News & Events
Blue Storm Football Loses a Close One, 20-16
On a steamy Saturday afternoon, Mercersburg’s Blue Storm football team officially opened its season by hosting the Wyoming Seminary Blue Knights from Wilkes-Barre in the ‘Battle of the Blues.” The Storm got off to a good start with an impressive offensive drive that included an 11-yard completion to wide receiver Josh Muller ’10 and several handoffs to running back Ben Eaton ’08. But on fourth down and just a couple of feet to go, the Blue Knights managed to hold and take over on downs on their own 27-yard line.
On their first offensive play, the Knights grabbed 56 yards and would have scored had it not been for a flying Curtis Feigt '09, who tackled the Knights’ running back at the Mercersburg 17-yard line. A couple of plays later, senior defensive back Collin Stevens snatched the ball from a Knight receiver for a touchback and the year’s first interception.
Back on offense, four-year senior Tyler Mort '08 picked up 13 yards on a well-designed swing-around pitch play. Two plays later, quarterback Trevor Smith '09 sent a bullet to Stevens for a 16-yard gain. Eaton busted up the middle for another 10 yards as the Storm picked up their third first down in just four plays. Key to the offensive success was the time given to Smith by a strong Storm offensive line centered by A.J. Firestone ’09, with seniors Garrett Matthews '08 and Nick Rowan '08 at guard and Clyde Fitzmaurice '08 and Bill Campi '08 at tackle. After another pass completion to Stevens, though, the Knights managed to strip the ball free and take over on offense.
The second quarter opened with the Storm defense holding the Knights to three-and-out. Smith then connected again with Stevens for a 35-yard gain down to the Seminary 25-yard line. That drive set up a 37-yard field goal attempt by Firestone, who sprinted to the sideline to put on his kicking shoe. The kick had plenty of horsepower but sailed just left of the upright. Wyoming Seminary responded quickly on offense with a 61-yard gain to the Storm’s 16. On a subsequent sweep to the left side, the Knights found the end zone and took a 7-0 lead.
After a 21-yard kickoff return from the speedy Mort, the ‘Burg went back on offense. Though Eaton continued to grind it up the middle, the Storm was forced to punt. Linebacker Bond Stockdale ’09 stepped up and stuck a Knights running back while defensive back Muller nearly had his first pick of the season. Again, the Storm D forced the Knights to boot away. After Mort returned the ball to our own 27, Eaton picked up a first down, and then it was Mort again as Smith and Mort connected on a 63-yard play that garnered six points. With Firestone’s extra point, the game was knotted at 7-7 with 3:22 remaining in the half.
After lower-middler Will Fejes '10 deftly picked off a Knights’ pass, the Storm took over again. A short out to Eaton resulted in a 12-yard gain and an awesome completion to wide receiver Jordan Riley '10 landed the ball in Seminary territory. With just nine seconds on the clock, Firestone booted a 44-yard field goal to give Mercersburg a 10-7 halftime lead.
Firestone brought his foot back in the second half as he sent a huge kick off into the end zone for a touchback. Wyoming Seminary picked up 20 yards on a nice QB counter, but a penalty brought the ball back to its own 30. The heat obviously began wearing down both teams as the second half saw a torrent of yellow flags. Back on offense, Riley made a nice catch on a curl-in pattern for a solid gain, but the Storm later had to punt away. On defense, Fitzmaurice and Matthews combined to stuff a Seminary running back, but on 3rd-and-8, the Knights completed a huge 35-yard pass play. Stockdale sent another shuddering hit on the Knights’ first-down play and, despite some hard hitting by Chris Freeland '08, Stockdale, Fitzmaurice and Matthews, the Knights were able to mount a long drive, culminating in a fourth-down pass attempt that slipped through the fingertips of the Seminary receiver.
Mercersburg took over on downs as quarterback Trevor Smith gained 16 on a keep while Eaton continued to work the middle. On 3rd-and-4, the Storm managed a big 36-yard completion to Mort to keep the sustained offensive drive going. But, as the fourth quarter opened, the Storm eventually had to punt away. That led to a 70-yard catch and run by the Knights' outstanding 6’3” wide receiver, who broke two tackles on his way to the end zone and helped put Wyoming Seminary up 14-10 with 10 minutes to go.
Mort’s 21-yard kick off return gave Mercersburg the ball on its own 34, and on a tough 3rd-and-15, Smith busted up the middle on a quarterback keep to pick up the first down. But more yellow flags put the Storm too far back, and the Knights were able to pick off a 3rd down pass. Worse yet, Seminary capitalized quickly on the turnover and, though the extra point was missed, another touchdown gave the visitors a 20-10 lead with only five minutes remaining.
The Storm needed now to really stand up and they did just that. Riley returned the kickoff to the 35-yard line. Smith and Mort then connected for yet another big gain. Smith then found Riley, who was running a slant route, for another 10 yards, and then Mort raked in a strong pass to give the Storm a 1st-and-goal opportunity with 3:21 on the clock. Eaton pounded out another eight yards, and the very impressive offensive drive ended as Smith tossed the ball to Mort on an option and Mort sprinted to the end zone. With the score now 20-16, two flags were thrown during the extra point attempts, and Firestone’s third extra point kick was blocked by the Knights. Operating out of the shotgun, the Storm’s scoring drive took less than two minutes.
A tired but determined Storm defense held the Knights and Mercersburg took over on its own 29 with just 1:01 remaining. Smith and Fejes connected for a 25-yard gain. But, during another great Smith pass and Riley catch, with the Storm offense again clicking on all cylinders, the horn blew to end the game with Mercersburg just five points shy of a victory. Still, the Storm looked good in this season’s opener, and both the players and coaches gave the fans several reasons to look forward to future games.
