MECHANICSBURG -- Virtually everything went according to plan for the highly touted Cumberland Valley football team Friday night.

As Red Lion found out, the Eagles can be mighty formidable when they stick to their blueprint.

State-ranked CV flexed its muscle in the teams' season opener at Chapman Field, as the Eagles rolled up more than 300 yards on the ground en route to a 45-6 victory in the nonconference tilt.

"That's a good football team," Red Lion coach Pat Conrad said. "They were just stronger than we were up front. We couldn't get any kind of push."

It was CV who did the pushing throughout, particularly in the first half. The Eagles' only offensive hiccup came on the opening drive, when Red Lion's Harry Darrah stepped in front of a slant route and picked off Eric Sawyer's pass.

The Eagles went back to the basics after that, keeping the ball completely on the ground during their second possession. The result was a seven-play, 78-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard scoring plunge by fullback Dan Flynn.

After forcing a Red Lion punt on the ensuing possession, CV quickly went back to work on the offensive side of the ball. A 17-yard punt return by Jeremy DiPietro set up the Eagles at the Red Lion 32, and they needed only three plays to find paydirt. The hard-running DiPietro did the honors this time, taking it in from 25 yards out to give CV a 14-0 advantage in the final minute of the first quarter.

The Lions didn't do themselves any favors in their

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attempt to erase the deficit. Five first-half penalties, a series of several fumbled exchanges and CV kicker Lance Geesey's touchback power kept Red Lion pinned deep in its own territory. Red Lion's average starting position on its six first-half possessions was its own 23. CV's average start for its six drives was the Red Lion 48.

"I was really proud of our defense," CV coach Tim Rimpfel said. "They played really, really tough. Our front seven, eight people are pretty tough and pretty physical and also pretty experienced. They just ran to the football tonight."

The Eagles took full advantage of the field position in the second quarter, using short fields to generate a 6-yard scoring run from Kevin Snyder and a 40-yard field goal from Geesey to up their halftime lead to 24-0.

The balanced CV attack kept up the pace in the second half, as Sawyer hit Kyle Brubaker for a 43-yard scoring strike early in the quarter. Flynn later ended an 8-play, 62-yard drive with another short scoring run to make it 38-0.

Red Lion broke up the shutout in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Tanner Klinefelter hit Branden Kessler on an intermediate route, and the wideout turned it into a 66-yard touchdown. Klinefelter finished the night 12-of-19 for 161 yards, while Kessler pulled in four passes for 100 yards.
 

Red Lion    0    0    0    6 --   6
Cumberland  14  10  14    7 -- 45

First Quarter
   CuV -- Dan Flynn 3 run (Lance Geesey kick), 3:45
   CuV -- Jeremy DiPietro 25 run (Geesey kick), :40
Second Quarter
   CuV -- Kevin Snyder 6 run (Geesey kick), 8:46
   CuV -- Geesey 40 FG, 1:44
Third Quarter
   CuV -- Kyle Brubaker 43 pass from Eric Sawyer (Geesey kick), 7:45
   CuV -- Flynn 3 run (Geesey kick), :36
Fourth Quarter
   RL -- Branden Kessler 66 pass from Tanner Klinefelter (conversion failed), 11:01
   CuV -- Cole Johnson 2 run (Geesey kick), 4:11
 
-- RL -- CuV
First downs -- 10 -- 19
Rushes-yards -- 25-48 -- 45-303
Passing -- 12-19-1 -- 4-11-1
Passing yards -- 161 -- 106
Total yards -- 209 -- 409
Punts -- 5-32.6 -- 0-0
Fumbles-lost -- 4-0 -- 1-0
Penalties-yards -- 7-45 -- 4-35

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- Red Lion, Tanner Klinefelter 9-25, Jeremy Knaub 7-11, Mike Gray 3-7, Ben Axe 1-7, Jason Milton 2-6, Billy Lloyd 1-(-1), Erik Althoff 2-(-7); Cumberland Valley, Kevin Snyder 12-84, Jeremy DiPietro 6-63, Dan Flynn 11-49, Aaron Hinish 2-37, Cole Johnson 4-33, Cody Bush 2-23, Drew Yetter 1-12, Mick Straub 2-2, Eric Sawyer 3-0, Zach McLaren 2-0.
   Passing -- Red Lion, Tanner Klinefelter 12-19-1-161; Cumberland Valley, Eric Sawyer 4-11-1-106, Zach McLaren 0-0-0-0.
   Receiving -- Red Lion, Joe Baublitz 6-45, Branden Kessler 4-100, Colin Crawford 1-12, Harry Darrah 1-4; Cumberland Valley, Colton Kirkpatrick 2-39, Kyle Brubaker 1-43, Dan Flynn 1-24.