CARLISLE — When the punter and the punt coverage team are the headliners for a winning team, you know the game had to be a little strange.
Trever Luther
That word would absolutely fit Friday night's Mid Penn Commonwealth game at Ken Millen Field.
Neither offense could sustain a drive, but Chambersburg (3-2, 1-1 MPC) did just enough to produce a 3-0 victory over long-time rival Carlisle.
In a contest in which neither offense could find a scoring play, the Trojans' Trever Luther took center stage. He kicked a 34-yard field goal in the second period for the game's only points, averaged 38.4 yards on eight punts, made some plays on defense and caught three passes for 20 yards.
Chambersburg coach Mark Luther said, "The biggest thing in this game was field position. Our punt team did a great job and the defense stopped any real drives they got going."
Carlisle (1-4, 0-2 MPC) had 11 possessions. They all began inside its own 23 except for two — one when Luther sliced a punt to the 35, and the opening possession of the second half when the Herd recovered an onsides kick at the Trojan 43.
The Thundering Herd's average starting position was their own 22 (Chambersburg's wasn't much better: 29.6).
While QB Lucas Smith passed for 222 yards, including 7 balls to Carson Swartz for 156 yards, Carlisle never hit for a scoring play and was its own worst enemy frequently, with 12 penalties for 93 yards.
As the game wore on and the Herd passed more frequently, Chambersburg's defense dropped eight players into coverage and rushed only three, giving Smith plenty of time to throw.
Pierce Schoenhofen
But on third-and-10 from the Trojan 48 with just over two minutes left, Chambersburg lineman Pierce Schoenhofen chased Smith backwards and corralled him. Smith tried to throw the ball, but his attempt didn't go very far and it was ruled intentional grounding, making it fourth-and-28, forcing a punt.
On Carlisle's final series, on first down, Smith scrambled and stepped over the line of scrimmage before passing, a 5-yard penalty. Three straight incompletions ended the game.
Luther said, "We had a couple of injuries to kids on defense, so the ones rushing were getting tired. We didn't get much of a rush most of the plays, but we knew they had to look downfield and we were dropping eight guys back."
The game's only turnover resulted in the game's only points.
On the first play of the second quarter, Smith found Elijah Hargrove with a short pass, but when hit, Hargrove lost the ball and the Trojans recovered. The next play was a 34-yard bomb from Riley Harmon to Rhaigeon Parker to the Carlisle 17
Two negative plays and an 11-yard pass to Jermere Jones set up Luther for his field goal.
The Herd's only real threat — other than an overthrown pass to a wide-open Swartz and a drop by Swartz (both of which may have been TDs) — came early in the fourth quarter after Swartz caught three passes for 101 yards to overcome some negative plays.
But Chambersburg's defense held and a 27-yard field goal attempt by Darian Crim was partially blocked and never reached the goalposts.
Against a defense allowing nearly 40 points per game, the Trojans were a bit frustrated.
Jones, who caught 3 passes for 20 yards and ran for 11 more, said, "We thought we could put some points on the board. But they made some changes on defense before the game and the coaches had to adjust to that. And we had too many penalties — we have to eliminate that."
"They completely changed the defense they'd been playing," Luther said. "And that's a big deal for high school kids to execute when everything is different. But we just had too many negative plays and penalties that killed us."
NOTES: Harmon hit only one big play, but he did complete 13 of 15 passes for 102 yards … Running backs Imani Watson (61 yards) and Dayre Senft (54) provided a spark on offense, combining for 73 yards in the second half … Chambersburg hosts Cumberland Valley (1-4, 1-1 MPC) on Thursday night at 7.
Chambersburg 3, Carlisle 0
Chambersburg 0 3 0 0 — 3
Carlisle 0 0 0 0 — 0
Second Quarter
Ch — Trever Luther 34 field goal, 9:21
Team Statistics
Chbg Car
First downs 12 11
Rushes-yards 37-125 23-44
Passing 13-15-0 17-32-0
Passing yards 102 222
Total offense 227 266
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Punts-average 8-38.4 7-38.0
Penalties-yards 5-65 12-93
Individual Statistics
Rushing — Chbg, Imani Watson 17-61, Dayre Senft 10-54, Jermere Jones 1-11, Riley Harmon 9-(-1). Car, Marquise Miller 12-37, Elijah Hargrove 2-6, Carson Swartz 1-3, Chanse Bonner 4-(-1), Lucas Smith 4-(-1).
Passing — Chbg, Harmon 13-15-0-102. Car, Smith 17-32-0-222.
Receiving — Chbg, Rhaigeon Parker 4-48, Luther 3-20, Jones 3-17, Watson 1-10, Jake Folmar 2-7. Car, Swartz 7-156, Quinten Barclay 2-29, Hargrove 3-27, Mason Pretopapa 2-12, Bonner 3-8.
