×

Harbaugh’s TD points way to rout

By Ryan Spring

For the Mirror

NEW PARIS — Seth Harbaugh was waiting for his time to shine, and it came in a big way on Friday when his Chestnut Ridge team needed it the most.

After visiting Mountain Ridge of Maryland had clawed its way within six points midway through the third quarter, Harbaugh’s 75-yard catch and run for a touchdown ignited the Lions and allowed them to pull away to a 45-14 victory and their sixth win.

The play came on a third down and long yardage situation. Chestnut Ridge’s star quarterback, Logan Hauck, found a wide-open Harbaugh on an inside slant. The shifty receiver outran his man across the field, then turned up and got a key block down the Miners sideline to reach the end zone untouched.

“It was awesome,” Harbaugh said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment, to have my name called on the big speakers. It’s exciting. I knew I was going to be open. I think Logan read my eyes. We just have a brotherhood where we know who is open and who isn’t.”

The Lions defense held quickly, and after Mountain Ridge punted, a short pass to Harbaugh set up Noah Dillow’s 72-yard touchdown run up the middle of the field to make it 32-14 in the final minute of the third quarter.

Then on the first play of the fourth, Chestnut Ridge’s defense took a turn on the scoreboard as Jacob Mowry cut in front of a Alex Deremer pass, intercepting the ball in stride and taking it back 69 yards for a touchdown.

“My linebacker did a nice job of making (Deremer) float it, and I just took advantage of the play,” Mowry said. “I knew we needed a big play, and I just took it to the house.”

“That’s kind of been our tendency, to make some big plays,” Chestnut Ridge coach Max Shoemaker added. “You can’t come to rely on that, though.”

The Lions jumped out of the gate early and led 20-0 halfway through the second quarter. Their first offensive snap of the game saw Hauck and Justin McCoy connect for a 46-yard score.

That combination worked again, from 10 yards away, for another touchdown and a 13-0 lead at the 10:50 mark of the second, and on Chestnut Ridge’s next possession, Hauck finished off a six-play drive with a 9-yard run to paydirt.

But the Miners put some momentum on their side late in the half, moving the ball well for the first time of the night, and cashed in on Deremer’s 24-yard pass to a leaping Brant Hughes.

They held the Lions on downs to begin the second half, and Hughes caught another scoring strike from Deremer to make it 20-14.

“Give Mountain Ridge credit, they put some things together before halftime and carried that over to the third quarter,” Shoemaker said. “Those guys were a tough, physical group, and we knew that going in. I think our intensity dropped a little bit after taking a 20-0 lead. We need to learn from it.”

Statistically, it was just another night at the office for Hauck, who was 15 for 19 through the air for 268 yards and four touchdowns.

“He makes some incredible throws,” Shoemaker said. “He’s a special player.”

Game notes: Dillow’s 90 yards for the Lions led all rushers. … Harbaugh had 104 yards on four catches. … Deremer was 10 of 17 for 104 in the losing effort. … Chestnut Ridge’s Phillip Dull, who had a punt return touchdown called back on penalty, suffered a leg injury in the first half and was on crutches on the sideline during the remainder of play. … Chestnut Ridge (6-1) travels to Penns Valley next week.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Mountain Ridge 0 7 7 0 — 14

Chestnut Ridge 7 13 12 13 — 45

First quarter

CR–McCoy 46 pass from Hauck (Anderson kick), 10:21

Second quarter

CR–McCoy 10 pass from Hauck (pass failed), 10:50

CR–Hauck 9 run (Anderson kick), 5:30

MR–Hughes 24 pass from Deremer (Ritchie kick), 0:16

Third quarter

MR–Hughes 10 pass from Deremer (Ritchie kick), 5:00

CR–S. Harbaugh 75 pass from Hauck (pass failed), 3:07

CR–Dillow 72 run (pass failed), 0:53

Fourth quarter

CR–Mowry 69 interception return (Anderson kick), 11:46

CR–S. Harbaugh 12 pass from Hauck (kick failed), 6:20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Mountain Ridge–Pinto 19-58, Sivic 10-38, Merbaugh 7-36, Hunter 3-8, Deremer 3-(-18). Chestnut Ridge–Dillow 6-90, McCoy 1-43, Hauck 9-24, McGill 1-4, B. Harbaugh 1-0, Dull 1-0, Holderbaum 1-(-5).

PASSING: Mountain Ridge–Deremer 10-17-2-104. Chestnut Ridge–Hauck 15-19-0-268.

RECEIVING: Mountain Ridge–Hughes 6-63, Horsman 1-20, Smith 1-11, Folk 1-6, Sivic 1-4. Chestnut Ridge–S. Harbaugh 4-104, McCoy 4-66, Snyder 4-56, Dull 2-28, McGill 1-13.

INTERCEPTIONS: Chestnut Ridge–Mowry, Dillow.

TEAM STATISTICS MR CR

First Downs 13 13

Rushes – Yards 42-122 20-156

Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 10-17-2 15-19-0

Yards Passing 104 268

Total Yards 226 424

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 4-45 5-35

Punts-avg. 4-32 0-0

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.39/week.

Subscribe Today