If we were to take an unscientific poll before the season that asked if you would be satisfied or content while owning an 8-1 record with one final week left to go, chances were that most everyone would’ve asked where the nearest pen was at so that they could sign up without any sort of hesitation getting in the way. Understandably, winning 89% of your games coming out of the penultimate week of the regular season would be reason for celebration, especially for those relegated in fighting to retain, fighting to claim, or just flat out turning to prayer if necessary, provided it means they get to play beyond this week when the guaranteed games on the 2024 schedule run out. But then again, not every team is necessarily created equal. In that regard, please forgive the Exeter Eagles in advance if they came into this week’s contest rather perturbed to put it mildly.
It’d be nothing if not acceptable to give them that grace. After all, before heading into last week’s game against Conestoga Valley, no one really was found orbiting within Exeter’s stratosphere considering how the Eagles had decimated almost everyone who happened to cross their path thus far in 2024, something best evidenced by the fact that no team had fared any better than Governor Mifflin did in terms of the Mustangs coming within 21 points of knocking Exeter from the ranks of the unbeaten. Simply put, through the first eight weeks of the season, the Eagles were inserting themselves into the conversation of mythical best Lancaster-Lebanon League team straight up regardless of classification level.
But then the Buckskins came into town last Friday night.
Without much in the way of debate heading into that de-facto L-L Section Two title game a week ago, the prevailing thought was that no one would provide a stiffer test to Exeter’s proficiency than this group coming northward from Lancaster County, also 8-0 in their own right, while also having bested Exeter one year ago to boot, something else that added just a little bit of extra sizzle and spice to this already tantalizing affair. Unfortunately for Exeter, while not only did Conestoga Valley have the answer in solving the Exeter riddle that anyone had yet to crack, but this game became even harder to stomach from the Eagle’s perspective given that it’s key play was a bang-bang, judgement call on an Exeter two-point conversion attempt in the waning stages that was ultimately marked short of crossing the chalk line, allowing Conestoga Valley to hang on and finally exhale eight seconds later in the aftermath of the Buckskins’ gut-check 28-27 victory inside Don Thomas Stadium that gave CV the Section Two title by way of the head-to-head triumph in a memorable outing between these two stalwarts.
Suffice to say, while it obviously wasn’t a case of Exeter having been outclassed and totally run off the field, coming within what essentially could be boiled down to nothing more than an opinion in the heat of the moment for a game-deciding call that kept them from a 9-0 record, it’d be hard not to imagine that this group of Eagles wasn’t making the somewhat long trek down from Berks County all the way across to the far western edge of Lancaster County and into Elizabethtown on Friday night with anything but bad intentions in trying to make amends and right the wrongs they had experienced seven days prior.
For the Eagles’ opposition this affair, the E-town Bears, it’s been a bit of mixed bag of sorts thus far in their 2024 campaign.
Yes, the numbers will indicate that the blue and white came into their final game of the year while possessing a 2-7 overall record sure, but the Bears have been headache-worthy for almost all of opponents that have lined up against them this season. Case in point, taking aside the 0-5 start that E-town had to begin the year, they too were anything but sheerly outclassed and overmatched after diving inside the up-front numbers. In fact, save for their opening game the year, a 28-14 defeat at the hands of Cocalico, the Bears came within one score of the final margin of defeat from there on out. Finally, for a team that spent the first half of the season coming agonizingly close to have a celebratory locker room postgame time after time after time it seemed, Elizabethtown finally got their comeuppance in the form of a thrilling 36-34 win over Muhlenberg in Week 6 before then promptly following that up another win their next time out, a 14-8 triumph at Lebanon, giving the Bears their second divisional win in back-to-back fashion. And if you look around, aside from the sheer behemoths who are running roughshod inside this 37-team Lancaster-Lebanon League, officially going on a winning streak at any one point during the year isn’t something that’s exactly commonplace and easy to achieve. Granted, while their last pair of outings have since seen E-town come up shy by their largest margins of defeat so far this fall in setbacks at the hands of Conestoga Valley and Governor Mifflin respectively, the Bears might very well be fitting in fulfilling that age-old definition of a team that is better than what their record may indicate at face value.
But with all due respect to the other squads residing on their schedule, this almost certainly figured to be the Bears’ hardest test put in front of them yet to date. Again, even somehow trying to take aside and ignore Exeter’s 38 points-per-game margin of victory throughout their first eight weeks for just a brief second, the proverbial elephant in the room that was the sentiment coming out of last week’s outcome along with the Eagles slipping all the way down to the mind-boggling #8 spot in the District 3-5A field in the process would be almost impossible to ignore, while also likely making this assignment all the more challenging.
Yet if Exeter came into the night with something of a score to settle, let’s just say that they certainly put up one heck of a score indeed. One that could easily be displayed in a very literal fashion.
In fact, the deluge that the Eagles from Reiffton brought with them was apparent right from the jump on Friday night.
After holding E-town to negative three yards after three quick offensive plays and out to begin the contest, Exeter wasted almost no time at all when it came to dictating the eventual terms on how this contest would ultimately be ruled.
