By The Daily Item
Held to just four carries and 37 yards the entire first half against York Catholic on Friday night, Upper Dauphin senior fullback Cody Cooper bided his time until his number was called in the second half.
And once the Fighting Irish began keying on Trojans' leading rusher Tyler Grosser, Cooper took off. The remainder of his 13 carries, 99 yards and two touchdowns came after halftime as Upper Dauphin added to its 14-7 halftime lead while also running out the clock.
Cooper's 34-yard carry on third down kept the Trojans' final offensive possession going before he finished the nine-play drive with a four-yard touchdown run with 1 minute, 11 seconds left in the game.
"It was my last game on this field and I just wanted to go out and give everything that I had," said Cooper. "I give all the credit to my linemen. They were opening the holes for me and I was just running."
Upper Dauphin coach Carmen DeFrancesco credited his offensive line for setting the stage for a big and fast moving second half.
"Our offensive line had a shaky first half, and our assistant coaches made some real good adjustments at halftime and we got that thing straightened out," said the coach. "Grinding out the clock in the second half was the game plan. Our kids can run the ball. When you can run the ball that clock runs real quick."
DOUBLE DUTY: In addition to the five catches for 95 yards and a touchdown in Upper Dauphin's win, senior wide receiver/cornerback Tyler Raubenstine let it be known that he's just as capable on defense.
Raubenstine intercepted York Catholic quarterback Adam Sentz twice in the game, with the second pick preceding the clinching fourth quarter touchdown run by Cooper.
Prior to his second interception, Raubenstine got his hands on another ball thrown by Sentz as the Fighting Irish had a first down at the Trojans' 11. However, the ball glanced off Raubenstine's hands and into the arms of Gary Loucks for the touchdown.
LOOKING AHEAD: Line Mountain coach Mike Carson said Southern Columbia is playing as well as they have all season and they helped the Eagles see some areas where they need to improve.
"I want to give credit to them and (we realize) that we have a need to improve in some places if we are going to be in a position to challenge for a playoff spot and a title next year," he said.
Carson and his staff can begin the film study immediately for next year's opener because their next game will be against Southern. The Tigers return to Eagle Stadium for the 2010 opener.
QUARTERBACK DEPTH: The Eagles decided at halftime, trailing 14-0, to stay with freshman Cole Rickert at quarterback the rest of the way instead of the starter, sophomore Marty Beninsky. Carson said he does not mean it as criticism of Beninsky but said that Rickert, who moved the team on two scoring drives, "acquitted himself extremely well."
He was aided by some athletic catches by junior wide receiver Mike Marciniak. "He did a great job, I was pleased and proud of the effort he put forth," Carson said.
A DOUBLE-EDGE CHALLENGE: Southern coach Jim Roth said that Line Mountain is a difficult team to prepare for because they run a defense and an offense that the Tigers don't see. The only other time during the year that Southern faces a 4-3 defense is against Loyalsock.
"Our lowest point total and probably our lowest yardage total of the year came against Loyalsock," he said.
He added that the Eagles' fine middle linebacker, Chris Moore, made the Line Mountain 4-3 even more of a challenge.
And the Tigers never face the veer option offense in a game. Roth joked that the only other time they see it is against "that extension of Line Mountain -- Shikellamy." Former Eagles coach Sam Stroh runs the same offense and the Tigers scrimmage the Braves.
"But that was a scrimmage and that was 12 weeks ago so it doesn't really help," Roth said.
AIRING IT OUT: Southern quarterback Jack Townsend and his fine corps of receivers had a productive night against that tough Eagles' defense. Townsend said, "We thought with those two safeties back there, it would be tough to pass, but our receivers came out and started catching balls and we just clicked."
The junior quarterback added, "We were always known as a running team so I don't know if they were keying on the run. Their pass coverage was good. Their safeties play deep so we had to hit quick passes before they got into the deep coverage. Our guys were looking for the ball and making plays, and going up and catching the ball for me."
