When Shippensburg scored on its opening drive Friday, it looked like Northern York was in for a long night.
That thought was strengthened when the Polar Bears turned the ball over on downs after four plays and the Greyhounds scored again.
But then Shippensburg’s running game sputtered and the passing game disappeared. And head coach Eric Foust could only speculate about why that was.
“I honestly don’t know. I’m gonna have to watch tape before I can answer that,” he said after the Greyhounds ground out a 28-14 win over Northern York to remain undefeated. “I think we started to think, as bad as that may sound, I think our kids started to overthink some things.”
The holes that allowed Mark Carrothers Jr. to scamper 25 yards on the first drive closed up until the fourth quarter. Brady Maciejewski found Jaden Hines for a 39-yard catch-and-run touchdown but only had two other completions for 7 yards.
Maciejewski opened and closed the scoring on keepers of 1 and 3 yards. The last touchdown in the fourth quarter was vital because the Greyhounds hadn’t sustained a drive in the half and Northern was getting some momentum.
Grady Bonin made it a one-score game when he scored for the Polar Bears on a 14-yard run in the third quarter.
Ja’nye Statum, who came in averaging more than 130 yards per game had half of that against Northern. In fact, Shippensburg was held below their offensive averages across the board.
Foust thinks his players might have been looking ahead to next week instead of focusing on the Polar Bears.
“Next week’s a big game, and I think this will help us focus for next week,” he said. “We had a lot of little things that didn’t work well for us tonight. It’s going to get better next week.”
Shippensburg hosts Mechanicsburg on Friday in the final game of the regular season. The contest features a pair of 9-0 teams to determine the Keystone Division title.
It might have also been easy to lose focus against a team that came in with a 3-5 record, but Foust said records don’t mean anything when Northern and Shippensburg play.
“No matter what the year looks like,” he said, “this is what this game looks like. This is pretty typical.”
It didn’t take long for the game to turn chippy. Flag flew for late hits, hits out of bounds and sideline warnings. Holding calls that led to shoves were drive killers.
Statum finally started to find some holes and get some positive yardage in the fourth quarter. It was just in time to dash Northern’s hopes and let Shippensburg turn their focus toward Mechanicsburg.
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Senior night for the Blue Devils had a bitter ending after the team lost, 15-13, to the Boiling Spring Bubblers.
Starting the game out hot, the Blue Devils did not show any forgiveness on the first drive. Marching downfield with ease, they were able to succeed when quarterback Sean Marshall completed a pass to Carter McCauley for a 43-yard touchdown. Boiling Springs immediately responded with running back Sawyer Young tearing through the middle of the Blue Devil defense for a 7-yard touchdown.
After multiple defensive stops from both teams, the Bubblers had the Blue Devils backed down to their own 2-yard line late in the second quarter. Marshall, rolling to his right, found himself in a bad place. Bubbler defenders’ Jonathan Wonders and Colson Hoover tackled the Blue Devil quarterback in the end zone for a safety. Four minutes later, Bubblers’ linebacker Demetri White had a tremendous interception that turned costly for the Blue Devils. The very next play, running back Javier Rosario bolted down the right side of the field for a 22-yard touchdown.
The third quarter was a stern standoff from both sides. Defenses displayed their strength in the trenches and in the secondary. Neither team could get any movement on the offensive side of the ball, whether choosing to run or pass. It was not until midway through the fourth quarter that Marshall once again connected with McCauley for a 21-yard touchdown but the 2-point conversion try was unsuccessful.
The Bubblers ran the clock down to a minute and 56 seconds. A final drive showed the heart of Blue Devil players, but after completing a pass down to the opponents 10-yard line, time expired.
“That was one heck of a high school football game,” Boiling Springs’ head coach Brad Zell said after the win. “We’re really proud of our guys. Obviously, this has not been the best season, and our guys could have easily given up. We have played very well in spurts, so it was nice to see us put an entire game together.”
The Blue Devils have only been outscored by 44 points this season, with five of their losses under five points. The loss drops their record to 2-7, and for their final game of the season they travel to West Perry to take on the 4-5 Mustangs.
Greencastle head coach Devin McCauley declined to comment for the game.
-- Jaxon Sheeley
Week 9 scores
Chambersburg 17, Cumberland Valley 10: The Trojans, who sit right on the bubble for the district 6A playoffs, won their fourth game (4-5). CV jumped out to a quick lead, but Chambersburg tied the game on a 68-yard pass from Ceagan Truett to Evan Brown. They added a 20-yard field goal from Trever Luther to take the lead into halftime. The Eagles answered with a field goal of their own, and the score was knotted until Antonio Harrison scored on a 1-yard run with 1:36 left in the game.
Chambersburg is home in Week 10 vs. Central Dauphin.
Lower Dauphin 31, Waynesboro 0: The Indians (4-5) couldn't get any offense going against the Falcons. Waynesboro hosts Hershey in Week 10.
East Pennsboro 36, James Buchanan 0: The Rockets (4-5) dropped their fourth straight game. They close out their season at home against Camp Hill.
(This story was updated to add new information and to change or add a photo or video.)
This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: Week 9 scores: Shippensburg sputters, regroups to dash Northern York's hopes
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