The problem is, Greencastle-Antrim plays football in the Mid Penn Colonial Division.

And this year, more than maybe any other year, that means a schedule full of really good opponents. Next up for the Blue Devils (4-4, 1-4 MPC) is Mechanicsburg (3-5, 3-2 MPC) for Greencastle’s Senior Night at Kaley Field on Friday at 7 p.m.

Seth Stouffer

“First thing I told the kids this week is to not be deceived by their record,” G-A coach Devin McCauley said. “I think this should be another exciting football game.”

The fact that the Wildcats have three wins in the Colonial (Susquehanna Twp., East Pennsboro, Waynesboro) says something, because the Blue Devils have fallen to both ST and EP.

Last week, Greencastle went up against what McCauley thought was the best defense he’d seen, Gettysburg, and the Devils scored 28 points, Tavon Cooper ran for 224 yards and had 87 receiving yards, and quarterback Logan Alvey threw for another 113.

“This will be another good test,” McCauley said. “We did well last week, and we’ll have to establish the run game in order to utilize play action. We’re trying to predict what they’ll try to do to stop us. They play a 4-3 front and their line is pretty active.”

If the offense can thrive again, it’ll be up to the Blue Devil defense to play more effectively than it did last week, when Gettysburg completed three touchdowns passes of 30-plus yards.

McCauley said, “Defending the passing game has been kind of an Achilles heel, both with the coverage and a lack of pressure. We gave them too much time to throw last week. We need to create a rush to stop the explosive plays.”

And Mechanicsburg is more than capable of producing those big plays. Quarterback Jeff Lougee has thrown for 716 yards and 3 TDs, although he has been picked off 7 times. Lougee threw for a score, ran for one and caught a pass for one last week.

Tight end Seth Brubaker is one receiver to watch, Josh Smith is another, and Parker Sample, who accounted for 195 yards and 2 TDs last week, is also a threat.

“They do a lot of runs through the quarterback and they spread you out,” McCauley said. “He is definitely the engine. They have three above-average athletes we’ll have to stop.”

McCauley said FB/LB Darren Kline was named the player of the game. His blocking helped Cooper amass his yardage, he intercepted a pass on defense and as McCauley said, “He sets the edge for us at linebacker.”

NOTES: Blue Devil statistics: Passing — Alvey 74-120, 1,013 yards, 10 TDs, 3 int. … Rushing — Cooper 162-1,247, 10 TDs; Austin Wyand 31-189, 1 TD … Receiving — Seth Stouffer 25-407, 6 TDs … Cooper 23-253, 2 TDs … Tackles — Logan Shifflett 72, Jake Yelton 55, Blake Diller 54 … Tackles for loss — Elijah Britner 5 … Sacks — Parker Funk 6 … Interceptions — Stouffer 3 … Kicking — Jackson Eby 26-29 PATs, 1-1 FGs, 41.9 punting average.