By Dave Byrne
Published Sep 16, 2006 12:23
Friday night Hess let the game come to him in a big way.
Hess, a 5-11, 205-pound returning L-L League Section 1 All-Star at runningback, scored four touchdowns as Penn Manor trampled Cocalico 40-7 in a non-league, L-L Section 1-Section 2 crossover at Millersville’s Biemesderfer Stadium.
After a relatively quiet first half, Hess picked up 110 yards on five carries after intermission and scored on touchdown runs of 12 and 29 yards.
Figure in his 2-yard burst in the first half and he finished with 143 yards on 11 touches.
“I take no credit for that, whatsoever,” he said after the game. “It’s all the guys up front. Our front seven average 6-4, 260. Anyone can get yards behind that. I just happen to be the guy.”
He also just happened to be the guy 2½ minutes into the fourth quarter.
In his first game at linebacker, Hess stepped in front of Kyle Keller in the flat, picked off Kyle Payne’s pass and returned it for a 30-yard touchdown.
“Nothing but good coaching,” he said. “The slotback just crossed my face, he was right in my zone. There it was. It’s not much simpler than that.”
The recipe for victory for the Comets (2-1) couldn’t get much simpler Friday night: Control the line of scrimmage, and you win the game.
Center Tyler Klugh (6-0, 200), guards Chris Martin (6-0, 265) and Ben Schober (5-1, 210), tackles Kyle Haney (6-3, 230) and Josh Eppley (6-0, 250), ends Ryan Crider (6-6, 220) and Pitt-bound Jordan Gibbs (6-7, 300) and slotback Ethan Wissler (5-11, 205), had the Cocalico defense on its heels all evening as Penn Manor scored on five of eight possessions.
Add defensive end Chas Alecxih (6-5, 200) into that mix and it was lethal to Cocalico, which managed two sustained drives in the game, one in each half, scoring in the third quarter on Devin Orme’s 3-yard run.
“We got whupped,” said Cocalico coach Dave Gingrich. “We talked all week about, if we played high we’re going to get rolled out. In the first half we played a little high and bad things happened.”
Sophomore quarterback Mike Treier ran Penn Manor’s option to perfection.
Fullback Mike Stover (6-3, 235) had 61 of his 77 yards in the first half. When he wasn’t sticking the ball in Stover’s belly, Treier was going off tackle or turning the end for 87 of his 99 yards.
And Gibbs proved an irresistible target, as Treier found him three times for 46 yards and a touchdown.
All of which put PM up 20-0 at the half on Hess’ 2-yard run, Gibbs’ 15-yard catch on a fade and Brian Brill’s 36-yard post route over the fingertips of defensive back Kyle Fisher.
With the Eagles now sensitive to the inside game, Hess bounced outside on two drives in the third quarter.
He took an option pitch 29 yards down the right sideline on the third play of the half and finished a 12-yard TD run by plowing over three defenders inside the 2-yard line.
He went 39 yards on a toss left on the second play of PM’s next drive and took a toss 29 yards down the right sideline to the pylon two plays later.
“It doesn’t matter who’s carrying the ball, who’s scoring the touchdowns,” said Forgrave. “If eleven guys do their job, one guy’s got a chance to make a big play.”
Penn Manor seems to have erased the sting of its fourth-quarter collapse against L-S last Friday as it heads into its Section 1 schedule next week.
Meanwhile Cocalico (0-3), expected to contend for the Section 2 title, is reeling.
“We’re searching for answers everywhere,” said Gingrich. “Right now I don’t know if there’s anything we’re doing well.”
