BY MIKE MASTOVICH
JOHNSTOWN — Ken Salem is no different than 10 other coaches who prepared for their respective games against Heritage Conference power Penns Manor.
The Bishop McCort coach noticed the Comets’ freshman phenom at quarterback, Danny Ferens.
“Penns Manor has a sensational freshman quarterback,” Salem said as his top-seeded and undefeated Crushers prepared for a District 6 Class A semifinal against fifth-seeded Penns Manor tonight at Point Stadium.
“Ferens is a playmaker. He’s an impressive talent for such a young age,” Salem added. “He has almost 1,000 yards rushing and almost 500 throwing the football. He seems to be the leader of the offense.”
Ferens led Penns Manor to a 20-14 win over Heritage rival United last week on the road.
United had edged Penns Manor 25-22 during the regular season, handing the Comets their only setback during a season that so far includes a school-record 10 victories.
The 14-year-old quarterback rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns and tossed a late scoring pass in the win at United. Ferens broke multiple big plays on third down, most significantly his tackle-eluding
32-yard run to convert a third-and-13 from the Lions 43-yard line. That dash on a broken pass play set up his 3-yard touchdown pass to Travis Trimble and essentially secured the win.
“Another big night for him,” Penns Manor coach Bill Packer said after the quarterfinal win.
“But he’s been doing that all year. That’s amazing for a 14-year-old.”
Ferens has passed for 443 yards and rushed for 931.
Those numbers are impressive, especially for a freshman.
But tonight, Ferens and the Comets will encounter a 10-0 McCort squad with a deep arsenal of weapons and two top players back from injuries.
Leading rusher and big-play threat Josh Seidel will be back in the lineup after sitting out last week as a precaution. He was injured during a Week 9 win against Bedford. Quarterback John Pinkerton will play for the first time since Week 5.
“We expect to be back to full strength,” Salem said. “Last week I was pleased with how the backs were able to handle new positions (in a 30-7 quarterfinal win over Mount Union). I thought our offensive line did a nice job of creating running lanes against a good Mount Union squad.”
Seidel has 1,277 of McCort’s whopping 2,906 rushing yards this season. The Crushers senior set a school single-game record with 327 rushing yards and tied his late father Dave’s mark of six touchdowns in a 69-35 win over LHAC rival Richland at Point Stadium. That Week 5 performance earned Seidel a spot in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” feature.
Chaz Merriman has 611 rushing yards, and versatile Dane Domonkos has 400 yards on the ground. Luke James chips in with 309 rushing yards.
Pinkerton had completed
23 of 32 passes for 335 yards and four touchdowns before being injured. Since then, Jesse Cooper (87 passing yards) and Domonkos (94) have shared quarterback duties. Domonkos can run the wildcat set.
The key to McCort’s dominance this season has been an offensive line packed with three-year starters.
“I think we have excellent leadership by a group of kids rather than having one or two great leaders on this team,” Salem said. “We have a number of seniors who understand their role and are willing to work hard at practice. Our offensive line has a number of three-year starters and they really enjoy creating running lanes for our backs and sharing in their success.”
McCort has scored 428 points while allowing 131. Penns Manor has been nearly as impressive, posting 354 points while giving up 113 in 11 games.
“Penns Manor does a real nice job of getting to the football and playing aggressive on defense,” Salem said. “Offensively they like to pull a lot of people and give their backs an opportunity to run behind bodies and try to make plays. We saw them play United, and I thought their kids made a lot of big plays when the game was on the line. They were opportunistic, and they
took advantage of United’s turnovers. That ended up being the difference in the game.”
