MERCERSBURG — Greencastle-Antrim took a good punch from James Buchanan in Friday night’s non-league football game in Mercersburg.
The Rockets hung tough and trailed only 7-6 at halftime.
Landon Kagarise
But the Blue Devils played better on offense in the second half and wore JB down to secure a 28-6 victory.
“We definitely out-physicaled them,” Greencastle Jason Thurston said, “and found our identity at halftime. But give JB credit — they did some really nice things on offense and played well. They should have a good season.”
The Blue Devils (2-1) went right down the field to score in the first quarter, with Landon Kagarise hitting paydirt on the first of his two short scoring runs.
James Buchanan (1-2) then bounced right back to score a touchdown of its own, but failed on a two-point try to trail 7-6.
“They ate up a lot of time with that drive and was the middle of the second quarter before we got the ball back,” Thurston said. “Then they knocked the ball loose on a criss-cross play we tried and recovered it. They got inside our 5, but a couple of penalties and some good defensive plays pushed them back to around the 40.
“At halftime, I told our guys that this was exactly where JB wanted to be. We needed to come out and be a good second-half team. And we did. We fumbled the ball away once, but we scored on our other three possessions.”
Quarrerback Gavin Logsdon scored from 6 yards out and a fake kick produced a two-point conversion, with Robert Sanders throwing to Zachary Russell to make it 15-6.
Another Greencastle drive in the third period was finished by a 3-yard run by Kagarise. And in the fourth, halfback Spencer Long broke loose for a 54-yard scoring jaunt to seal the deal.
The Blue Devils did not punt in the second half and ended up with 33 carries for 255 yards for the game. Long led with 144 yards, while Kagarise and Dom Angelini each had 41 yards. Luke Hull added 30 and Logsdon ran for 15 yards and passed for 35 more.
On defense for Greencastle, Elijah Ambrose totaled 9 tackles, Angelini made an interception, Russell bagged 3 sacks and Ethan South had 5 tackles.
Greencastle hosts Susquehanna Township next Friday.
Greencastle-Antrim 28, James Buchanan 6
Greencastle 7 0 15 7 — 28
James Buchanan 6 0 0 0 — 6
First Quarter
GA — Landon Kagarise 2 run (Blake Witmer kick), 6:03
Second Quarter
JB — No. 7, 3 run (run failed), 10:07
Third Quarter
GA — Gavin Logsdon 6 run (Zachary Russell pass from Robert Sanders), 5:50
GA — Kagarise 3 run (Witmer kick), 2:02
Fourth Quarter
GA — Spencer Long 54 run (Witmer kick), 9:25