Loss to Bishop McDevitt won’t overshadow Weiser’s championship season
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Bishop McDevitt 42, Conrad Weiser 7
By Logan Moyer — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Many thought that Conrad Weiser was slighted when the District 3 playoff brackets were unveiled.
Despite fighting their way to an undefeated regular season for the first time in nearly three decades, the Scouts were subjected to facing off with Bishop McDevitt – the three-time reigning D3-4A champions – in their opening playoff matchup.
The Scouts didn’t worry about it. Sure, they had gotten a tough draw, but that was nothing new for them. They were ready for a fight.
That fight was displayed prominently on Friday night in Robesonia, when the Scouts battled hard but dropped a 42-7 decision to the Crusaders in the quarterfinals of the District 3 Class 5A playoffs.
“To be the best, you’ve got to get through the best,” Conrad Weiser coach Alan Moyer said. “(Our guys) are tough. They battled through so much adversity.”
At the end of the day the shorthanded Scouts were unable to deal with Kentucky-bound McDevitt quarterback Stone Saunders, who gashed them for 303 yards and five scores on just nine completions.
Three of those touchdown passes went to sophomore wideout Jontai Quick, who finished with four catches for 167 yards.
“He can sling a ball,” Moyer said of Saunders. “He’s got great protection. I think we gave it all we had. We had a bunch of different things dialed up, but you can’t simulate that stuff in practice.”
Columbia native Dominic Diaz-Ellis also brought in a pair of touchdown receptions while Nazir Jones-Davis rounded out the Crusaders’ scoring with a 67-yard run.
The adversity was nothing new for the Scouts. They won just two games the year before, moved up a classification for the current two-year cycle, and dealt with a rash of late-season injuries to some of their best players.
“Unless you win a state championship, every season ends in a loss,” Moyer said. “It’s not by accident, it’s a lot of hard work these kids have done over the off season and preparing for this season.”
Nevertheless, the Scouts went unbeaten in the regular season for the first time in 28 years and captured the Lancaster-Lebanon Section 3 crown, the 11th section/league title in program history.
The Scouts were playing without seven starters due to injuries and sickness, most prominently leading receiver Evan Rittle and running back Javien Rivera.
Those injuries made it a lot tougher to handle McDevitt’s suffocating pass rush and stock-pile of offensive weapons. The Scouts were limited to under 3-yards per carry while quarterback Donovan Gingrich had almost no time to throw.
“Most of them are going to be playing at the college level,” Gingrich said. “We knew they were pretty good athletes.”
Weiser’s lone score came in the fourth quarter when Gingrich found Davis Keppley open for a 14-yard score.
After Weiser’s 19-strong senior class shared tears and hugs, they walked off the field with their heads rightfully hung high. They took their licks in the past two seasons, fought back and produced the best season in recent history. They’ve certainly left the program in a better place than where they found it.
“We always grew up wanting to be that team that took it the extra mile,” Gingrich said. “We wanted to be that team. The first two years that we were here, we didn’t.
“Going 10-0, no matter the score of this game, we didn’t quit; we didn’t roll over. We didn’t stop playing football and we’re not going to let this game dictate how our whole season went.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Bishop McDevitt | 7 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 42 |
| Conrad Weiser | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Bishop McDevitt | Do. Diaz-Ellis, 40 pass from Saunders (Grella kick) | 7:35 |
| 2 | Bishop McDevitt | Quick, 13 pass from Saunders (Grella kick) | 11:28 |
| 2 | Bishop McDevitt | Quick, 69 pass from Saunders (Grella kick) | 8:44 |
| 2 | Bishop McDevitt | Quick, 64 pass from Saunders (Grella kick) | 6:02 |
| 2 | Bishop McDevitt | Jones-Davis, 67 run (Grella kick) | 3:20 |
| 3 | Bishop McDevitt | Do. Diaz-Ellis, 40 pass from Saunders (Grella kick) | 4:04 |
| 4 | Conrad Weiser | Keppley, 14 pass from Gingrich (Malone kick) | 11:00 |
Team statistics
| Bishop McDevitt | Conrad Weiser | |
| First downs | 15 | 12 |
| Rushes-yards | 20-192 | 28-77 |
| Passing yards | 303 | 185 |
| Total yards | 495 | 262 |
| Passes | 11-13-0 | 13-24-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 0 | 3-40.6 |
| Penalties-yards | 10-103 | 3-21 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Bishop McDevitt: Jones-Davis 5-103, Dawson 2-47, Barnes 6-33, Larue Jr. 4-13, Saunders 3-(-4).
Conrad Weiser: Miller 9-37, DePrince 10-22, Gingrich 6-13, McGarrigle 1-3, Kiebach 2-2.
PASSING
Bishop McDevitt: Saunders 11-13-0–303.
Conrad Weiser: Gingirch 13-24-0–185.
RECEIVING
Bishop McDevitt: Quick 4-167, Do. Diaz-Ellis 3-90, Barnes 1-15, Larue Jr. 1-13, Ruth 1-12, Holton Jr. 1-6.
Conrad Weiser: Miller 3-57, DePrince 3-39, Parr 3-16, Keppley 2-51, Morgan 2-22.
