Somehow, we’ve done it. We’ve reached the halfway point of the season. Probably not much of a surprise in all honesty, however. After all, you can usually set your watch to the masses eventually proclaiming just fast the high school football season moves once everyone gets out of the starting blocks, similar to that of a rooster’s call that comes at the start of every single morning. In a similar fashion, just like the narrative of how quickly the season itself races along, so too are the teams that have largely stolen the show throughout the first quadrant of the campaign. And if you’re talking about the Lancaster-Lebanon League throughout the first portion of 2024, the Conestoga Valley Buckskins are a pretty strong case study that fits the bill.
Perhaps somewhat quietly all things considered, the CV Bucks entered 2024 as a group to keep an eye on for sure. However, their actual results on the field have been anything but low in tenor and volume.
Case in point, look no further than the numbers that read out 165-19. For those five digits complied together separated by a tiny dash lists the total aggregate score compiled by the Buckskins through the season’s first four weeks when stacked against their opposition. And it hasn’t exactly been a slate devoid of beasts either. In that regard, that’s precisely why CV’s steamroll-like win over Ephrata last Friday night — the District 3-5A silver medalist from a year ago mind you– that transpired on the Mounts’ home turf no less, helped to serve notice that CV appears ready and ripe for the challenge of chasing down the L-L Section Two crown this season, all while being congnizant that other key cogs, namely the Exeter Eagles, who have put together just as sterling of a resume thus far, are lying in wait in just a matter of weeks. To be sure, regardless of what eventually transpires before the time when the final period is etched in their 2024 storyline, the fact that Conestoga Valley, one of the premier franchises that once upon a time found not just in the L-L League, but for the entire state for that matter (see a 1991 state championship game appearance for added context), seeing the Buckskins back near the league’s marquee after largely spending a decade-plus being off somewhere to the side is an occasion that has certainly been a long time coming.
As far as their opponent on a somewhat rare Thursday night outing was concerned for this week, while Spring Grove has certainly had their similar instances of looking just as impressive as their counterparts in the form of the Buckskins, it’s been more of a roller coaster ride through their first few weeks by comparison’s sake.
Yes, while the Rockets from the York-Adams League came into Week 5 while sporting an even 2-2 overall mark, it has been a bit of mixed bag thus far, something that the .500 record would lead one to indicate.
In their triumphs, Spring Grove has won by an average of 37 points-per-game at the hands of Northern York and Kennard-Dale respectively. In their slipups however, SG has succumbed to victors Cedar Crest and Central York at a 39 point-per-game clip on the other hand. Suffice to say, while not all records are not necessarily created equal, it certainly did feel as though coming into this L-L versus YAIAA nonconference affair that the tale of the tape didn’t leave much to mystery.
And for that reason, the methodology that both teams likely came into the evening with couldn’t have been much clearer. For Conestoga Valley, after traversing the roughly hour-long bus ride onto the western side of York County for this their second school-night affair in the span of the last three weeks across the Susquehanna oddly enough, the goal was to remain just as dominant as the first four weeks had demonstrated. Which oh by the way, while we can’t really “go there” quite yet, saw the Buckskins sporting the #5 slot in the District 3-5A field in the event that the playoffs started coming into the night. On the other side, after flip-flopping wins and losses to start the season, while not only would a takedown of Conestoga Valley get Spring Grove back into the win column heading down the final stretch for the here and now, but it would also send shockwaves throughout that collective District 3 landscape without a shadow of a doubt should the Rockets pop the upset considering CV’s utter-sultry start.
Yet while Conestoga Valley would eventually be able to indeed trek back eastward while owners of a still unblemished 5-0 overall mark by the end of the affair, their excursion into gorgeous Papermaker Stadium was anything but one of their routine, rip-roaring nights at the office.
