week two: cv-42 ... carlisle-0
CV Dominates Carlisle with a Big Friday Night Win
The Cumberland Valley offense was held scoreless in a season-opening loss to Manheim Township. That wasn’t the case Friday night, as the Eagles found the end zone early ad often in Week 2 to take down Carlisle 42-0 in a Mid-Penn Commonwealth opener for both teams at Ken Millen stadium. “We talked about making progress from last week,” said Cumberland Valley head coach Josh Oswalt. “We saw a lot of good things and some teachable moments. The guys were very focused this week on rectifying the efficiency from last week. We made a lot of mistakes on offense. It was really a full team effort this week on getting back to the basics and really getting better at what we do.”
Cumberland Valley senior quarterback Kameron Wolfe left his mark on the victory with three touchdowns, including a 30-yard rushing touchdown and two passing touchdowns from 13 yards and 10 yards. Wolfe finished the game with 87 yards on eight rushes. He passed for98 yards. “Their defense blitzed a lot, " Wolfe said. “So I knew when they blitz I could replace it with a receiver on the backside. “The running part was just me being an athlete. I'm doing what I do, so it was pretty cool.”
The Eagles (1-1, 1-0 Commonwealth) went on a 10-play drive capped off by a Hayden Johnson 5-yard rushing touchdown to put the Eagles up 7-0 early. Carlisle lost starting quarterback Will Smith to an injury on a running play in the first quarter. Thundering Herd head coach Brandon Cook didn't have an update on the severity of the senior's injury immediately after the game.
After a Herd punt, Wolfe extended the Eagles lead to 14-0 with 3:20 remaining in the first quarter, as he took a draw play 30 yards to the house, outrunning Herd defenders. “Last week, the offense wasn’t moving the ball, and I didn’t do my job,” Wolfe said. “This week, the offense stepped up and our defense allowed zero points. We found ways to make plays and get the ball who we needed to get the ball to.”
Cumberland Valley struck for a third time in the first quarter with 10 seconds left. The Eagles converted on a 4th-and-7 when Wolfe found Brody Pines for 21 yards, which set up Johnson’s second touchdown of the game, a 5-yard score that put the Eagles up 21-0. “Getting off to a fast start was big,” Oswalt said. “We got some yards in the run game and some key third downs and a key fourth down. Brody stepped up big as did Zayden (Smith) and Hayden. It was fun to watch those guys tonight.” The Eagles got another score late in the second quarter as Wolfe connected with Pines for a 13-yard touchdown to put the Eagles up 28-0 at halftime.
On the ensuing drive Carlisle punted it on fourth down. The Herd got some life as the punt was muffed and recovered by Brayen Hunter at the Cumberland Valley 2-yard line. Carlisle couldn’t get on the board as Curtis Stroud (15 carries, 42 yards) gained a yard and lost a yard on the drive, and Bishop Campbell threw two incompletions on third and fourth down. “It’s hard for a small roster to compete when you get down like that,” Cook said. “Their heart and fight is there. We just need to clean a lot of things up.”
The Herd (0-2, 0-1) played tighter defense in the second half. Cumberland Valley scored on its third drive in the third quarter to go up 35-0. Wolfe completed passes of 13 and 23 yards on the drive before hitting Smith for a 10-yard touchdown on a slant. “We went into the locker room not satisfied,” Wolfe said. “We wanted to come out and show what we could do. We know Week 1 was a fluke.” Aiden Snyder finished the Cumberland Valley scoring on an interception return for a touchdown. “That was his second snap on varsity ever,” Wolfe said. “For him to have a pick-six was incredible. I love the guys, and we are so close as a team.