After another big victory that clinched yet another championship, what was there for Bruce Harbach to say?

There was the list.

As purple and gold jerseys huddled around him, Lancaster Catholic's football coach congratulated his players on what they just achieved while reminding them of all that can still be done.

Catholic's 51-28 win over Elco Friday night clinched the outright title in Section Three of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, but the Crusaders hope this isn't the last time they get to celebrate.

"Since the first week of practice and even over the summer, we said our first goal to attain was to be the section champs and to repeat," Harbach said.

That's always the top item on Catholic's annual checklist.

What's left? The Crusaders, who have won five consecutive Section Three crowns, want to earn another trip to Hershey and defend their District Three Class AA title.

First, they had to beat Elco.

This figured to be Catholic's stiffest test since it narrowly beat Lampeter-Strasburg on Oct. 2. Although the game lived up to that billing, the Raiders ultimately couldn't keep pace with the Crusaders' high-octane offense.

Catholic quarterback Kyle Smith completed 13 of 23 passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns, increasing his state record TD total to 103. Running back Jordan Stewart rushed 16 times for 123 yards and two more scores.

The Crusaders put the ball in the end zone on seven of their final nine possessions and one of those drives only ended because of halftime.

"We come out here with a diverse attack," Stewart said. "We come out passing and then we open up the run. We have so many different options. It's going to be scary later on. I think a lot of teams are starting to realize they'll have to do more than just key on one player."

Elco got caught in a shootout with Catholic. The Raiders held their own. They produced 326 yards of offense and scored the most points against the Crusaders since Manheim Central put up 42 in Week 3.

Quarterback Arron Achey threw for 219 yards and accounted for all four of Elco's touchdowns. Two came on shorts runs and two came on passes to Tyler George and Eric Ondo.

It wasn't nearly enough.

Elco never cut the deficit below 10 points after the early stages of the second quarter because the Raiders could never force a punt.

"I'm proud of the way they battled," said Elco coach Mark Evans, whose team heads into the Class AAA playoffs at 8-2 overall and 5-2 in Section Three.

"I think they showed themselves something. They showed me something. They showed the coaches, they showed the fans and they showed some other football teams around. We're not that bad. We can play."

Elco made two costly mistakes.

Early in the second quarter, a bad snap resulted in a botched punt that gave Catholic a first-and-goal on Elco's 6-yard line and set the table for the Crusaders grabbing a 17-7 lead.

With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Elco was trailing 38-28 when it intercepted Smith and appeared to finally have a chance to rally. The turnover was erased by a roughing the passer penalty.

This may have been the perfect end to the regular season for Catholic, which is 9-1 overall and finished 7-0 in the section.

After cruising for the past four weeks, the Crusaders were finally challenged. They confidently answered the call and steeled themselves for tough opponents in the future.

"It wasn't easy," Harbach said. "Elco wasn't 8-1 for no reason at all. They're a good football team. They came out and they battled us. To be tested at the end of the year going into the playoffs was good for us."

Ten weeks after they began pursuit of their goals, Catholic's players enjoyed the first landmark moment of their season.

Section Three again belongs to the Purple & Gold.

The rest of the list lies ahead.