It’s that time of the year. The air is getting cooler, the leaves are beginning to change, and high school football contenders are starting to distinguish themselves from pretenders.
Cedar Crest has the look of a football team that doesn’t want its year to end with the regular season.
On a crisp Friday night at Ed and Jeannie Arnold Field at Earl Boltz Stadium, the Falcons’ push towards a postseason berth picked up momentum with a 48-6 mercy rule drubbing of McCaskey on homecoming. Behind a grueling ground game, Cedar Crest tallied two touchdowns in each of the first three quarters to establish its dominance.
With the outcome, the Falcons improved to 6-2 on the season, 3-2 in Section One of the Lancaster-Lebanon League and erased the displeasing memory of last week’s 42-0 loss at Manheim Township. Cedar Crest was positioned seventh in the latest District Three power rankings for an AAAAAA classification that takes eight teams for its postseason tournament.
In head coach Rob Wildasin’s previous nine years as Cedar Crest’s head coach, the Falcons have qualified for the District Three playoffs three times – 2015, 2017 and 2019. They’re overdue.
The loss dropped McCaskey to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in Section One.
“Absolutely it’s the goal. It’s always been the goal,” said Wildasin of the district playoffs. “We’re going to focus on next week. We’re going to enjoy the ride and enjoy each other.
“We’re right where we want to be,” continued Wildasin. “I really thought this was where we were going to be. I thought we could be right here. That’s where we are.”
“We talk about the district playoffs a lot,” said Cedar Crest senior running back Fernando Marquez. “We’ve just got to keep playing well. We’re trying to go 1-0 every week. But that’s (the postseason) the goal.”
While the Falcons’ effort and performance was fairly consistent throughout, it all flowed from a solid start. Cedar Crest scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the game to open a 14-0 lead.
Cedar Crest took advantage of a short field to get a 3-yard Marquez TD run 3:24 into the contest. And before the first quarter was out, Marquez’s running mate, Alex Abreu ran one in from 11 yards away, capping a seven-play, 75-yard march.
“We played really well,” said Wildasin. “But we have some things to work on. We showed areas of growth from last week, which is always what you’re looking for. Our kids showed up ready to play. I thought we played pretty hard. We played pretty sound.”
“Tonight went really smooth,” said Marquez. “We practiced hard this week. We lost last week, so we had to come back and get one.”
McCaskey cut into the Falcon lead with its best offensive possession early in the second quarter. But Cedar Crest responded with two more Marquez scoring runs 1:46 apart, to take a 28-6 lead to the locker room.
His 1-yard plunge was set up by a 25-yard scamper from Abreu and a 22-yard pass collaboration between quarterback Jackson Custer and Jack Waranavage. Then, Marquez split the McCaskey defense for a 21-yard burst to the promised land.
“We’re a run-first team,” said Wildasin. “We capitalize on the pass when we have to. It plays to our strength with our offensive line and running backs. And we kind of go from there.”
“I thought I did pretty good,” said Marquez. “I had to step up and do my business. My job is to get everyone hyped, and when I get the ball, run through arm tackles and everyone who gets in my way.”
Cedar Crest outgained McCaskey 388 total yards to 204.
Marquez rushed 17 times for a season-high 175 yards and four touchdowns. The senior RB now has gained 566 yards on the ground this year on 102 carries.
“I honestly think they’re getting better,” said Wildasin of the offensive linemen. “We changed something schematically, and even though they’re seniors, there was a learning curve. I never question their toughness. They’re tough kids.”
“Overall, the offensive line did really good,” said Marquez. “We handled our business. We just came out and we wanted to eat tonight.”
Five plays and 2:50 into the second half, the Falcons extended their advantage to 35-6 when Custer hooked up with senior Aiden Schomp for a 37-yard scoring strike. Marquez’s fourth rushing touchdown of the evening brough the mercy rule into play, with 6:20 remaining on the third-period clock.
“We have good leadership. The kids play hard,” said Wildasin. “They seem to want to get better every day. That has to occur for us to stay on this path.”
“All summer we worked in the weight room,” said Marquez. “From the first game on, we wanted to win. We feel like this is our year.”
2023 Cedar Crest Falcons
Read all our coverage of the Falcons here.
