PHILADELPHIA — Just enough offense in the first half.
Just enough defense at critical times.
The combination was just enough for Crestwood to advance Saturday afternoon in the PIAA Class 4A state football playoffs at Northeast High School.
The Comets struck with big plays in the first half and used its defense to overcome a stagnant offense in the second half for the 21-14 quarterfinal victory over District 12 champion Bonner-Prendie.
District 2 champion Crestwood (13-1) will play Bishop McDevitt (11-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Exeter Township High School in the state semifinals. McDevitt won the District 3 championship with a 40-0 victory over Manheim Central on Friday. D12 champion Bonner-Prendie ended its season at 11-2.
“We talked at halftime and said ‘Hey, if we don’t score anymore we’ll be OK because we’re up two scores,’” Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli said. “To have the offense do that and set the tone and then the defense, the effort there was incredible. We’re hanging on there against a team that lights the scoreboard up.”
First the offense.
Crestwood scored on its third play from scrimmage. Quarterback Jaden Shedlock started left and then bounced his run a little wider. Once he turned the corner, he was on the way to a 53-yard touchdown run.
Bonner-Prendie answered back after pinning Crestwood at 1-yard line on a punt and taking over at the Crestwood 24 after a short punt by the Comets. Quarterback Justin Shepherd lofted a pass from there to 6-foot-4 Jalil Hall in the left part of the end zone for a TD that helped tie the score 7-7 at 6:59 of the first quarter.
Crestwood got the lead back with a 12-play, 70-yard drive. The possession appeared stalled when the Comets faced a fourth-and-10 at the Bonner-Prendie 28. Crestwood, though, turned the situation into a touchdown.
Shedlock rolled a bit to his right on the fourth-down play and the Bonner-Prendie defense drifted with him. He then threw back to the left to running back Noah Schultz, who slipped out of the backfield and was wide open. Schultz was able to trot into the end zone for his 36th touchdown of the season and probably the easiest one thus far.
Schultz later gave Crestwood a 21-7 lead going into halftime, busting up the middle for a 76-yard touchdown run with 4:34 left in the second quarter.
Crestwood piled up 209 yards in the first half compared to 81 for Bonner-Prendie. The second half, though, wasn’t as kind to the Comets offense.
Crestwood’s four second-half possessions resulted in 1, 18, minus-9 and 3 yards.
And now for the defense.
Bonner-Prendie drove to the Crestwood 17-yard line after receiving the second-half kickoff. Crestwood cornerback Matt Sklarosky stopped the threat with an interception in the end zone. Safety Nick Miscavage also had an interception in the end zone — his ninth pick of the season — in the second quarter after the Friars drove to the Crestwood 9-yard line.
Bonner-Prendie inserted Colin Finnegan at quarterback after the second interception and he got things going with his legs and his arm.
“We needed to change things up,” Bonner-Prendie coach Jack Muldoon said. “We felt Colin was a more physical player and we’d have a run game with him.”
Finnegan threw a 5-yard jumpball TD pass to Hall with five seconds left in the third quarter to move the Friars within 21-14.
The Friars had the ball just two more times. The first possession ended on downs at the Crestwood 33 as the Comets broke up two passes. The second started at the Friars 34 with 3:45 remaining and also started poorly.
Finnegan tossed a short pass to running back Avery Hankey on first down, but Crestwood linebacker Cole Kakalecik flattened him for a 6-yard loss.
“I saw they had trips to the one side and they threw backside to the running back and I was all over it,” Kakalecik said.
Finnegan was buried under an avalanche of Comets for a 7-yard loss on second down. After an incompletion, Bonner-Prendie had no choice other than trying to convert a fourth-and-23 with 2:22 left. The Friars had burned all their timeouts in the third quarter.
Finnegan’s pass to Hall was too high, sending Crestwood to its school-record 13th win of the season.
“We’re really good defensively,” said Kakalecik, a four-year starter. “All the guys come into practice working really hard, putting everything they have into it. It really allows us to put ourselves in the best position defensively.”
SNEAK PEEK
Crestwood’s next opponent features one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.
Bishop McDevitt sophomore Stone Saunders had passed for 3,029 yards and 44 TDs with one interception entering Friday night’s quarterfinal game with Manheim Central. Saunders has 16 Division I offers, including Georgia, Michigan, Pitt and Wisconsin.
Saunders’ father, Steve, is the strength and conditioning coach for the Baltimore Ravens.
PIAA Class 4A Quarterfinals
Crestwood 21, Bonner-Prendie 14
Crestwood`7`14`0`0 — 21
Bonner-Prendie`7`0`7`0 — 14
First quarter
CRE — Jaden Shedlock 53 run (Logan Rolles kick), 10:34
BP — Jalil Hall 24 pass from Justin Shepherd (Irv Fisher kick), 6:59
Second quarter
CRE — Noah Schultz 28 pass from Shedlock (Rolles kick), 11:53
CRE — Schultz 76 run (Rolles kick), 4:34
Third quarter
BP — Hall 5 pass from Colin Finnegan (Fisher kick), 0:05
Team statistics`CRE`BP
First downs`9`12
Rushes-yards`39-193`24-88
Passing yards`32`140
Total yards`225`228
Passing`2-5-0`11-22-2
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-12
Punts-avg.`5-35.4`3-41.7
Fumbles-lost`1-0`0-0
Penalties-yards`4-30`6-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Crestwood, Schultz 24-138, Shedlock 7-33, Robert Knight 2-6, Brendan Dennis 6-16. Bonner-Prendie, Avery Hankey 11-43. Jaylen Johnson 2-13, Shepherd 2-(minus-8), Isaiah Sessions 2-0, Finnegan 7-40.
PASSING — Crestwood, Shedlock 2-5-0-32. Bonner-Prendie, Shepherd 7-14-2-79, Finnegan 4-8-0-61.
RECEIVING — Crestwood, Rolles 1-4, Schultz 1-28. Bonner-Prendie, Hall 7-87, Jaeden Foster 1-9, Johnson 2-50, Hankey 1-(minus-6).
INTERCEPTIONS — Crestwood, Nick Miscavage 1-21, Matt Sklarosky 1-0.
MISSED FGs — none.