Week 3
Versus
Statement Game
A
statement has been made and every coach in the Mid-Penn Colonial had better
take heed. After week one the talk was,
"What happened to Northern?" After
week two the talk was, "Wow, 0-2, Northern's got problems." After week 3, "Well they got a win, but
it was against a depleted Mechanicsburg team." After last night……
"Uh oh, the Polar Bears are back!"
In
what was the complete domination of a football team, Northern crushed visiting
Greencastle 38-0. The Bears are indeed
back as they put together a complete game smothering the Blue Devils on
offense, defense, and special teams.
Mike "The Hammer" Romagnoli got it going with a 65 yard
touchdown run right through the heart of the Greencastle defense. He would not be stopped all night. Finishing with 210 yards on 20 carries, Mike
found the end zone 3 times. Jimmy Miller
also added to the scoring going in from 3 yards out on a tough run and rushing for
34 yards himself on the night.
Defensively,
the Polar Bears were brilliant. They
shut down the vaunted Blue Devil rushing game holding standouts Tyreek Thrush
and Conrad Myers to a combined 69 yards on 23 carries. In the secondary, Northern was a blanket. With Jimmy Miller and Craig Moose in his face
all night, Devil quarterback Travis Smith threw for only 16 yards and was
picked off 3 times. Two of those
interceptions were by Ryan Stephenson who returned one 38 yards for a
touchdown. Dane Eichelberger got the
other one when Smith threw into double coverage. The Bears also recovered a Greencastle
fumble. Special teams were amazing. Sophomore Jay Hess was a bullet making
several big tackles on kickoffs. Chad
Halterman continues to have a special season as he broke another punt return
for a touchdown which was called back for a blocking penalty. He is a threat to score on every return.
With
some upsets occurring across the Colonial and the district, the Bears have come
together at just the right time. They
travel down Route 81 for their second league game next week when they visit
Shippensburg.
Next
Week vs. Shippensburg at Shippensburg.
Kickoff is at
Homecoming!
"King" Nominees Colby Betz and Mike Romagnoli.
Pregame: Craig Moose and
Will Hopkins.
Brandon Adams leads the team onto the field.
Polar Bear Cheerleaders get the crowd revved up.
Hammer, buried in the pile gets 8 yards on his first run.
Defense smothers the Blue Devil running game.
Brent Brockman kicks one of his five extra points.
The Blue Devils had nowhere to run.
With the ball in the air, Ike gets ready to intercept it.
The Hammer goes left side.
Up the middle.
Blue Devil QB gets rocked in his own back field.
Touchdown, Jimmy Miller.
"A total TEAM effort."
Next week, Shippensburg.