Football Preview: Central Dauphin Rams vs. Bishop McDevitt Crusaders
The Central Dauphin Rams are taking a road trip to challenge the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Central Dauphin has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Bishop McDevitt will arrive with five straight victories.
Last Friday, Central Dauphin was just a hair shy of victory and fell 21-20 to Central Dauphin East. While losing is never fun, the Rams can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 143rd, while the Panthers are ranked 36th).
Central Dauphin's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Andrew Kurtz, who picked up 131 receiving yards and a touchdown, and John Harris Iii, who rushed for 75 yards and a touchdown. Harris Iii didn't just play on offense: he also made three total tackles and defended a pass.
Central Dauphin didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Kurtz and Jaden Morgans. Kurtz also posted 131 receiving yards, which is notable because Central Dauphin is 2-1 when he posts at least 80 receiving yards, but 0-4 otherwise.
Meanwhile, Bishop McDevitt got the win against Cumberland Valley on Friday by a conclusive 30-8. The match was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 27-0.
Stone Saunders was his usual excellent self, throwing for 161 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 44 yards and a touchdown. Those 44 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Bishop McDevitt also got a significant boost from Nazir Jones-Davis, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 95 yards.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Bishop McDevitt was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 228 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
One reason for the win was Bishop McDevitt's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Lucas Lawler and Maurice Barnes, who racked up all five sacks between them.
Central Dauphin's loss dropped their record down to 2-5. As for Bishop McDevitt, they pushed their record up to 6-1 with the win, which was their third straight on the road.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
