Breaking News
Late Sports

Jersey Shore cruised past Lewisburg to advance to District 4 Class AAAA final

By Chris Masse 7 min read

JERSEY SHORE--Defensive coordinator Alex Jackson spends his week operating like a mad scientist, studying and scheming. Come Friday night, he unleashes his Bulldogs.

And these dogs like to eat. Literally.

That defense gobbled up everything Lewisburg tried Friday night at Thompson Street Stadium. The starters allowed just one yard on 31 plays, Connor Davis and Cayden Hess each intercepted two passes and the three-time defending District 4 Class AAAA champions opened their title defense with a thunderous 48-7 semifinal win against Lewisburg. Hess returned an interception for a first-quarter touchdown, Dyllian Ross added an interception and linebacker Karter Peacock was a force. The offense surged, too, with Haydn Packer and Brady Jordan combining for 202 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

Jersey Shore coach Tom Gravish promised his players if anyone intercepted two passes he would get them rib-eye steaks so Hess and Davis will be eating well. Every ate well last week after line coach Ken Williamson gave the team diamond cut steaks after shutting out Central Mountain. Gravish promised the team ice cream if it produced a shutout in that game.

Still, winning is what motivates this team the most. Put it all together and Jersey Shore (11-0) earned a championship showdown against Selinsgrove next week back at Thompson Street Stadium. It will be the seventh time in nine years these rivals have met in the championship. That run started in 2013 when Jersey Shore rose from the ashes. Forming the backbone of that tradition has been a stifling defense.

"Coach Jackson gives us the signal and we go as hard as we can every play. Every week we just go as hard as we can," two-way lineman Luke Springman said. "Everyone has their role and their job and everyone does it well. That's why we have such a good defense."

"We play hard football. There's no giving up at all. The score can be 21-0 and we're still going full tilt," Davis said. "We don't care who scores the touchdowns or makes the tackles here. We just care that the Bulldogs are winning and winning a lot of games. That's our mentality here."

That mentality has helped Jersey Shore reach its eighth district championship in nine years a season after reaching the state final. The Bulldogs played well in all facets Friday, but the stifling defense helped set the tone, producing five interceptions, holding Lewisburg to minus-10 rushing yards and not allowing a run of more than three yards. It was not one player dominating, but every Bulldog flying to the ball, making plays and flourishing as one.

After Packer capped Jersey Shore's opening 74-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown, that defense went to work and Hess quickly doubled the lead, jumping a slant route and returning his first interception 24 yards for a touchdown. Davis ended the next drive with his first interception and both added their second picks in the third quarter when Jersey Shore scored 16 points and put the game away. The defense did not allow a touchdown for a third straight game, holding the opponent without a point for a second consecutive contest with Lewisburg's touchdown coming on a 90-yard Jeremiah Davis kick return.

"Coach Jackson did a great job with coming up with our outlook and emphasizing who and how their players could hurt us," Gravish said. "They all did their jobs and played really fast."

Although it did not earn the result it wanted, Lewisburg (5-5) still produced a terrific season and made a tremendous in-season turnaround after starting 0-3. With little margin for error, the Dragons won five of their last six games, defeated rival Mifflinburg last week for the field's final playoff berth. Lewisburg made a three-win improvement from last year, received a taste of playoff football and laid the foundation for a successful future.

"When we started the season we weren't expected to win more than one or two games and we turned around and the guys competed and played as teammates and did a good job playing together to put us in this game," Lewisburg first-year coach Eric Wicks said. "I'm so unbelievably proud of those guys and the things they've done and accomplished to become more of a team. With us growing into that team environment and working together it's a stepping stone for where we can end up."

Jersey Shore was locked in close games at halftime the past two weeks, but jumped on Lewisburg, building a 32-7 halftime lead. Springman and fellow linemen Zach Rooney, Dierk Stetts, Jared Palski, Donald Steinbacher, as well as Davis at tight end, paved the way for 453 yards, including 320 on the ground. Packer (106 yards) and Jordan (95) both went over 90 while Elijah Jordan added 55 and a touchdown. Brady Jordan also threw for 90 yards and Kooper Peacock set up a third-quarter touchdown with a 43-yard throw to Hess who produced 107 yards.

The Bulldogs again ran their no-huddle offense at warp speed, producing 82 plays which actually was down from the 97 it ran in a Week 5 win against Lewisburg. They sustained long drives, gained 26 first downs and kept the pressure on.

"We're conditioned very well," Springman said. "As long as the game is going on we're going to go all-out and try to get the other team tired out."

Packer and Elijah Jordan scored on short second-quarter runs as Jersey Shore went up 26-0. An errant snap produced a third-quarter safety which made it 34-7 and Hess went to work on 74-yard scoring drive. The two-time all-state receiver caught two third-and-long passes, made a sensational leaping catch on Peacock's 43-yard throw and produced 65 yards on the drive which Brady Jordan capped with his second touchdown run as Jersey Shore went up 41-7.

Hess intercepted his second pass on the ensuing series and Davis helped drop the hammer with a dazzling interception a possession later. The senior defensive end stormed into the backfield and deflected a pass into the air. He then dove and made a super diving catch at midfield, his third interception in four games. Six plays later, Peacock made a nice cut on a 9-yard touchdown run and Jersey Shore opened a 48-7 advantage.

"They did exactly what I thought was coming on the play. I was just going to bat it to the ground but I batted it up and looked for it and dove on it," Davis said. "It's nice to help my team out. Being a senior leader, I just try and help the team out anyway I can."

So does Lewisburg defensive end Owen Ordonez. The all-state defensive end went out on his shield in his final game, making a game-high 12 tackles, including three for loss. Ditto for fellow senior and Division I recruit Ethan Dominick who also made 12 tackles.

Ordonez and Dominick set an outstanding example throughout the careers and now pass the torch to exciting underclassmen like Davis. The electrifying freshman continued his late-season surge when he made a sharp cut upfield and went 90 yards for his touchdown. Davis produced three kickoff returns of 89 yards or longer over the final four games, adding in a 62-yard touchdown catch against Milton and looks like a potential future big-play machine.

"That kid is explosive," Wicks said. "I would say Davis is going to be a headache for a lot of teams for a few years to come."

Jersey Shore and Selinsgrove have provided opponents headaches over the years and produced quite a battle in Week 2 when Jersey Shore rallied for a 9-7 win. The players change but the results often do not and the Seals and Bulldogs have worked their way back to each other yet again.

"We know we're playing a tough opponent in Selinsgrove," Gravish said. "They have a great program, a great tradition."

"It's always exciting to play a playoff game at home, especially against Selinsgrove. they're a good team and we're all looking forward to it.

Starting at /week.