Will Cranford throws 4 TDs as unbeaten Lancaster Catholic tops Kutztown
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Matt Aquino — LNP/Lancasteronline
The Kutztown Cougars were hoping to celebrate Homecoming Friday by knocking off the undefeated Lancaster Catholic Crusaders. For a while it looked possible, the Cougars taking a first-quarter lead.
The Crusaders had other ideas and worked their way to a 46-23 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 victory to remain tied for first place with Schuylkill Valley.
In the first quarter the Crusaders (5-0, 8-0) and Cougars (1-4, 2-6) exchanged scores, with Kutztown going up 7-6 after Jayden Swoyer’s 5-yard TD reception and Hayden Stump’s PAT.
The Crusaders offense and defense began to dominate as senior quarterback Will Cranford got warmed up. He looked poised in the pocket the whole game, completing 9-of-13 passes and throwing for 211 yards and four touchdowns.
The Crusaders did not need to punt.
Down 18-7, Kutztown had the ball on its own 32-yard line on fourth-and-2. The Cougars decided to go for it with a run to the left to Dakota Thomas. He was stopped short and the Crusaders took advantage of the missed opportunity.
Elijah Cunningham scored from 5 yards out to put Lancaster Catholic up 25-7 and the Crusaders were in complete control, shutting out the Cougars until the fourth quarter.
The connection of Cranford to Jaevon Parker was truly unstoppable. Parker accounted for three of the four touchdown passes and finished with 123 receiving yards.
The Cougars punted four times and were shut out in both the second and third quarters. Although Kutztown did not turn the ball over, it failed twice on fourth-down conversions, relinquishing any momentum it had.
Kutztown scored a pair of fourth-quarter TDs, getting a 1-yard run from Brenden Ackley and Ethan Lafferty’s 16-yard TD reception, the second scoring pass thrown by his brother, Jacob.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Lancaster Catholic | 12 | 20 | 14 | 0 | 46 |
| Kutztown | 7 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 23 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Lancaster Catholic | Parker, 10 pass from Cranford (kick failed) |
| 1 | Kutztown | Swoyer, 5 pass from J. Lafferty (Stump kick) |
| 1 | Lancaster Catholic | Parker, 65 pass from Cranford (run failed) |
| 2 | Lancaster Catholic | Parker, 42 pass from Cranford (run failed) |
| 2 | Lancaster Catholic | Cunningham, 5 run (Tregea kick) |
| 2 | Lancaster Catholic | Warren, 46 pass from Cranford (Tregea kick) |
| 3 | Lancaster Catholic | Crawley, 8 run (Tregea kick) |
| 3 | Lancaster Catholic | Crawley, 3 run (Tregea kick) |
| 4 | Kutztown | Ackley, 1 run (E. Lafferty pass from J. Lafferty) |
| 4 | Kutztown | E. Lafferty, 16 pass from UJ. Lafferty (Thomas run) |
Team statistics
| Lancaster Catholic | Kutztown | |
| First downs | 18 | 16 |
| Rushes-yards | 22-120 | 46-205 |
| Passing yards | 215 | 99 |
| Total yards | 335 | 304 |
| Passes | 10-14 | 4-8 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 4-1 |
| Punts-average | 0-0 | 4-6.7 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-30 | 6-65 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Lancaster Catholic: Fields 8-45, Crawley 6-35, Cunningham 4-18, Cranford 2-11, Zachery 1-5.
Kutztown: Ackley 20-113, Thomas 12-54, Swoyer 3-20, J. Lafferty 10-10, Gruber 4-9.
PASSING
Lancaster Catholic: Cranford 9-13-0–211.
Kutztown: J. Lafferty 6-10-0–84.
RECEIVING
Lancaster Catholic: Parker 4-123, Warren 1-46, Dresch 2-29, Acker 1-7, Gonzalez 1-6, Way 1-4.
Kutztown: E. Lafferty 3-60, Thomas 1-18, Swoyer 1-6.