Now, all that said, perhaps you can simply chalk CV’s uncharacteristic slow start as to nothing more than that. An aberration. Just a little blip in the road that saw the Bucks’ opening offensive drive of the evening end with a turnover on downs despite gobbling up nearly the entirety of the first three minutes of the contest. Easy to characterize drive numero uno as a minor speedbump perhaps considering how the visitors from Lancaster County would then make the most of their second series by punching it for the game’s first score immediately afterwards.
Then again, playing complimentary football doesn’t exactly hurt the cause either. For the defensive portion, look no further than a timely sack tallied by CV senior defensive lineman, Justin Corson, on a Spring Grove 3rd & 8 play which signified the Rockets going three-and-out to conclude their first foray with the pigskin. From there, the one who somewhat quietly would end up as CV’s secret ace in the hole on the night by way of his bundles of hidden yardage accumulated over various kickoff and punt returns, Isaiah Sensenig, allowed the Buckskins to open up shop for their second drive at the midfield stripe following the CV senior wideout’s latest exploits on the ensuing punt return. And while this series would in many ways appear just as methodical as the drive which had preceded it, this would prove to be one bearing fruit.
By way of one of their pet plays of the night, the jet sweep, CV began making steady incisions into the Spring Grove defensive unit. Nine yards picked up Josiah Garcia to start things off. A modest but nonetheless important 2-yard lift on a sweep to the other side on 3rd & 1 not long afterwards, this one picked up via Parker Book, and the guests then found themselves sitting down near the Rockets’ redzone. From there, the potent air attack employed by lead pilot turned quarterback, Sawyer Esbenshade, really turned the dial up on Spring Grove as the junior triggerman’s 23-yard hookup to a willing and able fellow junior, Teagan Ruble, ushered the Bucks down to the Rockets’ 7-yard line in due time. Yet even while CV had dinked and dunked their way down the field to that point, the remainder of the drive wouldn’t be so easy. Especially considering how the Bucks needed to convert on a 4th & Goal at the Spring Grove 4-yard line. However, they were able to do once Esbenshade found yes, another junior classmate, Konnor Fisher, streaking across the middle for the eventual 4-yard touchdown toss which made it a 7-0 lead in CV’s favor following a Ruble PAT with exactly four minutes left standing on the first quarter clock.
By that point, Conestoga Valley was off and running and up to their usual tricks of gargantuan scoreboard numbers, right? Well, the only problem with that notion was that someone forgot to tell Spring Grove to be a willing participant.
Sure enough, while the curtain would raise on the second quarter Thursday night with that very same 7-0 difference in the Buckskins’ favor, the fact of the matter was that the Rockets were on the move to begin the new period.
On this series, Spring Grove’s third of the ballgame now, the Rockets finally began making some hay. Among the key catalysts to ignite this SG march came the legwork of Spring Grove’s jitterbug of a tailback, Malik Cain, helping to get the Rockets in gear and march down the pitch with a bevy of tough, darting runs, 35 yards to be exact over the course of two plays in particular, which put the ball on the CV 9-yard line and a subsequent answer all but a certainty.
But just when they needed to do so the most, Conestoga Valley’s defense would answer the dinner bell when called upon.
In fact, Spring Grove would get no closer than the 9-yard seeing as how a sack tallied by way of Buckskins’ senior linebacker, Seth Morgan, halted the Rockets’ overall progress while also setting them back to the 14-yard line. Then, on the fourth down play taking place right behind it, the threat was extinguished for good courtesy of the Bucks’ aforementioned unsung hero, Isaiah Sensenig, as his timely interception across the middle kept the goose egg up on the scoreboard and the difference standing at one-score.
However, the Sensenig theft would only deter Spring Grove for just a little while longer.
Indeed, on the heels of Conestoga Valley promptly going three plays and out following the takeaway, the Rockets began their next drive with the ball resting on the positive side of the field, the CV 41-yard line, with five minutes and change remaining in the first half of play.
