CHAMBERSBURG — When facing the No. 2-ranked Class 6A team in the state, the one thing you can’t afford to do is turn the ball over.
Cam Green
But that’s what Chambersburg did in a Mid Penn Commonwealth game at Trojan Stadium against Harrisburg on Friday night, and the Cougars made them pay.
Harrisburg (4-0, 3-0 MPC) returned two interceptions and a fumble for touchdowns and defeated Chambersburg 49-6. It was 42-6 by halftime.
“Give Harrisburg credit — they haves dudes all over the field, they played disciplined tonight and they got after it,” Trojan coach Gary Carter said. “If we could take away those turnovers, the game would look a little closer. Our kids are fighters, even though we were out-matched.”
The Trojans (2-2, 1-2 MPC) trailed 42-0 in the second quarter, then put together a drive of about 70 yards, capped by a 21-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cam Green to wideout Cobe Penick.
Green, a sophomore, and freshman backup Mason Costolo were taking over for Ceagan Truett, who suffered a season-ending injury last week.
Carter said, “Cam was a little antsy early, but he did some good things in the second half and he was able to get out of the pocket. We just need to give those a better running game and give them some confidence. I thought it helped having Ceagan on the sideline getting in their ear when they came off the field.”
Alex Cross made an interception for Chambersburg, and Carter said, “Tavian Ferguson and Cobe Penick made some outstanding plays at cornerback on defense, and Davonte Scott did some nice things.”
Next up for the Trojans at a trip to State College on Friday, completing a rugged 3-game stretch of Bishop McDevitt and State College.
Carter said, “Well, it’s tough, but I think with our kids, we have a lot of guys still learning how to play at this level, so mixing it up with these teams will help us toward the end of the season. There’s a lot of fight in our kids and they need to keep getting better.
“I think we can be in all of our last six games.”
No statistics were available for the game.
Harrisburg 49, Chambersburg 6
Harrisburg 14 28 7 0 — 49
Chambersburg 0 6 0 0 — 6