PATTON - The cold weather descended on central Pennsylvania on Friday night, but Cambria Heights and running back Tyler Crawford stayed hot.
The senior tailback rushed for 161 yards and four touchdowns - three in the first half - as the Highlanders defeated Bishop Carroll, 40-7, for their fourth straight win on senior night.
It is the first time since 1998 that Heights (5-2) has won four in a row.
The 5-foot-10 Crawford, the team's leader in tackles and points, racked up his 11th touchdown of the season with Friday night's performance.
"The line blocked really well today and Crawford was the beneficiary," Highlanders coach Jarrod Lewis said. "He ran hard today. He's our big money back and we were pleased with his performance and we thought our offensive line really took over the game."
Crawford's big night also impressed the opposing coach. When told that his team had some trouble stopping the Heights rusher, Huskies coach Greg Snyder was typically blunt.
"Some?" Snyder laughed, then added, "He's a heck of a football player. We kinda figured they were gonna try to smack us right down the throat. ... We were in the right place a lot of times and just missed tackles."
Carroll, which dropped to 0-7, struggled against the Highlanders' defense, managing just 161 total yards. Running back Dan Lesney accounted for most of that, racking up 91 yards rushing. The young Huskies squad is still trying to find itself, Snyder said.
"I feel bad for my seniors, because I have two seniors on my roster. We're all young," he said. "My goal for this whole team is to get better day-by-day, week-by-week. But these kids go out there and they love playing football, they see the positives. ... Once things gel, we're going to be scary. Hopefully that happens sooner than later, though."
Heights relied on big plays to score outside of Crawford's legs. Late in the second quarter, junior Richard Legros took an option pitch, looked downfield and found senior Andrew Brawley for a 24-yard touchdown pass. Then, after holding the Huskies to a 3-and-out to open the second half, the speedy Brawley took a Carroll punt back 56 yards for a score.
Heights may be off to its best start in recent years, but Lewis isn't going to let them get complacent.
"We're taking it one game at a time," he said. "Winning four in a row is great for us and we've got a real big game with Bishop McCort next week. We'll enjoy this and then start on Bishop McCort tomorrow."
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bishop Carroll7 0 0 0 - 7
Cambria Heights7 20 7 6 - 40
First quarter
CH-Crawford 38 run (Irwin kick), 9:45.
BC-Switzer 7 pass from Maruca (Pyo kick), 7:10.
Second quarter
CH-Crawford 3 run (Irwin kick), 10:56.
CH-Crawford 1 run (Irwin kick), 9:07.
CH-Brawley 24 pass from Bearer (kick failed), 1:57.
Third quarter
CH-Brawley 56 punt return (Irwin kick), 10:12.
Fourth quarter
CH-Crawford 6 run (kick failed), 10:35.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Bishop Carroll-M. Lessard 5-6, Lesney 13-91, Maruca 4-8, Frederick 7-11, Repko 5-1, Shuty 2-20, Keim 1-4. Cambria Heights-Crawford 22-161, Contorchick 8-28, Bearer 6-79, Fees 4-8, Stasko 3-13, Waksmunski 2-3, Baker 1-(-3).
PASSING: Bishop Carroll-Maruca 2-8-0-11, Ratchford 1-1-0-9. Cambria Heights-Bearer 1-3-0-39, Legros 1-1-0-24.
RECEIVING: Bishop Carroll-Switzer 2-11, Shuty 1-9. Cambria Heights-Brawley 2-63.
INTERCEPTIONS: None.
TEAM STATISTICSBCCH
First downs1019
Rushes-yards37-14146-289
Passing (comp.-att.-int.)3-9-02-4-0
Yards passing2063
Total yards161352
Fumbles-lost3-11-0
Penalties-yards3-253-25
Punts-avg.4-30.71-43
