2008 Milton Hershey

Week 3

New Faces, New Uniforms

Same Result

Defense – Defense - Defense

September 12, 2008

Northern 12 – Milton Hershey 6

They say that defense wins ballgames and offense fills the seats. Well, for Northern High School Football, the seats are always filled and the defense always comes to play. The Polar Bear defense got Northern on the board first when Nate Caudill and Ian Kuykendall dropped Spartan QB, Jim Miller in the endzone after Ryan Aumiller’s punt pinned Milton Hershey deep. Unable to move the ball on the ensuing possession, Northern again punted. On Milton Hershey’s first play from scrimmage, Spartan Tailback, Corey Dupree took a pitch from Miller and cut it up field. Miller raced 70 yards with blazing speed and put the home team up 6-2. Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively and went into the locker room with MH leading 6-2.

The rains really picked up in the second half and so did the intensity of the Northern D. Again forcing the Spartans to punt from deep in their own end, Milton Hershey’s long-snapper sailed the ball high over the head of his punter and out the back of the endzone. The two-point safety brought the Bears to within 2. Receiving the kickoff, Northern began marching. On a drive which featured a beautiful sideline pass and catch from Joe Tuschak to Ryan Aumiller, the Bears would not be denied. QB Joe Tuschak called his own number and on a quarterback draw, cut and raced his way into the Founder’s Hall endzone giving Northern a 10-6 lead. The Bears went for two and Ryan Aumiller gathered in a tipped Tuschak pass giving Northern a 12-6 lead. While there was no further scoring in the game, Northern did what it had to do. The defense suffocated Milton Hershey punctuating itself with a huge stand at their own 10 yard line. Behind running backs Robert DeMuro and Jake Boone, the Bears ground out yardage and clock until time ran out giving the Bears a 12-6 non-conference win.

When you lose the services of the mid-state’s 5^th leading rusher as well as the fastest player on the team from the starting backfield, you need other players to step up. The injuries to Robbie Bleiler and Isaiah Hicks forced others into starting and spot lighted roles and they didn’t disappoint. Demuro and Boone filled in admirably and although Robbie tried to gut it out, it just wasn’t there yet for him. That said, the Bears did what they had to do, they left Hershey, PA with a win.

Next week is a huge game, sure to be one of the Mid-State’s premier games when the 3-0 Mechanicsburg Wildcats come to Dillsburg for Homecoming. Mechanicsburg held on for a 14-13 win against a terrific Susquehanna Township team last night to remain unbeaten. The Bears don’t really need much motivation to get up for their cross-town rival but having an undefeated record on the line and Homecoming doesn’t hurt.

Don’t miss it! Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. at Bostic.