The start of Friday’s season opener was going very well for the Chambersburg football team.

The Trojans had scored on their first possession, made two defensive stops and had a first down on their second possession. But then quarterback Tyler Collier ran the ball, was hit hard and did not get up.

That clearly deflated Chambersburg, and Greencastle-Antrim took complete control from that point on, on its way to a 28-7 non-league victory at Kaley Field. The win was not all the Blue Devils celebrated — Chuck Tinninis was honored for starting his 30th season as head coach, and the school marked its 50th season of football by recognizing the 1967 squad in pregame ceremonies.

Collier, the Trojans’ promising 6-foot-7 signal caller, suffered a separated shoulder. He may be able to return later in the season, but he’ll definitely be out for a while.

“When Tyler went down, it took some of the wind out of us,” Chambersburg coach Mark Luther said. “He’s our leader, so that was really unfortunate. I think Greencastle could see we were down and they took it to us.”

The Trojans scored on their second play of the game, when running back Clay Myers broke through a big hole and sprinted 55 yards straight down the middle of the field to paydirt.

But from that point on, the Blue Devils were in control. G-A made it 7-6 early in the second period on an 11-play drive that ended on a 5-yard run by quarterback Cade McDowell. The Devils went ahead 14-7 with three seconds left in the half when McDowell snuck in from the 1, then hit Max McDowell for a two-point conversion. They moved from their own 9 on nine plays in just 2:08.

Wesley Medina tacked on a pair of TDs in the second half on short jaunts. McDowell ran 15 times for 74 yards and was 4-for-4 for 64 yards through the air.

Chambersburg’s offense was taken on by QB Brady Stumbaugh. He finished 5-for-15 for 44 yards, but had at least two passes dropped, and handled himself pretty well under the circumstances.

Luther said, “For a sophomore getting thrown into the fire, Brady played well. He missed a couple of reads and a few throws were off, but it was a tough situation. We didn’t change the game plan that much, but we were conservative early so he could get settled in.”

Myers finished with 108 yards on 20 carries.

“He ran the ball really well,” Luther said.

Other positives cited by Luther included the pass protection by the offensive line, the play of Seth Brouse on offense, and some good plays on defense by Justin Reichenbach at strong safety, Jamie Ramos at corner and Jarrett Sechrist at middle linebacker.

Luther said, “Tyler’s injury is that ‘Chambersburg luck’ happening again. We have to keep our heads up, face the adversity and correct our mistakes.”

The Trojans play at Shippensburg on Friday.

Greencastle 28, Chambersburg 7
Chambersburg     7  0  0  0  — 7
Greencastle           0  14  7  7  —  28
First Quarter
Ch — Clay Myers 55 run (Nazeer Taylor kick), 9:33
Second Quarter
GA — Cade McDowell 5 run (kicked failed), 3:22
GA — McDowell 1 run (Max McDowell pass from C.McDowell), 0:03
Third Quarter
GA — Wesley Medina 4 run (Ian Gelsinger kick), 9:19
Fourth Quarter
GA — Medina 1 run (Gelsinger kick), 10:22
Team Statistics
                                                Chbg         G-A
First downs                              9               14
Rushes-yards                         31-135   49-292
Passing yards                           44             64
Total offense                           179           356
Passing                                   5-15-0       4-4-0
Fumbles-lost                           2-2             2-1
Punts-avg.                              5-39.6      4-37.0
Penalties-yards                       3-20        9-62
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Chbg, Myers 20-108, Seth Brouse 4-18, Tyler Collier 1-7, Brady Stumbaugh 4-5, Andrew Shetter 1-0, Tucker Heckman 1-(-3). GA, C.McDowell 15-74, Isaiah Peck 9-64, Cade Marshall 2-62, Medina 12-36, Seth Eberly 4-30, Austin Kane 4-20, Brad Shear 3-6.
Passing — Chbg, Stumbaugh 5-15-0-44. GA, C.McDowell 4-4-0-64.
Receiving — Chbg, Justin Reichenbach 3-27, Brouse 2-17. GA, Peck 2-29, Marshall 1-27, Levi Mentzer 1-8.