Sure enough, it took the visitors all of 34 yards over the course of 1:50 before they finally hit paydirt in the form of a 16-yard touchdown toss from multi-faceted Jayden Zandier fulfilling his duties at quarterback in this instance as the Eagles’ senior do-everything man found Aiden Dauble shaking free from the E-town secondary as the junior tight end’s TD grab helped to make it a very early 7-0 Exeter lead following a Jake Franek PAT with 8:40 still left to play in the opening frame.
But that wouldn’t be anywhere near the last of it.
Again, after halting the E-town offensive unit to no more than three plays on the Bears’ ensuing offensive possession, it likely seemed like a bad case of déjà vu for the hosts more than likely. This time, after setting up shop at the Elizabethtown 35-yard line to begin this series, Zandier went back to his more familiar role, the running back spot, before blazing a path to the endzone from 24 yards out while trotting off totally untouched, making it a 14-0 bulge following another Franek PAT to complete the lightning-quick, 1:15 drive.
And if they weren’t being extremely impolite house guests when it came to allowing E-town next to nothing in terms of the Bears’ offensive production, Exeter was downright rude when it came to their thievery which would then come to fruition over the course of the next few Bears’ offensive drives.
For their third trip out onto the field in trying to negotiate with the unwelcoming Exeter defensive troops, this Bears’ drive too would last all of three plays from scrimmage as well. Unfortunately, unlike the first two series of downs, a punt would not follow in this venture as a tipped ball thrown on a third down play found its way into the hands of Exeter senior defensive back, Carter Redding, as Redding promptly rattled off a 32-yard interception return down inside the E-town redzone to put the guests on the precipice of yet another score. From there, it took the Eagles just one play to get the job done as a 7-yard TD scoot around the left side of the line by way of the one who had started these very proceedings, Carter Redding, made it a commanding 21-0 count in Exeter’s favor following Franek’s third PAT of the still young evening with 3:29 left to go in the first period.
Remember that bad case of déjà vu? Well, unfortunately from E-town’s perspective, they just simply couldn’t shake it.
Like their most recent drive that abruptly ended in the form of an Exeter takeaway, yes, so too would this one.
Ironically, on a third down play yet again no less, did the Eagles found themselves to be the benefactors of some ill-timed E-town hospitality as a fumble recovery pounced on by Exeter sophomore defensive lineman, Kevin Oswalt, sent the Exeter offense back onto the field, a unit that was just as white-hot as the jerseys they were seen wearing from head-to-toe. And in perfect complimentary football fashion, the Eagles would make good on punctuating the work compiled by their defensive mates as a 37-yard touchdown strike from Jake Hafer to Genuine Stutzman upped the Exeter lead out to a 28-0 difference with 3:01 left in the first quarter following the junior triggerman hooking up with his senior tight end who wears the surely sought-after #0 jersey.
Now, as far as the scoring was concerned, that would be all the further damage Exeter would be able to inflict within the span of the opening dozen minutes at White Family Dental Stadium on this crisp autumnal evening. That was the good news for the home patrons. The bad news however was that a score wouldn’t be far behind once the curtain rose on the second stanza.
For that, on the final play of an utterly flawless opening frame compiled by Exeter, the proverbial cherry on top came in the form of the Eagles’ third straight takeaway defensively as Aiden Dauble was able to snare an interception to add onto his night’s work, helping to set the table for Exeter’s offense to retake the field just outside the fringe of the Elizabethtown redzone once the game’s second act was set to begin.
Without spoiling the drama, or lack thereof, it would take the Eagles exactly seven seconds to travel those 22 yards to the house as Jayden Zandier was able to skate home for the one-play touchdown “drive”, making it a 35-0 Exeter lead with 11:53 still left in the first half yet to unfold.
But the snowball just cruelly continued to roll downhill at a rate of speed in which E-town just couldn’t withstand.
Case in point, after being stymied to another three plays and punt on their ensuing offensive drive, Exeter needed to travel just 35 yards this time around if they wished to punch another first half score up on the board.
Three plays. This occasion took just three plays as a 12-yard toss from Jake Hafer to Carter Redding got the ball rolling. From there, Zandier would cut back marvelously against the grain with a sizable jaunt which ushered the ball down to the E-town 4-yard line before Zandier himself tallied another touchdown to he and his teammates’ already sensational evening collectively as the Eagles’ lead ballooned up to a 42-0 difference with 9:41 left before both teams could head into their respective dressing rooms for the intermission, albeit with very different tones and moods once inside assuredly.
Needless to say, was it apparent by this point that Jayden Zandier looked like he was out there at recess or something of the like, seeming to score touchdowns at will? But even here, with the game already out of reach, the Eagles’ senior stalwart was feeling especially greedy despite having already placed four touchdowns overall next to his name with not even half of the second quarter yet expired on Friday night. But greed can be good. And Zandier was especially good for Exeter against E-town in this outing as his fifth score of the first half was punctuated with a 12-yard touchdown run, making it a 49-0 Eagles’ cushion with still 7:06 remaining in a suddenly crawling first half given all the stoppages in the aftermath of the Exeter scores.
