Sep 25, 2015 4 min read

CLAYSVILLE – The value of quality depth, both in the offensive backfield and on the interior lines, was a popular topic for discussion here Friday night.

McGuffey is a team with depth, a well-stocked roster and a two-platoon system – one group plays offense while the other only plays defense – for its linemen.

Southmoreland, the Highlanders’ opponent, is a Class AA team with a Class A roster. The Scotties had only 26 players in uniform and lost running back Adam Polakovsky to a leg injury in the first half.

Though Southmoreland got off to a strong start in the key Interstate Conference game, it was McGuffey’s depth that eventually wore down the short-handed Scotties.

Of course, it also helped McGuffey has a player like Marcus Czulewicz, a talented junior quarterback and defensive back who turned in a superb all-around performance that enabled the Highlanders to overcome a double-digit deficit.

Czulewicz passed for three touchdowns, ran for another, intercepted two Southmoreland passes and recovered a fumble to spark McGuffey to a 28-10 come-from-behind victory.

The win was the third in a row for McGuffey (2-1, 3-1), but this was a struggle for much of the night. Southmoreland (2-1, 2-2) scored a touchdown on its opening drive and increased the lead to 10-0 late in the second quarter before McGuffey’s up-tempo offense began to take control of the game.

“That’s our style,” McGuffey coach Ed Dalton said. “When we got the lead, I made a mistake and had us start to play slow to milk the clock. We’re fortunate that we have 52 players and they have 25. Some of their players, especially those big linemen, at the end of the game their will might have been gone.”

Those big guys, especially guards Jake Beistel (6-2, 280) and Doug Leighty (6-4, 260), paved the way for a 7-0 lead on Southmoreland’s opening possession. The Scotties went 53 yards in nine plays and took the lead by taking advantage of an uncovered wide receiver as quarterback Jaden Datz passed two yards to Ryan Francis for the score.

Southmoreland made it 10-0 with 2:09 left in the first half as Ronald Rodrigues booted a 22-yard field goal.

But McGuffey began playing with speed on its next possession. The Highlanders increased the tempo and the Scotties were never able to kick its play into overdrive.

Czulewicz gave McGuffey the momentum heading into halftime when he rolled right and connected with Joey Townsend on a 12-yard TD pass only 11 seconds before halftime.

“It’s hard for us with the types of numbers we’re dressing,” Southmoreland coach Mark Adams said. “Our best running back was out, then we lost another running back. Then we’re calling on sophomores and freshmen to get the job done. But I tip my hat to McGuffey because they came to play.”

Especially in the second half, when they made a defensive switch to stop the running of Datz (76 yards, 15 carries).

Francis was stripped of the football after catching a pass early in the third quarter and Czulewicz scooped it up and scored on a 56-yard return. The touchdown, however, was negated by an illegal block penalty, but four plays later Czulewicz scored on a nine-yard run that gave McGuffey a 14-10 lead.

“We had a big letdown after that fumble,” Adams said. “When you play a playoff-caliber team like this, you can’t have turnovers and penalties.”

With McGuffey playing smothering second-half defense, Southmoreland was held to 25 yards in the fourth quarter.

Czulewicz threw a 17-yard scoring toss to Adam Townsend, who ran a wheel route out of the backfield, to stretch McGuffey’s lead to 21-10. Czulewicz, who completed 14 of 18 passes for 122 yards, hit Shaun Sanders for a 14-yard TD to close the scoring. Sanders caught a pass in the left flat and made a nifty move around a tackler.

Czulewicz rushed for 87 yards on 20 carries and would have a 100-yard game if not for three sacks that resulted in big losses.

“If he keeps progressing, he’s going to be a household name around here,” Dalton said. “He’s cerebral, he can punt, pass and kick it 60 yards, he runs a tick under 4.7 in the 40-yard dash and he’s 6-2, 195. He has a lot of the measurables. Offensively and defensively, he played well.”

Czulewicz had two defensive scores negated by penalties. In the fourth quarter, he returned his second interception of Datz 27 yards but it was wiped out by an illegal block.