Speaking of Malik Cain, he would be equally as valuable and instrumental on this Rockets’ drive as well. In terms of specifics, following a pair of dizzying runs toted by Cain to begin the attack, Spring Grove was knocking on the door of the redzone at the Bucks’ 25-yard line. Later, forget about knocking on the door, Spring Grove would effectively kick the door in altogether following a 13-yard pitch and catch from a pair of Spring Grove juniors, quarterback Davis Baum to wideout Bredon Smith, which moved the pill down to the CV 12. From there, Holden Gobrecht would have the honors of finishing this drive off in style as the Spring Grove senior strolled in for 5-yard touchdown run which knotted things at 7-7 –following his PAT ironically enough– with 2:14 left in the first half.
Needless to say, for a team that came into the evening by exerting their collective will to the tune of roughly 42-points-per-game, seeing Conestoga Valley head into the halftime dressing room with only seven points to their name, and at a 7-7 stalemate no less, was a bit of unchartered territory for the Buckskins coming out for the second half on Thursday night. However, they would soon discover that the Spring Grove resistance effort put forth in quarters three and four was just as staunch as that found in quarters one and two as well.
Indeed, if you fancy yourself a fan of steady, methodical, three yards and a cloud of dust type football that comes part in parcel with exhausting nearly the entirety of a quarter of play to boot, rest assured that the third frame here in Spring Grove was sure to please the palate.
Sure, while it may not have been the most glitzy and glamorous method of attack, seeing Conestoga Valley turn around and give the football to bruising back, Teagan Ruble, was nonetheless effective as Ruble came away with timely, chain-moving rushes that allowed CV to gradually matriculate the ball down into Spring Grove’s side of the field. Yet for as mundane and routine as it had been before its eventual conclusion, there was a brief window of excitement, depending on how you view the word excitement, as a rare feat of three straight fumbles that ended in three straight fumble recoveries by the opposing team, helped to finally settle the dust on a rather tame third quarter that expired with that same 7-7 deadlock.
By this stage, it became rather evident that the first team to blink in the face of the other would likely be the unfortunate bunch to find themselves on the short end of the stick once the clock hit zeroes. For that reason, with Conestoga Valley going back out on offense at their own 40-yard line with 7:22 left to play in the contest, time was of the essence if they wished to knock Spring Grove off their heels, quite possibly for good.
Heeding the call to action, Sawyer Esbenshade appeared up to the task as a 20-yard addition to what would end in a 60-plus yard night at office in terms of his yardage picked up on the ground coming on the first play of this drive got CV in motion with the Bucks promptly reaching the Rockets’ 40. Later, in his usual tough-as-nails, clutch self, Teagan Ruble helped to move the pile of humanity forward on a crucial 4th & 2, giving CV a fresh set of downs with the dam appearing to be on the verge of bursting open. And burst open it would just two plays later as the one who largely had helped get them this far to the dance, Mr. Ruble, traded in his black-and-blue style runs for the flashier variety as his go-ahead score in the form of an 18-yard touchdown run through the heart of the Spring Grove defense made it a 13-7 buffer in Conestoga Valley’s favor with 4:38 remaining despite the PAT operation going awry to put it mildly.
Simply put, this was a do-or-die moment for the hosts. Knowing full-well that this was likely the final time in which they would possess the football, Spring Grove couldn’t leave anything to chance. And to their credit, they darn-near pulled it off with their backs pushed up against the wall.
This series wouldn’t be without it’s share of adversity of course. Fair, but when the Rockets could just as easily turn and give the rock to their #22 ironically enough, the same number worn by CV’s Teagan Ruble, Spring Grove found the dividends equally as lavish as a key Malik Cain run between the tackles on an eerily similar 4th & 2 play akin to that of Ruble’s in the previous CV drive, ended one yard better than the sticks required of him, giving Spring Grove a new set of downs with the Rockets now on the Buckskins’ side of the field.
Then, Spring Grove suddenly found themselves inside the redzone on the heels of two consecutive Davis Baum to Zane Lawrence pass-and-catch hookups of both the slant and bubble screen variety, with the attack now just a smidge past the Bucks’ 20-yard line and well inside of two minutes left to go at this point.
