Blue Devils Run Over Rams

(3-2) rode an incredible performance by running back Cedric Madden to defeat the Hill School (0-3) 34-7 at Pottstown's Grigg Memorial Field. Madden accounted for 340 of the Blue Devil's 429 total yards on offense.

Trying to keep up with the Blue Devil back was the Hill's Adam Regensburg. The two clashed all night, as the defensive back tired valiantly to contain the run.

Madden opened up scoring with a touchdown at the 6:45 mark. Following a successful point after, the Rams found themselves in a 7-0 hole. The Hill moved the ball well on the ground in the first half, gaining 168 of their 189 total rushing yards in the first two frames. Regensburg rushed for 87 yards on the night, while backfield mate Kwame Larbi added 94 yards. Regensburg scored the Hill's only touchdown in the second.

Coach Grey Simpson alternated between using Regensburg as a "Wildcat" quarterback and using quarterback Grant Smith in more conventional formations. While the game plan seemed to work initially, Chestnut Hill responded, tightening to surrender only 43 yards in the second half.

"Their one touchdown drive, we missed tackles and had a couple broken assignments," Chestnut Hill head coach Rick Knox said.

That Blue Devil defense, led by linebacker Lewis Lake and defensive linemen Tommie Whitehead and Tyler Hightower, effectively contained Regensburg and Larbi, holding strong at the line to prevent the interior running game.

Madden added 3 more touchdowns before the half, including a 62-yard scamper late in the second to make the score 20-7 at intermission.

The second half was more of the same, as Madden and the Blue Devils lined up and ran roughshod over the Rams. Madden moved like water, patiently waiting for holes to be opened by his offensive line before snaking through and proceeding to break tackles and beat defenders in the open field for large gains. So dominant was the senior that his number was called even on third-and-long plays.

"I'm extremely proud of them (Madden and the linemen) and how far we've come together, because it wasn't like The Hill School didn't know we were going to run the ball," Knox said. "Especially in that second half, they were up there trying to key up and stop us, ad we made some great blocks."

"We got pushed around up front," Simpson said. "The gaps were too big."

Nowhere was that more evident than on a length of the field scoring drive for the Blue Devils in the fourth. Taking over in the shadow of their own end zone following a goal line stand from inside the 1-yard line, Chestnut Hill utilized big plays from quarterback Michael Hayes, tight end Bobby Keyes and Madden to engineer a back breaking scoring drive, topped off by Madden's 30-yard run up the gut for a touchdown.

"We only play for one thing at the Hill, and that's the championship," Simpson said. "We're 0-0 in the MAPL. We need to take what we learned in these past three games and make a MAPL run."