MECHANICSBURG — Mechanicsburg showed the ability to produce big play after big play and Greencastle-Antrim simply couldn’t keep up.

The Wildcats gained fewer yards and had 7 fewer first downs, but they made their big plays count and handed the Blue Devils a 34-22 defeat in a Mid Penn Colonial football game Friday night at Memorial Park Stadium.

Carter McCauley

“Tough game,” Greencastle coach Devin McCauley said. “Our kids played hard, but credit to Mechanicsburg’s kids — they out-played us and deserved to win.”

The loss dropped G-A (6-3, 3-3 MPC) back into the No. 12 position in the District 3 power rankings. The Blue Devils still have a good chance to reach the playoffs (top 16 get in), but next Friday’s home game vs. rival Shippensburg in the final regular season game will be that much more important.

McCauley said, “We just need to put this one behind us quickly and regroup for the final week.”

Josh Smith was a handful for Greencastle — he caught 10 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns and also threw a pass for 67- yards and a score.

“We had trouble containing No. 1 (Smith),” McCauley said.

Smith’s long pass to Henry Notarfrancesco on a reverse produced the first touchdown, and Mechanicsburg (4-5, 3-3 MPC) cashed in after a 60-yard scramble by QB Eli Reider, with Reider scoring from 2 yards out.

The Blue Devils put together a 9-play drive, finished by a 3-yard run from Surzano Solomon to make it 13-7, but the Wildcats needed less than a minute to race downfield and made it 20-7 on a 28-yard run up the gut by Isaac Doleman before halftime.

In a scoreless third period, G-A reached the Wildcats’ 13 and Carter Coons ran around the left side to the 5 — but he was stripped of the ball by Doleman, who ran it 95 yards for an apparent touchdown. Mechanicsburg had two penalties on the play, so the score didn’t count, but G-A’s drive was ended.

“Our defense played better in the second half (forcing three straight punts),” McCauley said, “but we just couldn’t find a way to close the gap. The offense moved the ball between the 20s, but we couldn’t find a way to score.”

The Wildcats then stuck in the dagger. An interception by Justin Bardo set up the offense, which scored in three plays on Smith’s 32-yard run on a screen pass from Reider, and an 8-yard pass from Reider to Smith after a second pick by Bardo. That TD was set up by a 79-yard run by Doleman.

The Blue Devils got a pair of consolation touchdowns late, one on a 14-yard pass from Logan Alvey to Carter McCauley, and on a 1-yard run by Asher Whitson. Whitson totaled 69 yards on three straight carries, plus a two-point conversion run.

Carter McCauley had a big night, with 8 catches for 123 yards, and Alvey was 20-for-34 for 195 yards. But Greencastle lost the turnover battle, 3-0, and allowed six plays of at least 20 yards.

Mechanicsburg 34, Greencastle-Antrim 22
Greencastle                0      7     0     15     —     22
Mechanicsburg         7     13    0     14     —     34
First Quarter
M — Henry Notarfrancesco 67 pass from Josh Smith (Brennan Baker kick)
Second Quarter
M — Eli Reider 2 run (kick blocked)
GA — Surzano Solomon 3 run (Andrew Bowers kick)
M — Isaac Doleman 28 run (Baker kick)
Fourth Quarter
M — Smith 32 pass from Reider (Baker kick)
M — Smith 8 pass from Reider (Baker kick)
GA — Carter McCauley 14 pass from Logan Alvey (Bowers kick)
GA — Asher Whitson 1 run (Whitson run)
Team Statistics
                                                      G-A                   Mech
First downs                                 20                        13
Rushes-yards                            37-209                21-216
Passing                                       20-35-2             17-24-0
Passing yards                              195                    208
Total offense                               402                     349
Fumbles-lost                                1-1                      1-0
Punts-average                            3-35.3                 4-31.3
Penalties-yards                           4-20                     6-40
Individual Statistics
Rushing — GA, Whitson 3-69, Solomon 7-44, Carter Coons 8-39, Garrett Blubaugh 8-34, Xzavier Ramsey 6-11, Cody Ferree 3-7, Alvey 2-3. Mech, Doleman 10-126, Reider 7-66, Juelz Goss 3-19, Smith 1-5.
Passing — GA, Alvey 20-34-2-195, McCauley 0-1-0-0. Mech, Reider 14-20-0-133, Smith 1-1-0-67, Noah Apple 2-3-0-8.
Receiving — GA, McCauley 8-123, Coons 2-23, Trent Merillat 2-17, Solomon 5-15, Connor Rennenkamp 2-14, Blubaugh 1-3. Mech, Smith 10-110, Notarfrancesco 2-73, Doleman 2-17, Baker 1-8, Drake Dawson 1-0.