpse, not an absolute must-see game in the lot. But a few intriguing nonleague games to put on your list …

* Warwick at Ephrata in the annual George Male Trophy slugfest. Never any love lost between those backyard rivals — regardless of the records.

* Reading at Wilson in the Bulldogs’ first game on their shiny new turf field in Gurski Stadium. Last game in that all-Berks feud for the time being.

* Dallastown at Penn Manor features a couple of 2-0 teams locking horns in that one.

* Cocalico at Governor Mifflin should be entertaining. The Eagles have shredded Daniel Boone and Reading, and will go after their Berks County foe in a row. Mustangs, who got lit up by Wilson in Week 1, are feeling better about things after blanking Lancaster Catholic. Hang a star next to this one; Cocalico would love some momentum going into Section 2 play.

* Lebanon at Elco in the "Bologna Bowl". Should be a fun night for the Lebanon County crowd — especially the Cedars' backers, who can finally exhale after Friday's victory.

Follow @JeffReinhart77