HERSHEY -- Through 12 games this season, there hadn't been an offense that Mount Carmel faced that had much success denting the Red Death defense.
That is, until the Red Tornadoes faced off against Lancaster Catholic in the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at HersheyPark Stadium.
The Crusaders rolled up 600 total yards and held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Red Tornadoes in a 41-28 victory.
"Our kids heard all week about how physical Mount Carmel was," Lancaster Catholic coach Bruce Harbach said. "The kids wanted to prove that we were a physical team as well."
The Crusaders (13-1) advance to the Eastern final, where they face West Catholic, a 49-21 victor over Dunmore on Friday night.
It's the end of the line for the 25 Mount Carmel seniors who made up the core of the District 4 champions. The Red Tornadoes finish up the season at 13-1.
"It hurts," quarterback Marcus Wasilewski said with wet eyes behind his helmet. "We lost to a very good team today. Once we get over it, we'll have a lot of great memories from this season."
"It's a sad day for our program with all the great seniors we are losing," MCcoach Mike Brennan said. "I'm so proud of them. They never quit."
For all of the offensive numbers in the game -- the two teams combined for 1,018 total yards of offense -- the Crusaders were able shut down the Red Tornadoes' offense for the bulk of the first half. Mount Carmel had just 109 yards of offense in the first half, but 86 came on two plays, a 58-yard TD run by Julius Demetrius and a 28-yard run by Justin Pellowski on Mount Carmel's first play from scrimmage.
Lancaster Catholic defensive ends Nicholas Schmalhoffer and Andrew Heise shut down Mount Carmel's ability to get to the outside in the first half and were able to pressure Wasilewski regularly.
"It was our game plan to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback," said Schmalhoffer, who had seven tackles and two sacks. "We knew if we gave him time, he would be able to complete some passes. We were able to make him uncomfortable and scramble around a little bit, before he could make his throws."
Lancaster Catholic was able to score on its first two drives to take a 14-0 advantage. On their first drive, the Crusaders marched 63 yards in nine plays, with Jordan Stewart taking it in from 10 yards out with 7:15 left in the first quarter.
After a Mount Carmel punt, it took just three plays for the Crusaders to score. Quarterback Kyle Smith hit tight end Andrew Millhay on a drag pattern across the middle of the field. Millhay cut up the left sideline and ran into the end zone for a 63-yard scoring play.
Mount Carmel finally got on the board when Demetrius broke free on a 58-yard TD run with 2:26 left in the first quarter to pull Mount Carmel within 14-7.
The score remained that way through the second quarter, but the Crusaders had one last chance to score before the half when they got the ball back with 1:15 left. Faced with a second-and-14 with seven seconds left, Lancaster Catholic went into its bag of tricks for a hook-and-ladder play. Smith hit Tyler Purvis, who latereled to Travis Jankowski, who made a Mount Carmel defender miss inside the 10. The 52-yard scoring play gave the Crusaders a 21-7 advantage.
"Kyle was bugging me the play before to run it, so I figured we'd give it a shot," Harbach said. "That was a big momentum swing, especially after we stopped them to start the second half and scored again."
After a three-and-out to start the second half for Mount Carmel's offense, Lancaster Catholic made it 28-7 on its first possession when Stewart scored from two yards out. The big play on the drive came when Smith hit Purvis for a 25-yard gain on fourth-and-five.
Mount Carmel started to rally on its next possession when Demetrius, who finished with 156 yards on 12 carries, scored from two yards out to cut it to 28-14. Mount Carmel finally stopped Lancaster Catholic on its next possession and drove into Crusaders territory, but an incomplete pass on fourth down ended the threat.
The Red Tornadoes were able to hit two long passes in the fourth quarter to stay within striking range, but never solved the Crusaders' offense as Lancaster Catholic answered each Mount Carmel score with one of its own. Wasilewski, who completed only four passes for 29 yards in the first half, caught fire in the second half, throwing for two scores and 211 yards.
The Crusaders offensive numbers were staggering. Stewart finished with 146 yards on the ground and three scores as Lancaster Catholic ran for 297 yards.
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Lancaster Catholic defeats Mount Carmel in PIAA Class AA quarterfinals
Crusaders roll up 600 total yards in victory
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