Scouts fall flat in second half, lose to Donegal
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Confidence is one of those things that when you have it, you wonder how you ever lost it. When you don’t have it, it feels impossible to get back.
Conrad Weiser fell to Donegal 28-12 in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 game Friday night at Robesonia.
It was just one week after a 45-0 loss to Berks Catholic. The Scouts (2-2, 3-4) couldn’t muster anything on either side of the ball against the Saints. Against the Indians (1-3, 2-5) it was a different story.
They held Donegal to 76 yards in the first half and limited Noah Rohrer to 1 yard on seven carries.
The Scouts offense moved the ball on the ground with Sevon Parham and Ousmane Conde. Donovan Gingrich bounced back from a rough outing and sprinted left and right with success finding six different receivers in the first half.
His 17-yard touchdown pass to Trey Dianna brought them within 7-6, but Noah Rohrer blocked the extra point try. Despite controlling the play and total yardage (175-76), the Scouts couldn’t put any more points on the board and found themselves trailing by a point at halftime.
“For the most part, most of our team went into the second half with our heads down because of the scoreboard,” Parham said. “Our coaches always say at every halftime it’s 0-0.”
In the second half Donegal immediately looked to establish its Rohrer, its all-everything player. He carried the ball on six plays of the eight-play drive and racked up 60 yards including his second touchdown, a 6-yard run.
The Scouts didn’t wilt. They were able to answer on a nine-play drive of their own that Dianna punctuated with a shifty 29-yard touchdown run off a counter. The two-point conversion pass failed and they trailed 14-12. It turned out to be their last opportunity to tie the game.
“I don’t know if we ran out of gas or what it was,” Conrad Weiser coach Alan Moyer said. “I told the kids they’ve got to keep playing with some confidence. You get to a point in the game and they lose confidence.”
While the Scouts were losing confidence, the Indians were overflowing with it. They put together another workman-like drive using Rohrer as a battering ram. He finished with 163 yards and his success on the ground set up the next touchdown. Donegal went play-action and the defense bit. Landon Baughman hit a wide-open Zeke Amaro for a 29-yard touchdown.
Donegal tacked on another touchdown to make the score 28-12, and the Scouts looked defeated after a second straight three-and-out.
Rohrer made his only mistake of the game on a muffed punt and gave Conrad Weiser life. The Scouts recovered on the Donegal 20 and a long Gingrich run appeared to give them first-and-goal at the 5. An illegal blocking penalty brought the play back.
“We been shooting ourselves in the foot since week one,” Moyer said. “We’ve gotta get over those things. Those are the things that are going to kill you.”
Conrad Weiser failed to gain a first down on its last three drives. It was in such stark contrast to the first half when all facets of its offense were clicking.
“We played great in the first half,” Parham said. “If we came out the second half with that same energy, it would have been a different outcome.”
Moyer said they really didn’t do anything different in the second half, but that Donegal wanted the game more.
The Scouts will need to find a way to regain confidence quickly as they finish up with the three top teams in Section 4: Wyomissing, Lampeter-Strasburg and Cocalico.
“Come to practice every day, work hard, work on getting better and being more coachable,” Moyer said in regard to improvement. “Come out on Friday nights and play the game the way it’s supposed to be played and eliminate the mistakes.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Donegal | 7 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
| Conrad Weiser | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Donegal | Rohrer, 2 run (Rohrer kick) | 8:06 |
| 1 | Conrad Weiser | Dianna, 17 pass from Gingrich (kick failed) | 4:01 |
| 3 | Donegal | Rohrer, 6 run (Rohrer kick) | 7:53 |
| 3 | Conrad Weiser | Dianna, 29 run (pass failed) | 4:12 |
| 3 | Donegal | Amaro, 29 pass from Baughman (Rohrer kick) | :06.2 |
| 4 | Donegal | Sload, 33 run (Rohrer kick) | 9:37 |
Team statistics
| Donegal | Conrad Weiser | |
| First downs | 14 | 10 |
| Rushes-yards | 46-273 | 28-163 |
| Passing yards | 59 | 119 |
| Total yards | 332 | 282 |
| Passes | 3-3-0 | 12-21-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 2-33.50 | 3-40 |
| Penalties-yards | 1-5 | 4-25 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Donegal: Rohrer 24-163, Sload 6-64, Baughman 5-30, White 5-13, Mumper 4-5, Team 2-(-2).
Conrad Weiser: Parham 11-62, Conde 9-58, Gingrich 4-26, Dianna 3-25, J. Miller 1-(-9).
PASSING
Donegal: Baughman 3-3-0-59.
Conrad Weiser: Gingrich 12-21-1-119.
RECEIVING
Donegal: Amaro 1-29, Turbedsky 1-18, Mumper 1-12.
Conrad Weiser: Dianna 4-32, Rittle 2-32, E. Miller 2-22, J. Miller 2-13, Huertas 1-11, Parham 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS
Donegal: Rohrer.
