Even with a win, Ironmen seek more
LOYALSOCK TWP. — Danville coach Carl Majer has preached from the preseason that the team shouldn't look too far ahead.
Now with their roughest stretch behind them, he's already thinking about ways the team can improve and capture its fifth straight district championship. So, too, are the players, who were unsatisfied with their body of work following a 28-3 win over Loyalsock, a team Danville typically collided with in the postseason before the Lancers moved down to Class 2A.
The Ironmen were stout on defense, coming away with five turnovers — four via the fumble — and making running back Dolan Harmon earn every yard on his 22 carries.
"How can you beat yourself up after a 28-3 victory? There's a gut feeling that you need to get better when you want to win a state title when you want to win a district title," Majer said. "We're banged up and have played three really tough teams in the last weeks. ... Loyalsock always plays us tough, but we need to sure up our tackling and get guys healthy.
"We did a great job making plays, ripping the ball out, and holding them up when push came to shove. We have a lot of playmakers that seem to help us at the right time."
One of those key contributors is Bo Sheptock, who came away with three rushing touchdowns, helping him set the Danville single-season record with 23. But it was on the other side of the ball where his contributions helped greatly. With the Ironmen stuck in a rut offensively, having punted twice and fumbling on a fourth down play, they were looking for a spark. Sheptock provided that with a fumble recovery from his safety position and set Madden Patrick and company up in the red zone.
Following a Lancers' timeout, Patrick connected with Carter Raup in the back of the end zone on an 18-yard score to kill any momentum Loyalsock had of an upset.
"We were sputtering and Carter made a nice catch on a nice Madden throw," Majer said. "It's all there, but we just have to make it consistent again."
Patrick finished 11-of-17 for 117 yards. His first five completions went to five different receivers, but some throws were off target. Majer attributes some of that to the injuries plaguing both the offensive lineman and skill players and losing his No. 1 receiver Cole Duffy to an apparent leg injury in the third quarter didn't help matters. The District 4 golf champion, who also had a fumble recovery on defense in the second quarter, was helped off the field by Majer and Chase Miller.
Sheptock was the spark throughout for the Ironmen. His first rushing touchdown came off the heels of a Sam Hummer interception. Sheptock's beautiful cut-back run went for 23 yards. Looking like he was going to run left, he turned the other way at the line of scrimmage and finished it off with a dive at the pylon.
He also had a 3-yard rush up the gut to extend their lead in the second quarter coming off Duffy's fumble recovery. He later capped off the game's scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run.
"Thank God Bo has been an animal. He broke the record tonight for touchdowns and that speaks to the phenomenal level of effort by him and the line to want to get it," Majer said. "Still, you can't beat everybody up and the kids will work hard on our boo-boos to make things right."
Landon Kehoe also had a fumble recovery as the Ironmen held Harmon to 94 yards on 29 carries (3.2 ypc). They also rushed quarterback Danny Dowell all evening into some ill-advised or rushed throws including two screens that went for nothing and an intentional grounding. He finished with 90 yards —78 on two completions — on 5-of-13 passing.
With the defense standing tall, the Lancers had to settle for a 23-yard chip shot field goal going into the half. Still, one won't find the Ironmen celebrating after coming out of their toughest stretch.
"We won 28-3 and we aren't satisfied. The kids took it to heart. They are hooting and hollering. They know they have to play better and we need to coach better. We're all going to work as a team and sharpen our pencils and get better next week."
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