--by Phil Kantaros
On a steamy Saturday afternoon, Mercersburg’s Blue Storm football team officially opened its season by hosting the Wyoming Seminary Blue Knights from Wilkes-Barre in the ‘Battle of the Blues.” The Storm got off to a good start with an impressive offensive drive that included an 11-yard completion to wide receiver Josh Muller ’10 and several handoffs to running back Ben Eaton ’08. But on fourth down and just a couple of feet to go, the Blue Knights managed to hold and take over on downs on their own 27-yard line. On their first offensive play, the Knights grabbed 56 yards and would have scored had it not been for a flying Curtis Feigt '09, who tackled the Knights’ running back at the Mercersburg 17-yard line. A couple of plays later, senior defensive back Collin Stevens snatched the ball from a Knight receiver for a touchback and the year’s first interception.
Back on offense, four-year senior Tyler Mort '08 picked up 13 yards on a well-designed swing-around pitch play. Two plays later, quarterback Trevor Smith '09 sent a bullet to Stevens for a 16-yard gain. Eaton busted up the middle for another 10 yards as the Storm picked up their third first down in just four plays. Key to the offensive success was the time given to Smith by a strong Storm offensive line centered by A.J. Firestone ’09, with seniors Garrett Matthews '08 and Nick Rowan '08 at guard and Clyde Fitzmaurice '08 and Bill Campi '08 at tackle. After another pass completion to Stevens, though, the Knights managed to strip the ball free and take over on offense.
The second quarter opened with the Storm defense holding the Knights to three-and-out. Smith then connected again with Stevens for a 35-yard gain down to the Seminary 25-yard line. That drive set up a 37-yard field goal attempt by Firestone, who sprinted to the sideline to put on his kicking shoe. The kick had plenty of horsepower but sailed just left of the upright. Wyoming Seminary responded quickly on offense with a 61-yard gain to the Storm’s 16. On a subsequent sweep to the left side, the Knights found the end zone and took a 7-0 lead.
After a 21-yard kickoff return from the speedy Mort, the ‘Burg went back on offense. Though Eaton continued to grind it up the middle, the Storm was forced to punt. Linebacker Bond Stockdale ’09 stepped up and stuck a Knights running back while defensive back Muller nearly had his first pick of the season. Again, the Storm D forced the Knights to boot away. After Mort returned the ball to our own 27, Eaton picked up a first down, and then it was Mort again as Smith and Mort connected on a 63-yard play that garnered six points. With Firestone’s extra point, the game was knotted at 7-7 with 3:22 remaining in the half.
After lower-middler Will Fejes '10 deftly picked off a Knights’ pass, the Storm took over again. A short out to Eaton resulted in a 12-yard gain and an awesome completion to wide receiver Jordan Riley '10 landed the ball in Seminary territory. With just nine seconds on the clock, Firestone booted a 44-yard field goal to give Mercersburg a 10-7 halftime lead.
Firestone brought his foot back in the second half as he sent a huge kick off into the end zone for a touchback. Wyoming Seminary picked up 20 yards on a nice QB counter, but a penalty brought the ball back to its own 30. The heat obviously began wearing down both teams as the second half saw a torrent of yellow flags. Back on offense, Riley made a nice catch on a curl-in pattern for a solid gain, but the Storm later had to punt away. On defense, Fitzmaurice and Matthews combined to stuff a Seminary running back, but on 3rd-and-8, the Knights completed a huge 35-yard pass play. Stockdale sent another shuddering hit on the Knights’ first-down play and, despite some hard hitting by Chris Freeland '08, Stockdale, Fitzmaurice and Matthews, the Knights were able to mount a long drive, culminating in a fourth-down pass attempt that slipped through the fingertips of the Seminary receiver. Mercersburg took over on downs as quarterback Trevor Smith gained 16 on a keep while Eaton continued to work the middle. On 3rd-and-4, the Storm managed a big 36-yard completion to Mort to keep the sustained offensive drive going. But, as the fourth quarter opened, the Storm eventually had to punt away. That led to a 70-yard catch and run by the Knights' outstanding 6’3” wide receiver, who broke two tackles on his way to the end zone and helped put Wyoming Seminary up 14-10 with 10 minutes to go.
Mort’s 21-yard kick off return gave Mercersburg the ball on its own 34, and on a tough 3rd-and-15, Smith busted up the middle on a quarterback keep to pick up the first down. But more yellow flags put the Storm too far back, and the Knights were able to pick off a 3rd down pass. Worse yet, Seminary capitalized quickly on the turnover and, though the extra point was missed, another touchdown gave the visitors a 20-10 lead with only five minutes remaining.
The Storm needed now to really stand up and they did just that. Riley returned the kickoff to the 35-yard line. Smith and Mort then connected for yet another big gain. Smith then found Riley, who was running a slant route, for another 10 yards, and then Mort raked in a strong pass to give the Storm a 1st-and-goal opportunity with 3:21 on the clock. Eaton pounded out another eight yards, and the very impressive offensive drive ended as Smith tossed the ball to Mort on an option and Mort sprinted to the end zone. With the score now 20-16, two flags were thrown during the extra point attempts, and Firestone’s third extra point kick was blocked by the Knights. Operating out of the shotgun, the Storm’s scoring drive took less than two minutes.
A tired but determined Storm defense held the Knights and Mercersburg took over on its own 29 with just 1:01 remaining. Smith and Fejes connected for a 25-yard gain. But, during another great Smith pass and Riley catch, with the Storm offense again clicking on all cylinders, the horn blew to end the game with Mercersburg just five points shy of a victory. Still, the Storm looked good in this season’s opener, and both the players and coaches gave the fans several reasons to look forward to future games.
--by Phil Kantaros
