Timely interceptions, Harrison's go-ahead score catapult Chambersburg over Cumberland Valley
Three sets of Chambersburg football gloves could play out to be the end-all, be-all in Cumberland Valley's District 3 Class 6A playoff fate.
Six days after the Eagles stunned Harrisburg with a 24-21 upset, CV found itself on the losing side of a 17-10 defensive struggle with the Trojans at Chapman Field Friday. Chambersburg pirated three timely interceptions, including one with 2:32 to play, and Antonio Harrison's 1-yard, go-ahead touchdown run was the nail in the coffin, as the Eagles couldn't manufacture a response in the two-minute drill.
CV entered Friday's Mid-Penn Commonwealth collision as the eighth-ranked team in a Class 6A field that awards 10 postseason bids. Chambersburg (4-5, 3-5 Commonwealth), also aiming for a playoff spot, ranked 12th.
"It was a knock-down, drag-out (fight)," Chambersburg head coach Mark Luther said. "I thought it was a very physical game from both sides. So sometimes, it's good to see that instead of a big scoring game, That's the way the game's supposed to be played — physical, fast, and that's what it was."
Both the Eagles (4-5, 4-4) and Trojans absorbed their blows of physical and fast.
CV tapped into the fast component from opening kickoff, sprinting down the field on a four-play, 45-yard drive. Quarterback Grant Shepley capped the opening fireworks with a 23-yard flick to Elijah Sherman to grab a 7-0 lead with less than three minutes drained from the clock.
"We thought they'd try to run, but they were putting it in the air, and then they caught us in man (coverage), and they made a great play," Luther said. "But our kids bounce back. We've done that a few times this year. We give up the opening-drive score, but we've come back and evened it up. And once you even it up, it makes it a whole different ballgame."
The Trojans stuck to their roots, engineering an answer on their second possession. Chambersburg signal caller Ceagan Truett unleashed a 78-yard touchdown heave to Evan Brown, who secured the pigskin at midfield and bolted the extra 50 stripes.
Trever Luther added insurance before halftime, booting a 20-yard field goal for a 10-7 advantage. A strip sack of Shepley placed the Trojans in plus territory.
"That's been the story of the year," CV head coach Josh Oswalt said. "Our offense, it's tough at times. And sometimes it's the execution. Sometimes it's the opposition. The opposition, we knew going into the week that (Chambersburg's) a formidable opponent. They're well coached defensively."
The Trojans showcased their defensive stature with two second-half interceptions. The first halted a CV seven-play drive and the second came after the Eagles poached a pass of their own.
Harrison, who had been contained to 2 yards on the ground in the first half, gathered runs of 18 and 6 yards to set up Chambersburg's go-ahead score. He finished with 34 yards on 17 carries.
"We definitely did struggle," Luther said. "They were putting a lot of guys at the line of scrimmage, blitzing and putting some pressure on us. We were missing some assignments, and that really killed us. But that last drive, we found a couple things that we could attack. We went after it, and our guys made some blocks, and Antonio ran his tail off and stuck it up in there."
Sherman and Ke'aune Green were credited with the CV interceptions. No matter the momentum the defense generated — the Eagles also stuffed the Trojans on three plays from the 4-yard line to force Luther's second-quarter field goal — the offense failed to capitalize.
Andrew Rice was true from 25 yards to account for CV's second-half output.
"Defensively, our guys stayed in it," Oswalt said. "And unfortunately for this year, it's been the same situation, and the end of the game. We've been bend but don't break until the end of the game. Then we break."
Christian Eby is a sports reporter for The Sentinel and cumberlink.com . Love