Yet those seven minutes and change was still more than enough time for Exeter to make the scoreboard operator find the addition button one more time around before the second quarter ceased to exist.
By this point, with the outcome already a formality and with plenty of time still left before the game officially went final, Exeter just kept throwing fresh bodies at E-town in waves with a level of success that seemed to indicate no drop-off whatsoever.
In fact, perhaps no Eagle personified that assumption any better than junior running back, Leo Brown, a hiccup-quick ball carrier who seemed to pick up yards with ease once he was called into service. On this, what would prove to be their final offensive drive of a dominating first half of play, Brown became the focal point of the Exeter drive. Suffice to say, it proved to be a wise move by the Eagles’ braintrust as Brown ripped off chain-moving runs, both of the mundane and more exciting variety, including a 20-yard scamper within the bunch, moving the ball down inside the E-town redzone one more time. Fittingly, seeing as how he had done the bulk of the heavy lifting, Brown was rightly rewarded for this efforts in the form of his 11-yard touchdown run that made it a 56-0 Exeter lead following Robbie Gaston’s first PAT of the night which is exactly where the margin remained once the final 1:28 ticked off the second quarter clock with a fast-moving second half afoot given the running clock scenario.
However, even when they exclusively kept the ball on the ground following a brief respite known as halftime that could’ve perhaps slowed them down somewhat, Exeter simply wasn’t having any of it.
On this drive, the Eagles’ first of the third quarter, it largely could’ve been labeled “The Donovyn Alvarez Show.” At seemingly every turn, the Eagles’ powerfully built sophomore running back just kept churning the yards out against the Bears while also methodically moving the ball down the field. And just like Leo Brown had done before him in the waning stages of the second quarter, Alvarez was also able to reap the fruits of his labor as well given his 6-yard touchdown run up the gut which then made it a 63-0 ballgame following another PAT booted home by Robbie Gaston with 4:49 still left in the third at that point.
Now, all that is to say, if you really wanted to nitpick against Exeter in the face of this incredible display they were currently putting on for some odd reason if you so chose, while you really wouldn’t have any sort of stable ground to stand upon, perhaps you could ask why the defense hadn’t yet joined the scoring party directly, yes, even if they themselves had helped set the table for a handful of offensive scores in their own right. Well, if you really wanted to stand on the table to try and defend that argument, that talking point would be shouted down the very next time the Eagles returned to the field defensively.
Sure enough, in the perfect display of complimentary football on display working in tandem, the Exeter defensive troops were able to tally their own touchdown on the evening as a 15-yard, scoop and score fumble recovery authored by Braylon Reinert added yet another touchdown up on the board for the visitors. And on a play that seemed nothing if not emblematic of the night as a whole, even when things weren’t going in their favor, it didn’t seem to matter much when it came to Exeter’s side. Here, while already sitting on a 69-point lead, not even a high snap on the ensuing PAT threw the Eagles off course as evidenced by holder Jayden Ware acting extremely cool under duress, collecting the ball, before standing up and effortlessly sauntering off into the corner of the endzone for the impromptu two-point conversion, making it a 71-0 Exeter lead with time running down in the third quarter.
And once the game clock ultimately did hit all zeroes to signify its finality not long afterwards, this would be one of those occasions in sport where the final score truly did tell the entire story of what had just transpired from start to finish. Aside from what felt like almost the entirety of the game being played on half a field that was exclusively tilted heavily in Exeter’s favor –a notion perhaps best captured in the 22 to 5 disparity in terms of accrued first downs compiled by either team on the night—the 71-0 final verdict on the scoreboard itself largely left little mystery as Exeter had indeed rebounded in kind from the disappointment they had experienced just seven days prior by playing a 48-minute game this time out that while it may not have reached the almost-impossible word of “perfection,” certainly was deserving of some sort of milder synonym to use perhaps when trying to describe it to say the very least. In essence, probably not a better way to head off into what the Exeter folks hope is a long and fruitful postseason trip within the District 3-5A field.
For Elizabethtown, there’s no denying this was not the way that anyone in Bears’ camp wanted the final chapter of the 2024 season to be written once all was said and done. And while that may be true, again, while they may have wrapped up what the record books will show to be a 2-8 final mark overall, there’s more there than just those two digits put together. Up until this last stretch of the season, the Bears were making everyone’s life miserable with anything but an easy night at the office when going against them. If you’re looking towards the future, there certainly appears to be some electricity that the Bears can trot out there, not just next year, but for years to come beyond that considering that Prince Wratto, a freshman who burst onto the scene this fall that is a touchdown just waiting to happen, pairs nicely with soon-to-be junior quarterback, Gannon Shank, who fearlessly stood in there and took every snap on Friday night, getting reps which will certainly be invaluable for he and the team down the line. Yes, life in L-L Section Two can certainly be hard at times. There’s no disputing that. But for a program the likes of Elizabethtown, one that is no stranger to success on the football field to put it mildly, perhaps it’d be wise of those teams who lined up against the Bears this season to appreciate any shots they may have been able to get in and land this season. For those might not come so easily in the not-so-distant future.
