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HARRISBURG -- The Altoona Mountain Lions did all they could to spoil a record-setting night for Bishop McDevitt's Stone Saunders but came up short in a 28-21 loss to the Crusaders at Rocco Ortenzio Stadium Friday night.
Saunders set a Pennsylvania state record for touchdown passes, the 177th of his career, with a 38-yard pass to Dominic Diaz-Ellis on the second play of the game.
McDevitt forced an Altoona punt on its first possession before the Crusaders found the end zone again on a Nazir Jones-Davis 12-yard rush.
After that, the Mountain Lions found their groove, first with an 83-yard touchdown run from Amar Emeigh-Ballos. Altoona allowed another Saunders touchdown pass -- a 4-yard pass to Jontai Quick -- but from there on it was mostly all Mountain Lions.
The Altoona offense churned up yardage and the clock in the second quarter, forcing the McDevitt offense to stay on the field for most of the second frame and forcing two three-and-outs to head into the half down 14.
It took only 2:08 of the third quarter for the Mountain Lions to find the end zone on a 4-yard run by Julian Hazelwood to crawl to a touchdown deficit. A 73-yard run by Hazelwood set up the score.
Saunders made one of his very few mistakes on the Crusaders' next possession, fumbling a snap, which was recovered by Altoona's Mark Harrington.
The fumble led to Harrington's first touchdown run of the season, a 2-yard run to tie the game at 21 with under two minutes to go in the third quarter.
"We talked all week about just believing and coming down here and just playing with great effort, not being in awe, because they're a good football team," Altoona coach Vince Nedimyer said.
Bishop McDevitt scored 1:49 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Altoona had one final drive to tie the game.
The Mountain Lions drove the ball down the field, setting up a third-and-goal from the 5-yard line. But Harrington's pitch bounced off Emeigh-Ballos' hands and slipped into the hands of a Crusaders defender to seal the deal for Bishop McDevitt.
Play of the game: Harrington recovered a Saunders fumble at the McDevitt 47-yard line that set up Altoona's game-tying score.
Player of the game: Harrington
Unsung hero: In addition to his 83-yard touchdown, Emeigh-Ballos had a 6-yard run on fourth down in the fourth quarter on a fumbled pitch to keep Altoona alive.
Most vital statistic: Altoona had 307 yards on the ground.
Bishop McDevitt coach Jeff Weachter: "Have to give their kids credit. Their coaching staff did a good job and had their kids ready to play. It would have been easy, because it was so easy for us in the first quarter. It would be easy for them to just say, 'Ah, all right, let's get on the bus ride back,' but I give them a lot of credit, because they came back and fought and made it an unbelievable game."
Saunders: "We had them up and we just didn't capitalize on it, and then they came back in the game. I can't say it enough. They played a great game. They had some dogs on that team that played really well, and they should be really proud of what they did."
Nedimyer: "I could not be more proud of our kids. It's just a testament to execution on offense. We've been telling our kids that whenever we execute and kids make plays, we can play with anybody, and that's what happened tonight."
Notable: Saunders broke current Navy football player Alex Erby's record of 176 touchdown passes set in 2003 … Altoona had two 100-yard rushers with Emeigh-Ballos and Hazelwood rushing for 107 and 106 yards, respectively.
Records: Altoona (0-6), Bishop McDevitt (5-1)
Next week: Altoona hosts Harrisburg at 7 p.m. Bishop McDevitt is at State College.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Altoona 7 0 14 0 -- 21
Bishop McDevitt 21 0 0 7 -- 28
First Quarter
BM--Diaz-Ellis 38 pass from Saunders (Grella kick), 11:35.
BM--Jones-Davis 12 run (Grella kick), 8:21.
A--Emeigh-Ballos 83 run (Chathams kick), 7:21.
BM--Quick 4 pass from Saunders (Grella kick), 4:12.
Third Quarter
A--Hazelwood 4 run (Chathams kick), 9:52.
A--Harrington 2 run Chathams kick), 1:59.
Fourth Quarter
BM--Jones-Davis 19 run (Grella kick), 10:11
TEAM STATISTICS A BM
First downs 17 13
Total yards 324 285
Rushes-yards 47-307 23-140
Yards passing 17 145
Passing (comp.-att.-int.) 1-4-0 7-14-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-40 10-92
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Altoona, Harrington 20-58, Staines 7-12, Hazlewood 14-106, Adams 1-24, Emeigh-Ballos 5-107. Bishop McDevitt, Jones-Davis 12-90, Barnes 10-52, Saunders 1- (-2)
PASSING-- Altoona, Harrington 1-4-17. Bishop McDevitt, Saunders 7-14-145.
RECEIVING--Altoona, Wuckovich 1-17. Bishop McDevitt, Diaz-Ellis 3-90, Quick 2-35, Holton, Jr. 1-9, Jones-Davis 1-11.