Ewing's ground game is golden
EWING -- Kyle McGuire just had to be a caretaker for the Ewing offense last night against Allentown, and the junior took care of the Blue Devils quite well.
With highly touted quarterback Stephen Shimko deemed ineligible to play by coach John Bamber due to a team issue, McGuire earned the start and rode a stable of running backs led by Louis Thomas and Davay Lyman to a 26-12 victory.
Ewing (2-1) piled up 329 rushing yards while the Blue Devil defense held Allentown (0-3) scoreless for 45 minutes. The Redbirds had two first-half ventures into Ewing territory end on miscues when Ewing had only a seven- point lead. Rob Giuliano had a deep pass that was intercepted early in the second quarter and a hurried series of plays without a timeout resulted in a half-ending missed field goal.
Bamber described the Stephen Shimko one-game suspension as "person nel issues we had in the team. We're not going to comment on that."
The suspension gave the Blue Devils a chance to look at McGuire, who could be under center for them next year. McGuire, though, only threw four passes.
"We just wanted to keep it simple," Bamber said of the game plan. "Kyle did a good job. He's developing. With a short week, we didn't have time to work with him on the passing game like we normally would have."
When he used his arm, McGuire was more than profi cient. He completed three of those four attempts and the miss was a drop that could have been taken for a touchdown. Instead, Thomas rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns, adding two receptions for 48 more yards.
"We threw the option Monday in practice," McGuire said. "It's tough having to come in and learn the option. The offense did well and the defense helped us out."
Thomas' first touchdown came on an 11-yard run late in the first quarter, giving Ewing the only score for either team in the half. Matt Musick picked up six more points on a 46-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and just 72 seconds later, Leonard Overton recovered a blocked punt, hustling 12 yards for a score to put Ewing up 20-0.
In the fourth quarter, Thomas had Ewing's final points, breaking off a 63-yard run that gave the Blue Devils a 26-0 lead.
Allentown's highlight was a 63-yard touchdown catch by Doug Tiese with three minutes to play in the game before the Redbirds capitalized on a fumble that led to their second score.
While Ewing's rushing yards were outstanding, six fumbles and 14 penalties for 110 yards -- more than double Ewing's 42 passing yards -- frustrated Bamber.
"We're very undisciplined," Bamber said. "We're going to get crushed if we remain that way."
Allentown 0 0 0 12 -- 12 Ewing 7 0 13 6 -- 26
First Quarter
E--Thomas 11 run (Housman kick), :14
Third Quarter
E--M. Musick 46 run (Housman kick), 2:17.
E--Overton 12 blocked punt recovery (kick failed), 1:05.
Fourth Quarter
E--Thomas 63 run (kick failed), 8:56.
A--Tiese 63 pass from Gambino (kick failed), 2:59.
A--Tiese 12 pass from Gambino (conversion failed), 1:48.
Allentown Ewing First downs
5 9
Rushes-yards22-40 46-329
Passing139 42
Comp-Att-Int10-17-1 3-4-0
Punts5-27.8 2-30.0
Fumbles-Lost1-0 6-2
Penalties-Yards7-35 14-110
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Allentown: Giuliano 3-4, Richards 11-20, Gambino 4- -5, McGovern 2-9, MacNiven 2-12. Ewing: M. Musick 4-74, McGuire 10-61, Thomas 13-152, Overton 3-6, Lyman 9-24, Lewis 1-4, Price 3-13, Chavis 2- -4, Arnold 1- -1.
PASSING--Allentown: Giuliano 3-4-41-0, Gambino 7-13-113-2. Ewing: McGuire 3-4-48-0.
RECEIVING--Allentown: Richards 1--4, McGovern 1-2, Tiese 4-123, MacNiven 2-21. Ewing: M. Musick 1-0, Thomas 2-48.
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