Ran away with it
SOUTH CENTRE TWP. — No matter the situation, Danville had the right play dialed up at the right time.
Even with the game put away to start the second half, the Ironmen were up to the challenge of marching 99 yards to put their stamp on a 55-3 win over Central Columbia Friday night.
On the half's kickoff, Danville running back Bo Sheptock accidentally touched the football and the Ironmen -- thinking nobody had done such — let it roll out of bounds at their 1-yard-line.
They didn't fret. Instead, coach Carl Majer wanted to see what the offense, which started three of its last four first-half drives in Blue Jays' territory, could do with their backs against the wall.
"I wanted to see if we could do a 99-yard drive, and they responded very well by getting the ball out of the end zone on the very first play," Majer said. "Bo did a heck of a job and we started getting some better blocks, Madden [Patrick] made some nice throws and it all came together for us."
The Blue Jays simply had no defensive answer. Patrick completed both pass attempts, each to Carter Raup, to erase 32 of those yards. Sheptock did the rest to make up for the special teams' blemish, capping it off with a 41-yard scamper.
Sheptock finished Danville's overall scoring — its third straight with 50 points — with a 33-yard rush to post 120 yards on eight carries.
The Ironmen weren't in need of his services early, rushing for only 15 yards in the first half. That's because Patrick continued his dominance behind center.
The slinger spread the ball around, finding five different receivers — four for scores — and finished with 316 yards on 10-of-14 passing.
"They were playing a lot of man and bringing a lot of dudes up. I just had to do my job and get my playmakers the ball," Patrick said. "... I was just doing the little things that coach (John) McDanel and Majer preach all week long."
Nobody benefited more than Raup, who came down with seven catches for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was often found wide open on both short and long routes.
Majer still sees room for improvement as Patrick threw his first interception of the season, a throw on the run to Blue Jays' Jaxson Hoffman.
"I think he had a couple of bad throws, including his first interception, but he shook it off and that shows you what type of player he is," Majer said. "You won't find a better quarterback who spreads the ball around, understands the coverage he's throwing against -- that's why he's doing what he's doing."
Patrick also connected with Sheptock for a pair of touchdowns while finding Aaron Johnson and Cameron Kiersch twice for over 50 yards and a touchdown apiece.
"We were hoping our pass rush could affect the quarterback, but they were just getting the ball out fast," Central coach EJ Smith said. "He's a great quarterback, holy cow, but we just couldn't get there and had a few breakdowns in the secondary, which didn't help."
Just as effective was the Ironmen's defensive unit, which was minutes away from a shutout. Blake Maguire put away those thoughts with a 40-yard field goal that just made it over the crossbar.
The Blue Jays had tough-sledding all game long, though. They were successful on third down for the first time on the final snap of the third quarter, going 1-for-14 on third- and fourth-down plays. They also finished with 95 total yards, 10 of them passing.
"Our plan was to run the ball, but we just had a couple mis-blocks in the first two series," Smith said. "It got out of control quick."
One sliver of hope is that the Blue Jays did force three turnovers, which Majer wants to see fixed before a crucial test at Loyalsock in Week 4. It left Smith pleased to see Central players never giving up on a play despite the score not being in their favor.
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