Years ago, in an episode of "The Twilight Zone," a beatnik awoke from an accident to find himself in an all-white room that was empty except for one thing: a phonograph with an endless stack of 45 rpm records.
The beatnik, mildly confused after getting no response from anyone but otherwise feeling fine, decided to relax by turning on the phonograph and playing one of the records.
It turned out the music was a screeching operatic song, much to the disgust of the beatnik. He changed the record; same song. He changed it again; same song. And again. And again. And again.
Clutching his ears and screaming in agony, the beatnik came to the horrible realization: He had awoken in his personal ----.
This is how the rest of the Mid-Penn Conference Commonwealth football teams, including most recent beatnik CD East, must feel about Harrisburg High. Same song, over and over and over.
Yesterday, Harrisburg (6-0 overall, 5-0 Commonwealth) kept drawing away from East (2-4, 1-3), the latter playing as well as it could despite the absence of three key starters, eventually producing a 42-0 triumph at overcast and cool Severance Field.
It was indeed the same Harrisburg song. The Cougars produced their third straight shutout -- the Harrisburg defense has not yielded a touchdown in four straight games -- held East to 51 net yards (all rushing) with 34 coming after both teams had subbed in the fourth quarter. East had four first downs and did not cross midfield until the penultimate play of the game, when it reached the Harrisburg 48.
Severance Field has indeed become Hades on the Hill for opposing offenses.
Even Harrisburg coach George Chaump had to agree with the statement, "Same game every week."
Although Harrisburg's passing game, no longer the smooth machine it once was, sputtered again, halfback Deries Hodge picked up the slack rather nicely.
Hodge rushed 25 times for a season-high 253 yards and scored on runs of 24 and 12 yards. With 805 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, Hodge has become the face of the Harrisburg offense.
"I really didn't know it was going to be like this," said Hodge, averaging 21 carries per game. "Coach [Chaump] said my time would come, and I guess it has."
CD East head coach George Landis, his team crippled by injuries to quarterback Travis McFarland and fullback-linebacker Anthony Jackson, had simultaneous kind words for Hodge and his defense
"If you looked closely you saw that we were in good [defensive] position a lot of times, but that kid [Hodge] is hard to tackle," Landis said. "Physically, they're just a superior team. Their defense just swallows you up."
The Cougars received a huge break on East's first punt when Carlos Smith picked up a bouncing ball at his 5 and looped deep into his end zone to try for a big return. Instead, he was trapped by two Panthers, who were denied a safety when Smith barely reached the ball over the goal line.
Instead of a 2-0 CD East lead, the Panthers found themselves down 7-0 when Harrisburg went 991/2 yards, Hodge chewing up 77 of them on six carries.
Then, after Harrisburg's Ivan Holloway recovered a muffed kickoff at the East 22, the Panthers' Devin Washington positioned himself perfectly to pick off Nate Brown's pass in the end zone. But the ball slipped right through Washington's arms to Smith for a 20-yard TD.
Hodge engineered a third scoring drive early in the second period for a 21-0 lead, but Harrisburg turned into Harrisbumble late in the half. The Cougars incurred five penalties among their last nine plays, which included a striking inability to spike the ball twice inside the East 15, allowing the clock to expire
The beatnik, mildly confused after getting no response from anyone but otherwise feeling fine, decided to relax by turning on the phonograph and playing one of the records.
It turned out the music was a screeching operatic song, much to the disgust of the beatnik. He changed the record; same song. He changed it again; same song. And again. And again. And again.
Clutching his ears and screaming in agony, the beatnik came to the horrible realization: He had awoken in his personal ----.
This is how the rest of the Mid-Penn Conference Commonwealth football teams, including most recent beatnik CD East, must feel about Harrisburg High. Same song, over and over and over.
Yesterday, Harrisburg (6-0 overall, 5-0 Commonwealth) kept drawing away from East (2-4, 1-3), the latter playing as well as it could despite the absence of three key starters, eventually producing a 42-0 triumph at overcast and cool Severance Field.
It was indeed the same Harrisburg song. The Cougars produced their third straight shutout -- the Harrisburg defense has not yielded a touchdown in four straight games -- held East to 51 net yards (all rushing) with 34 coming after both teams had subbed in the fourth quarter. East had four first downs and did not cross midfield until the penultimate play of the game, when it reached the Harrisburg 48.
Severance Field has indeed become Hades on the Hill for opposing offenses.
Even Harrisburg coach George Chaump had to agree with the statement, "Same game every week."
Although Harrisburg's passing game, no longer the smooth machine it once was, sputtered again, halfback Deries Hodge picked up the slack rather nicely.
Hodge rushed 25 times for a season-high 253 yards and scored on runs of 24 and 12 yards. With 805 yards and 12 touchdowns this season, Hodge has become the face of the Harrisburg offense.
"I really didn't know it was going to be like this," said Hodge, averaging 21 carries per game. "Coach [Chaump] said my time would come, and I guess it has."
CD East head coach George Landis, his team crippled by injuries to quarterback Travis McFarland and fullback-linebacker Anthony Jackson, had simultaneous kind words for Hodge and his defense
"If you looked closely you saw that we were in good [defensive] position a lot of times, but that kid [Hodge] is hard to tackle," Landis said. "Physically, they're just a superior team. Their defense just swallows you up."
The Cougars received a huge break on East's first punt when Carlos Smith picked up a bouncing ball at his 5 and looped deep into his end zone to try for a big return. Instead, he was trapped by two Panthers, who were denied a safety when Smith barely reached the ball over the goal line.
Instead of a 2-0 CD East lead, the Panthers found themselves down 7-0 when Harrisburg went 991/2 yards, Hodge chewing up 77 of them on six carries.
Then, after Harrisburg's Ivan Holloway recovered a muffed kickoff at the East 22, the Panthers' Devin Washington positioned himself perfectly to pick off Nate Brown's pass in the end zone. But the ball slipped right through Washington's arms to Smith for a 20-yard TD.
Hodge engineered a third scoring drive early in the second period for a 21-0 lead, but Harrisburg turned into Harrisbumble late in the half. The Cougars incurred five penalties among their last nine plays, which included a striking inability to spike the ball twice inside the East 15, allowing the clock to expire
