September 27

Jenny was in Willow Street for a morning appointment, I brought her home and we did our weekend lunch date a day early. In the evening I was at Rossmere Stadium for the first time in 2013 as the Lancaster Catholic Crusaders hosted Penn Manor. LCHS went 0-3 in their non-league games but got into the win column in their league opener, PM came into this game undefeated at 4-0. Before the game we observed a moment of silence in memory of a Penn Manor student who recently lost his life. In my years doing PA work I've presided over more of these than I care to remember, they are never easy especially when it is for one so young. The game itself was a thriller all the way. The Crusaders scored first on a TD pass from quarterback Evan Purvis to wideout Charles Scarff, Penn Manor replied in kind to tie it 7-7. In the second quarter LCHS reclaimed the lead on a Nassir Weaver touchdown carry but PM fought back to deadlock it once again, at the half it was 14-14. It stayed that way until the final moments when Manor scored to go ahead 20-14, the extra point was unsuccessful which gave LCHS the opening it needed. With twelve seconds left in regulation time Purvis found Rafael Mateo for the tying touchdown, Purvis himself kicked the extra point to give the Crusaders the lead. The subsequent kickoff went nowhere for PM as the clock ran out and the LCHS faithful celebrated a terrific 21-20 win. This was the kind of game that will be remembered for a long time by those lucky enough to have seen it. The Crusaders host Warwick on October 4, I'll be there for that one as well. Take care, thanks for reading.