Roster
Head coach: Rob Wildasin
Assistant coaches: Nick Lambros, Brandon Kirsch, Brian Powers, Tom Gerhart, Shawn Rambler, Tom Waranavage, Logan Horn, Jona Padilla, Nevin Pagan, Bob Peebles, Bob Griffiths, Gary Wildasin
| Jersey Number | Name | Grade | Position(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Alex Abreu | 12 | RB/DB |
| 1 | Leo Tirado Jr. | 12 | WR/DB |
| 2 | Owen Chernich | 12 | WR/DB |
| 3 | Asher Ford | 12 | WR/DB |
| 4 | Jack Waranavage | 11 | WR/DB |
| 5 | Cristhian Viveros | 11 | WR/DB |
| 6 | Cameron Tirado | 10 | WR/DB |
| 7 | Kayden Tirado | 11 | RB/LB |
| 8 | Jackson Custer | 11 | QB/DB |
| 9 | Seth Warren | 11 | TE/DL |
| 10 | Fernando Marquez | 12 | RB/LB |
| 11 | Logan Oriel | 12 | WR/LB |
| 12 | Lucas Nolan | 11 | WR/DB |
| 13 | Diego Yanez | 10 | WR/LB |
| 14 | Connor McCracken | 10 | TE/DE |
| 15 | Cameron Hansell | 10 | QB/DB |
| 16 | Malachi Victor | 11 | WR/LB |
| 17 | Kaeleb Fees | 11 | WR/DB |
| 18 | Travis Kemberling | 10 | WR/DB |
| 19 | Dillon Hoffman | 11 | WR/DB |
| 20 | Yadi Rosario | 10 | WR/DB |
| 21 | Caleb Dorshimer | 12 | TE/LB |
| 22 | Kenyon Figueroa | 12 | WR/DB |
| 23 | Josh Tricoche | 11 | RB/DB |
| 24 | Preston Barton | 12 | WR/DB |
| 25 | Noah Miller | 10 | RB/LB |
| 26 | Richie Hernandez | 12 | FB/LB |
| 27 | Landen Weaber | 10 | WR/LB |
| 28 | Landyn Kline | 10 | RB/LB |
| 29 | Liam Setcavage | 10 | WR/DB |
| 30 | Justin Moreno | 10 | WR/DB |
| 31 | Alex Thies | 11 | WR/DB |
| 32 | Samantha Fink | 10 | K |
| 33 | Kai Speaks | 9 | WR/LB |
| 34 | Antonio Tirado | 9 | WR/DB |
| 35 | Eli Beard | 9 | RB/DB |
| 36 | Ethan Bowman | 11 | K |
| 37 | Dominic Roth | 12 | RB/LB |
| 38 | Isaiah Zimmerman | 9 | RB/LB |
| 39 | Tre Wamsher | 11 | WR/DB |
| 40 | Joe Arnt | 11 | RB/LB |
| 41 | Jordan Eisenhauer | 12 | WR/DB |
| 42 | Anthony Lantz | 11 | WR/DB |
| 43 | Garrett Starry | 9 | TE/LB |
| 44 | Skyler Sherman | 9 | WR/DB |
| 45 | Conner Rowe | 11 | WR/DB |
| 46 | Jackson Chernich | 9 | TE/DE |
| 47 | Terrance Wilson | 9 | WR/DB |
| 48 | Calvin Dash | 9 | WR/DB |
| 49 | Gavin Berkheimer | 9 | OL/DL |
| 50 | Aidan Arnold | 11 | OL/DE |
| 51 | Keenon Hopple | 9 | OL/DL |
| 52 | Caden Wolfe | 9 | OL/DL |
| 53 | Nicholas Lambros | 12 | OL/DT |
| 54 | Paxton Thomas | 10 | OL/DL |
| 55 | Cameron Simone | 12 | OL/DE |
| 56 | Christian Weaber | 12 | OL/DL |
| 57 | Tyler Toscano | 10 | OL/DL |
| 58 | Alex Kissinger | 11 | OL/DL |
| 59 | Christian Simpson | 10 | OL/DL |
| 60 | Wyatt Fox | 10 | OL/DL |
| 61 | Jordan Cullen | 11 | OL/DL |
| 62 | Brady Shobe | 10 | OL/DT |
| 63 | Austin Brubaker | 11 | OL/DL |
| 64 | Jayden Storm | 10 | OL/DL |
| 65 | Evan Pierce | 11 | OL/DL |
| 66 | Landen Gross | 10 | OL/DE |
| 67 | Damarius Galarza | 10 | OL/DE |
| 68 | Carter Eisenhauer | 11 | OL/DL |
| 69 | Jimmy Trump | 10 | OL/DL |
| 70 | Tristan Long | 11 | OL/DL |
| 71 | Pal Bhavsar | 12 | OL/DL |
| 72 | Carter Ober | 10 | OL/DL |
| 73 | Ahmed Mohamed | 11 | OL/DL |
| 74 | Isaiah Sepulveda | 12 | OL/DL |
| 75 | Connor Shanaman | 10 | OL/DL |
| 76 | Michael Rivera | 12 | OL/DL |
| 77 | Nathanael Harbaugh | 11 | OL/DL |
| 78 | Bruce Gonzalez | 10 | OL/DL |
| 79 | Alex Contreras | 11 | OL/DL |
| 80 | Ben Custer | 9 | TE/DE |
| 81 | Jayden Marley | 10 | WR/DB |
| 82 | Chase Warren | 9 | TE/DE |
| 83 | Luke Oriel | 10 | QB/DB |
| 84 | Cole Shanaman | 9 | OL/DL |
| 85 | Cole Stevenson | 11 | OL/DL |
| 86 | Nolan Brubaker | 9 | TE/LB |
| 87 | Aiden Schomp | 12 | TE/DE |
| 88 | Grayson Frankenstein | 11 | TE/DE |
| 91 | Bryan Duffy | 10 | RB/LB |
| 99 | Dylan Fuhrman | 11 | TE/DE |
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