All told, Spring Grove would end up reaching the CV 15-yard line, but would advance no closer inside the waning stages. In that regard, similar to the way in which they successfully thwarted an earlier Rockets’ threat that protruded deep inside Buckskins’ territory found all the way back in the second frame, so too would the Conestoga Valley defense need to stiffen here, albeit with the ramifications far more pressing in this go-round. Well, fortunately for those who made the long journey across river that separates Lancaster and York County apart from one another, their patience would be justly rewarded.
It wouldn’t be without a case of heartburn and a mild anxiety attack, though. Yet finally, after both teams performed a dosey doe of timeouts with one another with the game hanging in the balance in the form of a Spring Grove 4th & 6 attempt with the ball resting at the CV 21-yard with all of just 46 seconds remaining, someone would be the fortunate party to deliver the final knockout blow. Or deflection as it turned out.
Here, on the game’s most critical inflection point, stellar coverage presented by the Conestoga Valley back-end right from the snap helped to set the table for what would be a frantic effort by Spring Grove after their initial plans on the play went up in smoke. And while the Rockets would lob one final pass into the night sky in a last ditch effort, a deflection caused by another member in the embarrassment of riches known as the CV junior class, Cordell Bair, while working with Latex-like precision from his defensive back spot against his Spring Grove receiver, caused the ball to end up in the hands of Buckskins’ senior, Jackson Byers, with that effectively serving as the moment in which those from Witmer could finally wipe the sweat beads off their brows at long last.
And so, following what is widely considered to be the best formation in all of football, the victory formation, Conestoga Valley took one final kneel-down before the buzzer rang out with the Buckskins being able to post a far gritter win than perhaps most had planned for, getting out of Spring Grove still unscathed by virtue of their 13-7 victory against a nothing if not game Rockets’ crew to vault upwards to 5-0 on the season.
NEXT UP: Let’s just be honest and call a spade a spade. Winning is hard. For that reason, while there are sure to be a bevy of loose ends and things to clean up for Conestoga Valley, there is no better record that one could have at this stage than 5-0. In fact, if you want to get totally politically correct, there is indeed no other Lancaster-Lebanon League team currently sporting a 5-0 mark at the moment, even if it may come with the huge caveat of no other unbeaten teams hit the field on Thursday night of course. But regardless of how this triumph over Spring Grove may have appeared to even the naked eye, this is the type of overall success that hasn’t been seen in Conestoga Valley’s corner of the universe for a number of years as previously stated.
Now, after clearing the first half of the year at 5-0, the next step is to become 6-0 which the Buckskins will look to do against the Lebanon Cedars next Friday night while back at CV’s friendly confines. From there, while it may be fair or unfair to boil a team’s whole season down to just two weeks most of all, one could reasonably make that argument on Conestoga Valley’s behalf as the Bucks take on Governor Mifflin and Exeter in Weeks 7 and 9 respectively, a pair of battles that will surely help to decide the eventual L-L Section Two championship picture, a division that is far better when the Buckskins are found to be competing for it.
On the hand, this result will surely leave those in Spring Grove camp smarting for the better part of the now long weekend in the days to follow. But as is the case for those that happen to call York-Adams Division One their home, time waits for no one. And for a team that came into this night right smack-dab in the midst of the District 3-5A playoff picture themselves, getting back up on the horse come next Friday night with a road date at a currently winless Northeastern squad figures to loom just as large for the Rockets as they too look to stalk a postseason bid of some form of fashion. Granted, while this night will forever end in a six-point loss as the record books will show it, slowing down arguably the hottest club inside of a 37-team mega conference, the likes that Conestoga Valley had demonstrated over in the neighboring L-L League, you’d have to like the Rockets’ chances for a Week 11 contest if they can replicate those same efforts put forth on Thursday night.
