CHAMBERSBURG — Playing a game without their top quarterback and top receiver — who also happens to be the backup QB — put a huge handicap on Chambersburg on Friday night.

And Cumberland Valley used a conservative game plan wisely to turn back the Trojans 21-0 in a Mid Penn Commonwealth game at Trojan Stadium on Friday night.

Mason Mowen

The Eagles (2-2, 2-1 MPC) used Rocco Bushman (25 carries, 101 yards) as a battering ram to chew up the clock and caught Chambersburg’s defense napping on a couple of plays that worked for scores. The rest was playing solid defense against the hurting Trojans (0-4, 0-3 MPC).

Cam Green, the QB, and Jashaun Palmer, the receiver, were injured and did not play for Chambersburg, putting the ball in the hands of Justin Deneen, who was himself coming off an injury and getting his first playing time. Deneen completed 14 of 26 passes for 120 yards and connected with 9 different receivers.

Trojan coach Gary Carter said, “I thought Justin played well … good enough to win.”

Chambersburg got as far as the CV 38 on its first possession and down to the 24 on its next, and had six first downs, but had no points to show for it.

Cumberland Valley put together a scoring drive late in the second quarter, fuled mostly by Bushman runs. But from the Trojan 12, a fake to Bushman set up a touchdown run by Cole Hockenberry to make it 7-0 with just 1:24 left in the half.

And then disaster struck when a handoff from Deneen to Ashton Allen was fumbled and the Eagles recovered at the Chambersburg 5. QB Colton Stamy snuck in from the 1 to make it 14-0 and give a crushing blow to the Trojans.

“It should have been 7-0 at halftime and 7-0 until late in the game,” Carter said. “We’d have had a better chance. And then they hit on their only big play of the second half and that was on me. We had played zone most of the game and I went to man to pressure them and the quarterback got the throw off just before he got hit.”

Stamy floated a pass to Torin Lang, who was wide open over the middle and scored the clinching points on the 41-yard play.

“Our effort and aggressiveness in the second half was really good, and we were getting off the ball well,” Carter said.

CV totaled only 224 yards offense, and Chambersburg got its first two turnovers of the season on defense. Mason Mowen, playing his first game after being injured in the preseason, made a diving catch after the ball went off a receiver’s fingers. In the second half, linebacker Deakon Snavely first plugged up the middle to keep Stamy from scrambling, then when Stamy tried to flip a pass over him, Snavely got his hands on the ball and tipped it to himself for the pick.

Carter said, “It’s hard to say anything negative about the kids. I know they’re getting frustrated with all the injuries — we had five guys on defense and four more on offense who were playing banged, trying to play through it.

“When I look at the film, I see lots of good things. But we just have to be better, and that goes for the coaching, too.”

The Trojans play at Central Dauphin next Friday night.

Cumberland Valley 21, Chambersburg 0
Cumberland Valley      0     14     0     7     —     21
Chambersburg              0      0      0      0     —      0
Second Quarter
CV — Cole Hockenberry 12 run (Matt Gossert kick), 1:24
CV — Colton Stamy 1 run (Gossert kick), 0:38
Fourth Quarter
CV — Torin Lang 41 pass from Stamy (Gossert kick), 8:34
Team Statistics
                                                  CV            Chbg
First downs                              9                 10
Rushes-yards                        34-135        26-44
Passing                                   6-10-2       14-26-0
Passing yards                          89              120
Total offense                           224             164
Punts-average                       3-32.3         4-38.0
Fumbles-lost                            1-0               2-1
Penalties-yards                      4-35            5-44
Individual Statistics
Rushing — CV, Rocco Bushman 25-101, Stamy 7-20, Hockenberry 2-14. Chbg, Malachi Tasker 12-29, Justin Deneen 11-15, Ashton Allen 3-0.
Passing — CV, Stamy 6-10-2-89. Chbg, J.Deneen 14-26-0-120.
Receiving — CV, Land 2-65, Holden Brown 2-8, Bushman 1-8, Jonah Wagenheim 1-8. Chbg, Isaiah Ferguson 3-25, Tasker 2-24, Lucas Ocker 2-14, Seth Gilliam 2-14, Cam McNew 1-14, Bryce Deneen 1-9, Brock Chlebowski 1-8, Sebastian Laughlin 1-8, Nathan Chambers 1-4.
Interceptions — Chbg, Mason Mowen, Deakon Snavely.