40 teams in 40 days – Day 26: Bishop McDevitt (3)

Written by: David Mika on Thursday, August 16th, 2012. Follow David Mika on Twitter.

2011 season

After starting the season slowly with a 1-2 record, the Crusaders ripped off 12 straight wins. In the playoffs they had big wins against Lampeter-Strasburg and Montour. They were the PIAA Class 3A runner-ups.

They finished the season with a 13-3 record.

Alec Werner had a huge year passing for 3,518 yards and 30 touchdowns. Werner two favorite targets were Shawn Seif and Brian Lemelle.

Seif caught 76 passes for 980 yards and six touchdowns. Lemelle caught 93 passes for 1,630 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Bishop McDevitt had three quality backs. The three backs combined for 385 carries for 2,399 yards and 41 touchdowns.

As a freshman, Andre Robinson rushed for 847 yards on 114 carries and 16 touchdowns. Sophomore Rashad Lawson rushed for 915 yards on 164 carries and 14 touchdowns. Junior Darnell Holland rushed for 637 yards on 107 carries and 11 touchdowns.

Q & A with Bishop McDevitt head football coach Jeff Weachter

We sat down with Weachter and talked to him about his team for the 2012 season.

How is your off-season going this summer?

We don’t do a lot of 7-on-7s. We are coming along nicely. The kids are working hard.

Who do you have coming back on offense?

We are going to be young on the offensive line. We lost four out of the five starters. The only kid we have coming back is Junior Jordan Mosley (6-2, 260). We don’t have some of the bigger lineman like in the past. But we are going to average about 6-1, 260 on the line.

Some of the other kids on the line are Sr. Myles Webb, So. Kendrick Lewis, Jr. Henry Hairston and we have a battle going on for the last spot between Jr. Johnny Yetter and Jr. Tommy Moore for the center spot. We have a freshman that is going to play a lot on the line, Anthony Long.

At quarterback is Alec Werner. We are excepting big things from him. He started off slow but by the end of the year he was tremendous. During the off-season he has gotten stronger. This year we are going to run him more.

We are blessed at the running back position. I am not so sure if we don’t have the four best backs in the area. Andre Robinson had a nice year as a frosh. He already has a bunch of offers by Division one schools. His speed has really increased during the off-season. He is about 210 pounds.

Rashad Lawson had a good year for us. He is up to 190 pounds. Darnell Holland has a couple of division one offers at safety. We are going to move him out to receiver. We have another kid that is going to be a sophomore, Sheldon Snell.

We have a couple of big fullbacks, Sklyer Amrhein and a transfer from Keystone Joe Kerle. He is a big kid about 230 pounds.

We will start with Brian Lemelle at wide receiver. He is an awesome receiver. Nate Showalter is back. He is a big target and will play some tight end too. Connor Marsico will play there a little bit. He was our fourth receiver last year. We have some young kids, both kids are sophomores, Gevante Elam, Tyrone Gibbons and Amechie Walker. We also have a freshman coming in that will get some playing time. His name is Bryce Hall. We are set at receiver.

Who do you have coming back on defense?

We have two kids that played on the line that are back. They are DE Steve Marrazzo Jr. and Nick Barowski.

Myles Turner is a sophomore. He has a chance to be a division one tackle. At the other spot we are going to rotate a whole bunch of guys. Guys like Jordan Mosley, Kendrick Lewis and Myles Webb.

We feel real good about our defensive line.

We have one returning starter at linebacker, Nate Monroe. He can do it all and he gives us a lot of options. We don’t have a lot of experience at the other two spots. But we have a lot of talent. There will be a battle for the other spots.

We always have athletes at our secondary. Lance Deane started two games for us last year. The other corner will be Tyrone Gibson. Darnell Holland is a three-year starter at safety. The other safety is Connor Marsico.

Who do you have coming back on special teams?

Connor Maloney is back at kicker. Punter will be by committee.

League

Susquehanna Township will be good. They always have speed. Cedar Cliff will be good despite the injury at Adam Breneman. They have their quarterback back, Andrew Ford. Red Land should be good. They have players back.

To have a successful season you have to?

The key for us is our offensive line. We need them to come around. We need to protect the ball.

Home Opener

Bishop McDevitt opens away against Harrisburg on September 1^st

40 teams in 40 days

Day 1 – Mount Carmel Area (4) Day 11 – Scranton (2)

Day 2 – Manheim Central (3) Day 12 – Pottsville (11)

Day 3 – Delaware Valley (2) Day 13 – Cardinal O’Hara (12)

Day 4 – Southern Columbia (4) Day 14 – Shenandoah Valley (11)

Day 5 – Berwick Area (2) Day 15- Central Dauphin (3)

Day 6 – Easton Area (11) Day 16 – Scranton Prep (2)

Day 7 – LaSalle (12) Day 17 – Garnet Valley (1)