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 cheerleaders line up in anticipation of the Falcon football team taking the field. (Jeff Falk)
The Cedar Crest student section was its usual loud-and-proud self on Friday night at Earl Boltz Stadium. (Jeff Falk)

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 clock running down, the scoreboard at Earl Boltz Stadium says it all. (Jeff Falk)

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.

Falcon kicker Ethan Bowman made good on all six of his extra-point tries on Friday night. (Jeff Falk)

“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.”

The Cedar Crest offensive line’s continuing improvement was on full display last night. (Jeff Falk)

“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.

Cedar Crest junior quarterback Jackson Custer waits for the next play to be called. Custer has emerged as a solid leader for the Falcons this season. (Jeff Falk)

“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 senior running back Fernando Marquez was the star of Friday’s game. He rushed 17 times for 175 yards and four touchdowns. (Jeff Falk)

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.”

Senior Christian Weaber was part of a Cedar Crest offensive line that won the war in the trenches. (Jeff Falk)
Tristan Long and his defensive line mates made life miserable for the McCaskey offense. (Jeff Falk)

“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.

Cedar Crest head coach Rob Wildasin makes a point during the post-game address to his team. (Jeff Falk)

“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 NumberNameGradePosition(s)
0Alex Abreu12RB/DB
1Leo Tirado Jr.12WR/DB
2Owen Chernich12WR/DB
3Asher Ford12WR/DB
4Jack Waranavage11WR/DB
5Cristhian Viveros11WR/DB
6Cameron Tirado10WR/DB
7Kayden Tirado11RB/LB
8Jackson Custer11QB/DB
9Seth Warren11TE/DL
10Fernando Marquez12RB/LB
11Logan Oriel12WR/LB
12Lucas Nolan11WR/DB
13Diego Yanez10WR/LB
14Connor McCracken10TE/DE
15Cameron Hansell10QB/DB
16Malachi Victor11WR/LB
17Kaeleb Fees11WR/DB
18Travis Kemberling10WR/DB
19Dillon Hoffman11WR/DB
20Yadi Rosario10WR/DB
21Caleb Dorshimer12TE/LB
22Kenyon Figueroa12WR/DB
23Josh Tricoche11RB/DB
24Preston Barton12WR/DB
25Noah Miller10RB/LB
26Richie Hernandez12FB/LB
27Landen Weaber10WR/LB
28Landyn Kline10RB/LB
29Liam Setcavage10WR/DB
30Justin Moreno10WR/DB
31Alex Thies11WR/DB
32Samantha Fink10K
33Kai Speaks9WR/LB
34Antonio Tirado9WR/DB
35Eli Beard9RB/DB
36Ethan Bowman11K
37Dominic Roth12RB/LB
38Isaiah Zimmerman9RB/LB
39Tre Wamsher11WR/DB
40Joe Arnt11RB/LB
41Jordan Eisenhauer12WR/DB
42Anthony Lantz11WR/DB
43Garrett Starry9TE/LB
44Skyler Sherman9WR/DB
45Conner Rowe11WR/DB
46Jackson Chernich9TE/DE
47Terrance Wilson9WR/DB
48Calvin Dash9WR/DB
49Gavin Berkheimer9OL/DL
50Aidan Arnold11OL/DE
51Keenon Hopple9OL/DL
52Caden Wolfe9OL/DL
53Nicholas Lambros12OL/DT
54Paxton Thomas10OL/DL
55Cameron Simone12OL/DE
56Christian Weaber12OL/DL
57Tyler Toscano10OL/DL
58Alex Kissinger11OL/DL
59Christian Simpson10OL/DL
60Wyatt Fox10OL/DL
61Jordan Cullen11OL/DL
62Brady Shobe10OL/DT
63Austin Brubaker11OL/DL
64Jayden Storm10OL/DL
65Evan Pierce11OL/DL
66Landen Gross10OL/DE
67Damarius Galarza10OL/DE
68Carter Eisenhauer11OL/DL
69Jimmy Trump10OL/DL
70Tristan Long11OL/DL
71Pal Bhavsar12OL/DL
72Carter Ober10OL/DL
73Ahmed Mohamed11OL/DL
74Isaiah Sepulveda12OL/DL
75Connor Shanaman10OL/DL
76Michael Rivera12OL/DL
77Nathanael Harbaugh11OL/DL
78Bruce Gonzalez10OL/DL
79Alex Contreras11OL/DL
80Ben Custer9TE/DE
81Jayden Marley10WR/DB
82Chase Warren9TE/DE
83Luke Oriel10QB/DB
84Cole Shanaman9OL/DL
85Cole Stevenson11OL/DL
86Nolan Brubaker9TE/LB
87Aiden Schomp12TE/DE
88Grayson Frankenstein11TE/DE
91Bryan Duffy10RB/LB
99Dylan Fuhrman11TE/DE

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Jeff Falk is a seasoned journalist based in Lebanon, PA. He's a graduate of Cedar Crest High School, Penn State University, and a lifelong resident of Lebanon, born and raised. Currently, he is a feature writer for Engle Publishing in Lancaster, the editor of LebCoSports.com, sports director at WLBR...

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