Something had to give in this wildly entertaining PIAA Class AAA semifinal at E.J. Mansell Stadium in DuBois.
Less than 3 minutes into the third quarter, it was a flashback to 2012 in Clearfield where the Ramblers shredded Bishop McDevitt in the second half of the semifinal on their way to the state championship.
It certainly had the feel again when Prep (13-1) scored two quick touchdowns to grab a 42-27 lead.
At that point the Ramblers had scored 42 points and rolled up 420 yards of offense in less than 27 minutes.
Cathedral Prep finished with 42 points and managed only 60 more total yards the final 21 minutes.
McDevitt’s weapons on offense kept firing, but it was the Crusaders’ defense that swayed this big-play fest into a 47-42 victory.
“Our kids just bowed up and played. One of the things I go back to is that loss to Cedar Cliff. We didn’t like that feeling. And this group of kids just would not give up,” Bishop McDevitt head coach Jeff Weachter said. “And with the weapons we have, we know we’re never out of a game.
“I told the defense at halftime we can score on them. But you guys are going to have to make some stops. And they did. We made some adjustments at halftime. Credit goes to the kids. They just made some plays.”
Two plays after McDevitt scored on a 72-yard completion from Nick Marsilio to Bryce Hall, it was linebacker Nate Monroe’s turn to grab a moment in the spotlight.
Cathedral Prep quarterback tortured the Crusaders’ defense with cunningly designed screen passes and sharp throws for 27 minutes.
But two plays after the Marsilio to Hall bomb, Monroe stepped in front of one of those screen passes and waltzed into the end zone from 32 yards out for a momentum changing pick-6.
“They kept running that step-up, step-back screen to my side all night. That one time I read it right and stepped in and all of a sudden the ball was coming,” Monroe said. “I grabbed it and I just took it in from there.”
Talking to the McDevitt players and coaches after this titanic come-from-behind victory, it’s clear that regular-season loss to Cedar Cliff played a role in this victory.
Cathedral Prep had not been pushed this season. The Ramblers had not played a meaningful fourth quarter all season. And it showed.
McDevitt, on the other hand, had not only lost but had to come from behind several times this season in the second half.
And that showed, too.
“All year we’ve been saying this team is never out of the fight. And especially after what happened against Cedar Cliff,” Monroe said. “At halftime we kept saying never give up the fight and keep trying to make plays.”
“We faced adversity before. Nobody put their heads down or anything,” Crusaders running back Andre Robinson said. “We’ve lost this season, and they hadn’t lost in 28 games. We faced adversity and they had not. We thought that would be to our advantage and it played out that way.”
After falling behind by 15 points, McDevitt’s defense allowed only 60 yards and one first down the final 21 minutes. More importantly it also made plays, coming up with three interceptions and two sacks.
“In the first half we knew what they were doing, but we just didn’t put ourselves in the right positions to make plays,” Monroe said. “The second half we came out and knew we had to make plays. We came up with sacks and picks and just made plays.”
Entering this game the Crusaders and Ramblers averaged a combined 862 yards and nearly 95 points a game. The final tally from Saturday night was 979 yards and 89 points.
These two talented teams put on a show. The biggest difference was one team knew exactly what to do in the fourth quarter. And the other lost its way down the stretch.
“It was a fun game. I told Mike (Mischler) after the game it was a shame one of us had to lose,” Weachter said. “This was a great football game between two unbelievably athletic teams. Nobody lost this game. We just won this game. We made one more play than they did. It was fun.”
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