Week 5 Glance: Cedar Crest takes aim at Wilson after successful reload
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Nick Lambros admits he wasn’t sure his Cedar Crest football team would be involved in many big games this season after graduating 11 all-league players.
The Falcons had to find a way to replace Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 Defensive Back of the Year Owen Chernich, tight end Aiden Schomp, who’s now playing at Lehigh, and bullish running back Fernando Marquez, who’s at Indiana University of Pa.
“I really didn’t know what (the younger players stepping in) would be on a Friday night until that first Friday night,” said Lambros, a long-time assistant in the program who took over as head coach in the winter. “Until we started playing games, there were still question marks (because many of them) hadn’t played varsity minutes.”
A month into the season the Falcons are exactly where they were a year ago – in the thick of the Section 1 race. They visit Wilson Friday night with first place on the line.
Cedar Crest (1-0, 3-1) opened Section 1 play last week with a 58-7 thumping of Penn Manor. It scored earlier lopsided wins against Lower Dauphin and Spring Grove.
Wins against the Bulldogs (1-0, 3-1), however, have been few and far between. The Falcons enter Gurski Stadium looking to end a 20-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.
Last year’s game was the closest in decades – Edison Case needed to make a late interception in the end zone to preserve a 21-13 Wilson victory. Lambros, who played for the Falcons in the mid 1990’s, knows the games in this series have historically been lopsided.
He doesn’t want his guys thinking about that.
“We’re not gonna change up everything that we are (because we’re playing Wilson),” he said. “We’re just gonna do what we do; we just need to do it better, (be) more physical.
“There’s no grand secret (about the Bulldogs): They’re big, strong, physical, and well-coached, and we need to be the same. We’re going to try to play the best game that we can play.”
Among other games of note this week:
- Conrad Weiser (1-0, 4-0) faces one of its biggest games in years as Manheim Central (0-0, 2-2) visits for a game that figures to shape the Section 3 race. The Barons have struggled with turnovers and are off to an uncharacteristically poor start; the Scouts have been playing terrific team defense.
- Reading High (0-1, 1-3) has a chance to score its first league win since 2002 when it visits Penn Manor (0-1, 0-4). The Red Knights’ lone win came in Week 2 vs. Muhlenberg. The Comets have struggled tremendously on offense; they have scored just two touchdowns.
- Gov. Mifflin (0-1, 2-2) is looking to rebound after a rough game last week against unbeaten Exeter when it faces Muhlenberg (1-0, 3-1). The Muhls are off to a terrific start under first-year coach Rob Flowers but haven’t beaten the Mustangs in more than 20 years. (The game is being played at Shirk Stadium due to issues with Muhlenberg’s home field.)
- Berks Catholic (1-0, 2-2) and Lancaster Catholic (0-1, 1-3) meet for the first time in league play after the Saints moved from Section 4 to Section 5. The Saints had an easy time in their league opener last week against Pequea Valley. It’ll be much tougher this week against the Crusaders, who have won or shared the Section 5 title each of the past two seasons. This game figures to set the tone for what should be a tight section race.
- Kutztown (0-1, 0-4) was scuffling along at this point last season when it pulled off an upset of Hamburg (1-0, 3-1). The Hawks have won three straight after an opening-season loss; they came up with a key Section 5 win last week at Annville-Cleona.
At West Lawn, Cedar Crest will rely on quarterback Jackson Custer to keep the pressure on Wilson’s young defense. He’s a dual threat, with 353 yards and five touchdowns passing and 194 yards and two scores running.
“He runs their offense well,” said Wilson coach Doug Dahms. “He’s big enough that he can run and he throws a nice ball.”
Custer was more of a game manager last season, when he threw for 1,063 yards and 10 TDs. He had play-makers all around him. Now he’s responsible for a bigger share of the load.
“He’s our engine,” Lambros said. “Everything is dependent on Jackson being the baller that he is. He makes us go.”
Custer’s top target is senior wide receiver Jack Waranavage, an all-league second-team pick as a junior who’s averaging nearly 23 yards per catch this season.
Sophomore Isaiah Zimmerman has stepped up at tailback. He’s averaging nearly 9 yards per carry, has 513 rushing yards – sixth-most in the league — and six TDs.
The Bulldogs have defended the run well but they’ve given up a bunch of passing yards; that’s a concern for Dahms.
“Our secondary has to do a better job than they’ve done,” he said. “We have a lot of young kids playing (on defense), and young kids don’t feel the sense of urgency that seniors feel. (Overall) we’re not improving as fast as I’d like.”
Lambros has concerns about defense, too. He sees stopping Wilson quarterback Madyx Gruber, running backs Correll Akings and Monty Greer, and tight end Michael Glover – the leading receiver – as a challenge.
“That’s the quickest backfield I’ve seen since (we played) Harrisburg last season (in the District 3 Tournament),” Lambros said. “They are very athletic and very solid. They have some tight end/H-back kids who are just crushers up front. They’re a very solid football team everywhere I look. I don’t see a lot of weaknesses.”
