CHAMBERSBURG — The way the game began — two passes and a touchdown for Cedar Cliff in 42 seconds — did not bode well for Chambersburg.
But things looked a whole lot better when the Trojans’ Cam Green threw a 29-yard scoring pass to Luke Ocker on 4th-and-5 to give Chambersburg a 20-7 lead with 3:43 left in the third quarter.
Unfortunately, the Colts scored the final two touchdowns of the Mid Penn Commonwealth football game Friday night at Trojan Stadium and walked away with a 21-20 victory.
“They know how to win football games, and we just don’t make enough plays to be able to finish a game on top,” Chambersburg coach Gary Carter said.”We went up 20-7, but then right away we messed up a squib kick and had a penalty on top of that. That really hurt.”
Lucas Ocker
Mekhi Stephens returned the kickoff to the Trojan 49 and the ball was moved to the 34 after a penalty. Six plays later, it was 4th-and-3 and QB Jalen Hinton found Stephens cutting across the middle for a 16-yard TD pass, bringing the score to 20-14.
A quick 3-and-out by Chambersburg (0-3, 0-2 MPC) gave the ball right back to the Colts (1-2, 1-1 MPC), who launched a 9-play drive for the go-ahead score. The Colts had it first-and-goal from the Trojan 1, but a penalty moved them to the 6. Two plays later, Landon Howell fumbled, but Hinton recovered the ball. And on the next play, Hinton high-pointed a pass that only the 6-3 tight end Blake Secrest could catch, and he did.
Sully Lauderslager’s extra-point made it 21-20.
Carter said, “They put the ball on the ground three times and we couldn’t recover any of them. We also had three shots at interceptions and didn’t make any of them. We haven’t gotten a turnover in three games, and that makes it hard to win. Games are about getting opportunities and making plays and we’re not making enough plays in those situations.”
Chambersburg got the ball back one more time and Green and Jashaun Palmer connected on a 33-yard completion to the Colt 42. But three plays gained just a yard. Devon Nalewak’s perfect punt was downed at the Cedar Cliff 1 with 5:28 left and a stop would have given the Trojans plenty of time to score.
But … the Colts never gave the ball up. A punishing running game picked up four first downs and ran the clock. Then, on 3rd-and-13 at the Chambersburg 47, Hinton hit Secrest on a play-action pass for 27 yards that killed the game.
A 50-yard pass-and-run to Secrest was the Colts’ very first play from scrimmage, then a pass in the flat to a wide-open Stephens went 23 yards for a score and Cedar Cliff quickly led 7-0.
“We were ready for both of those plays and just didn’t do our jobs,” Carter said. “On the first, they went to a wildcat formation and we said if they went wildcat, then look for play action, and that’s what they did. The next one was with an unbalanced line, and we were in man-to-man, but our guy did not cover his man and they scored.”
The Trojans did fight back. Their first TD, in the second quarter with 3:18 left, was a 49-yard bomb from Green to Palmer on which Palmer beat close coverage to make the catch and then sprint away.
After Cedar Cliff failed to convert on a 4th-and-2 on a fumbled snap, Chambersburg took over on the Colt 45. And on the next play, Green rolled to his left, set his feet and fired a laser to Ocker, who split two defenders to find the end zone for his third TD catch of the season.
Carter said, “We missed an extra point (a low kick was blocked), and the next time we had a good call on the two-point try, but we got a penalty. That’s the difference in the game.
“Our kids are tough. We played hard, but we’re just not making enough plays,” Carter said.
NOTES: The Trojans host Cumberland Valley next Friday, with Chambersburg Athletic Hall of Fame inductions happening at halftime … Palmer caught 5 passes for 105 yards … Secrest snared 7 passes for 103 yards, and was a real pain to deal with on defense, constantly pressuring Green, especially in the second half … Carter said, “We struggled to block him and he got after us.”
Cedar Cliff 21, Chambersburg 20
Cedar Cliff 7 0 7 7 — 21
Chambersburg 0 12 8 0 — 20
First Quarter
CC — Mekhi Stephens 23 pass from Jalen Hinton (Sully Laudenslager kick), 11:18
Second Quarter
Ch — Jashaun Palmer 49 pass from Cam Green (kick blocked), 3:18
Ch — Luke Ocker 45 pass from Green (run failed), 1:57
Third Quarter
Ch — Ocker 29 pass from Green (Palmer pass from Green), 3:43
CC — Stephens 16 pass from Hinton (Laudenslager kick), 0:52
Fourth Quarter
CC — Blake Secrest 5 pass from Hinton (Laudenslager kick), 7:25
Team Statistics
CC Chbg
First downs 19 13
Rushes-yards 31-124 28-56
Passing 17-27-0 12-18-0
Passing yards 268 213
Total offense 342 269
Fumbles-lost 3-0 1-0
Punts-average 3-34.0 3-34.0
Penalties-yards 11-89 3-25
Individual Statistics
Rushing — CC, Landon Howell 20-114, Will White 5-22, Secrest 1-5, Hinton 5-(-17). Chbg, Malachi Tasker 16-40, Bryce Deneen 2-8, Green 8-6, Devon Nalewak 2-2, Jashawn Dixon 1-0.
Passing — CC, Hinton 17-27-0-268. Chbg, Green 12-18-0-213.
Receiving — CC, Stephens 6-122, Secrest 7-103, Joey Heller 2-19, Howell 1-16, Rai Weaver 1-8. Chbg, Jashaun Palmer 5-105, Ocker 2-74, Colton Horst 1-18, Brock Chlebowski 2-13, Seth Gilliam 1-9. Isaiah Ferguson 1-(-6).