BY HERB SMITH
Times-Shamrock Writer

Susquehana used all its weapons to post an impressive victory.

The Sabers, backed by three running backs and quarterback Austin White, rolled to a 35-13 win over Holy Cross in a Lackawanna Football Conference Division III game Friday at William Emminger Memorial Field.

On Susquehanna’s first possession, the Sabers used three different ball carriers to rush 75 yards in seven plays. Austin Felter finished the drive off with a 16-yard touchdown run to give Susquehanna a 7-0 lead.

The Sabers fumbled away their next possession but, after stopping Holy Cross on fourth down, White hit Nolan Hausser for a 43-yard touchdown pass. White rolled out to his right and lobbed the pass over the defender and Hausser raced down the sideline for the score.

“It was a perfect pass,” Hausser said. “The defender came up and we both were on the same target. We run that play over and over but it’s always different. You always have to read the defender. He happened to come up and it was a perfect pass.”

The touchdown pass was the first of four straight touchdown drives for Susquehanna in the first half. White hit Austin Darrow for a 22-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. The senior quarterback attempted just two passses in the game but completed both for touchdowns.

“(White) has passed the ball decent this season but we’ve had a lot of drops,” Susquehanna coach Kyle Cook said. “He was on target tonight.”

Susquehanna then forced another punt and took over at the Crusaders’ 28. On the next play, Hausser scored on a 28-yard run to push the lead to 28-0.

Holy Cross put together its longest drive of the first half on its next possession but was stopped on fourth down on the Sabers’ 45.

On the ensuing drive, a penalty pushed the Sabers into third-and-16 but Brett Hepler ripped off a 49-yard run to the Crusaders’ 13. Jarred Mills scored on the next play to give Susquehanna a 35-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the first half.

The Sabers finished with 209 yards rushing with 10 running backs sharing the workload.

“I’ve been working a lot of guys in and out at practice and giving guys opportunities and they made the most of it tonight,” Cook said. “Our line blocked a little bit better tonight. We changed a couple things with the line, had a competition for a tackle position during the week and I think that helped a lot.”

Susquehanna’s defense was just as impressive as its offense in the first half by holding Holy Cross to one first down.

“Our defense has been playing really well all year long,” Cook said. “It’s just that we’ve been giving up those couple of big plays in games and that’s what’s been hurting us. We came in with a good game plan. They executed very well. They stayed in their gaps and they did an excellent job tackling tonight.”