Blue Devil Dispatch
By JAI E. COURTER Echo Pilot

Seniors Josh Higman (left) and Jordan Springer (right photo) play in what would end up their last game as Blue Devils.

Volleyball

The Blue Devils got back on track Wednesday after a tough loss to Chambersburg by sweeping both Northern and Shippensburg in the Mid-Penn Conference Class AA playoffs. The two victories gave the Devils the top seed out of the Mid-Penn for District 3-AA competition.

G-A recovered from a slow start to top Northern 3-0 by scores of 25-15, 25-12, and 25- 16 in the first match. Devil coach Corry Eagler was forced to call an early timeout after the Devils found themselves down 8-3 at the start of game one.

They came out of the timeout with some intensity that helped them get three straight points thanks to a Beth Berger kill, a placement shot from Kortney Eshleman, and a Katy Bobbit ace. The Devils continued to roll on to a 25-15 lead after a hard spike from Eshleman to close game one.

After trailing 11-9 in game two, Kelsey Gearhart took over the serving and led G-A on a 14- 0 run including four aces to give them a convinving 23-11 lead. After a Northern point broke the streak, the Devils had no problem finishing them off as they won 25-12.

The Devils continued to pour it on in game three getting a late lead. Eshleman made a couple nice plays to close game three and help G-A sweep the polar Bears after a 25-16 victory.

Katie Lutz contributed 10 kills and four aces, while Julia Stein added seven kills and two aces. Rochelle Christman chipped in with eight kills, and Gearhart had five aces.

After a close first half of game one against Shippensburg, the Devils scored eight of the last 10 points including and Eshleman spike and a Bobbit ace to win game one 25-17.

The Devils went on a midgame surge in game two to stretch their lead out. Stein had two spikes and Eshleman served an ace in the rally. Beth berger ended the game with authority on a spike to win 25-13.

The Devils gave the Hounds no chance in game three as they came out from the start and didnt look back. Stein had a spike and two aces for the first three points of the game. They scored seven out of eight consecutive points at one point to go up 17-7. They closed the game and the match on a set from Eshleman to Christman who had a hard spike to give G-A the 25-15 victory.

Rochelle Christman works at the net for the Blue Devils.

Lutz had seven kills and two aces, and Stein had five kills and three aces in the championship game. Christman had seven kills, and Eshleman added 26 assists and four kills. Megan George chipped in with 11 digs.

Soccer

After a slow start in the first half that cost them two goals, the Devils could not overcome Schuylkill Valley eliminating G-A from the District 3-AA boys soccer playoffs. Although they outshot the Panthers, they fell 2-1 to end their season.

Schuylkill Valley jumped to a 1-0 lead early in the half when they snuck one by Jon Zook. Monday was Zook's first game back after a knee injury that had him sitting out for much of the regular season. About five minutes later, the Panthers attacked again taking the ball down the right side and sliding it to an open man in the box who hammered a grounder into the net. This made it a two-goal margin that the Devils could not overcome.

Tyler Szaflarski takes a handoff in middle school football action.

They started to pick things up after the second goal and the defense held tough and didn't allow any more goals. The Devils went into the half trailing 2-0 after being outshot 9-4 in the half.

The Devils came out of the half ready to go. Mac Frederick headed Josh Higman's throw-in just over the goal in the first minute. About three minutes later, Higman threw the ball into the net, but the goal was waived off because no one touched it before it went in.

Frederick created an opportunity with about 25 minutes to play when he crossed it to Jake Dempsey, but it was just behind him and the Panthers cleared it out of their territory. Shortly after that play, Jordan Gembe sent a free kick into the mix, but the goalie got to it first.

Greencastle finally got on the board with 23:06 left on the scoreboard. Jordan Springer was deep in the corner when he turned and fired a left-footed shot over the keeper and into the side net.

Jacob Statler makes his way through traffic for the middle school team.

Schuylkill Valley attacked for the last time with 20 minutes to play, but Zook came up with a save, and the Devils pushed for that tying goal for the remainder of the game. Springer got a head on Frederick's cross a few minutes later but the keeper handled it. The Devils had several shots following that but most of their chances were shut down by the keeper. G-A had another good opportunity with 1:15 remaining when Gembe sent another free kick into the box but it was deflected out. The Panthers held on for the final seconds and went on to win 2-1.

The Devils dominated much of the second half, outshooting the Panthers 13-4. They outshot them 17-14 for the game and had a 2-1 edge in corners. Zook had eight saves in goal for the Devils. The Devils ended their season with a 14-5-1 record.

Cross Country

Greencastle's five district qualifiers traveled to Hershey on Sunday for the District 3-AAA Cross Country Championships. The soggy course did not allow the area runners to have their best showings.

Joe Pasquarello led other area runners with a time of 19:02, which put him in 109th place. Jacob Leary was the other competitior in the boys' race and he came in at 19:34.

Randa Bingaman led the Blue Devils in the girls' race by completing the race with a time of 24:00. Krista Kelly came in shortly after with a time of 24:16, and Kaytie Johnson ended with a time of 25:17.

Unfortunately, none of the Blue Devil competitors qualified to compete in the PIAA State Championships.

Middle School

Football

After a tight first quarter, the Blue Devils got rolling on their way to a 40-22 victory over Shippensburg.

Tyler Szaflarski broke loose first for a 55-yard touchdown run. Devin Schaeffer's PAT was good giving G-A an early 7-0 lead. Shippensburg answered that with a five-yard touchdown run tightening the lead to 7-6 in the first quarter.

Szaflarski converted in the second quarter with a touchdown run from four yards. Afailed two-point conversion put the Devils up 13-6. For G-A's next touchdown, Schaeffer hooked up with Szaflarski for a 90-yard reception to the end zone. The PAT conversion gave Greencastle a 20-6 halftime lead.

The Devils struck first in the second half on a 12-yard run from Schaeffer. The two-point conversion was no good and the Devils kept their 26-6 lead. Shippensburg marched down the field and found the endzone on a run from two yards to tighten the margin to 26- 14.

The Greyhounds struck again at the start of the fourth quarter on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Another two-point conversion made the score 26-22. The Devils ended the game with two unanswered touchdowns to pull away. Jake Statler returned a kick for 80 yards and the touchdown. The two-point conversion gave G-A a 34-22 lead. The Devils sealed it with a 30-yard touchdown run from Schaeffer to give G-A a 40-22 victory.

Denton Ensminger led the defense with 11 tackles. Szaflarski had nine stops, while Chad Miller made six tackles. Szaflarski ran for 175 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, while Schaeffer also had two touchdowns and 52 yards on nine carries. Schaeffer went 3-5 in the air for 121 yards.

"I am so very proud of this group and we'll all hate to see them leave. Coach T is getting a great group for sure," said Coach Don Chlebowski about his team this season.