Gary Wenzel

On a warm, beautiful November night, the twelve-seeded Cocalico Eagles traveled to Elizabethtown to face the five-seeded Bears in the opening round of District III, 5A playoffs.

The Bears won the toss and deferred till the second half leaving Cocalico with the ball first. The Eagles wasted no time getting going, marching 74 yards on six plays to score a touchdown and open the game. The touchdown came off of a five-yard touchdown run by Josh Myer. The Cole Roos PAT made it 7-0 at 10:10 in the first quarter.

The Bears’ first drive ended quickly on a fourth-down fumble that was recovered by the Eagles to give them the ball at the Elizabethtown 37-yard line.

Cocalico got right back to work scoring another touchdown off of a Sam Steffy eight-yard rush. Talen Popolis’ PAT made it 14-0 Eagles halfway through quarter one.

The Bears continued to struggle on offense, punting to Cocalico on their next drive. However, Elizabethtown’s defense held strong forcing an Eagle punt. On the snap, the ball sailed over Roos’ head and out of the endzone for a safety. This made it 14-2 Eagles.

The Bears’ next drive was halted by a Cocalico interception at their own 28-yard line giving the Eagles the ball back. Cocalico proved once again they could not be stopped and marched down the field 72 yards for another touchdown. Steffy punched it in from eight yards out for his second touchdown of the night. The Eagles led 21-2 at 7:26 in the second quarter.

Elizabethtown elected to go for it on fourth down with 1:34 left in the first half at their own 39-yard line but failed to convert. This gave the Eagles excellent field position. They capitalized once again off a one-yard rushing touchdown from Myer on fourth down to end the half. This put Cocalico up 28-2 at halftime with all the momentum on their side.

The Bears opened the half with another punt setting the Eagles up for a 39-yard field goal attempt. However, the Roos kick missed wide left keeping it 28-2.

The Bears were forced to punt once again leaving the Eagles with the ball on the Elizabethtown 33-yard line after a solid return by Aaryn Longenecker. Josh Myer proceeded to score his third rushing touchdown of the night off an 11-yard rush. This made it 35-2.

Elizabethtown’s struggles continued, turning the ball over on downs at their own seven-yard line early in the fourth quarter setting up a three-yard touchdown rush from Dane Horning to make it 42-2.

Cocalico showed absolute domination tonight holding the Bears’ offense to zero points. Josh Myer led the team with three touchdowns and Sam Steffy added two.

Elizabethtown had an outstanding season finishing 8-3.

The red-hot Eagles will travel to Gettysburg next week to take on the fourth-seeded Warriors and look to continue their playoff run.

After a tough loss for both teams last week, ELCO traveled to Cocalico to face the Eagles in a Lancaster- Lebanon league matchup. Before the game, Cocalico seniors gave their jerseys to a teacher who had made an impact in their lives. The teachers wore them Friday to honor the passion and care that they have for their students. The ceremony held at Eagle Stadium displayed that high school football is about more than just football.

The Eagles won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball to start the game. Cocalico methodically marched down the field constantly moving the chains, keeping the Raider defense on their heels on the opening drive. After a six-minute, 68-yard drive,

Tyler Angstadt punched in a six-yard touchdown rush. The Cole Roos PAT made it 7-0 Cocalico.

ELCO’s first drive was halted by an interception from Carter Getz to give the Eagles the ball back after just a few plays. Two plays later the shifty Aaryn Longenecker took it 51 yards to the house for a touchdown. The PAT from Talen Popolis made it 14-0 Eagles to end the first quarter.

After an ELCO punt to start quarter two, Cocalico didn’t take long to score as Josh Myer connected with Longenecker for a 35-yard touchdown pass. This made it 21-0 Eagles early in the second quarter.

Another ELCO punt on the Raiders’ next drive gave the red-hot Cocalico offense another chance to continue to run all over the burnt-out Raiders’ defense. A 50-yard drive was capped off by a 13-yard touchdown rush from Sam Steffy to make it 28-0.
ELCO had a promising drive working for them right before halftime, but the Eagles intercepted the ball for a pick six to end the half by the MVP of the game Aaryn Longenecker. Longenecker looked trapped in a sea of Raiders but he cut outside and let his speed take him into the end zone to end the half. After two quarters, Cocalico was dominating ELCO 35-0.

Coming out of the half, Cocalico’s special teams wanted to get in on the fun.  They blocked a punt and set up the offense in the red zone. A few plays later, Steffy found the end zone for the second time making it 42-0.

The Raiders’ star running back, Jake Williams, finally broke one loose in the third quarter, exploding through the line of scrimmage for a 64-yard touchdown run to get the Raiders on the board. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score 42-6.

Aaryn Longenecker totaled three touchdowns tonight and seemed to be involved in every play of the game. Sam Steffy tacked on two touchdowns as well.

The Eagles came to play tonight after suffering a tough loss to Lampeter- Strasburg last week. They look to keep the momentum going next week when they travel to a 6-0 Wyomissing team, who now holds the Berks County record for most consecutive regular-season wins in a row.

ELCO looks to get back in the win column when they travel to a struggling 1-5 Octorara team next week.

Fall is finally here and the weather did not disappoint for late September Lancaster-Lebanon football. A chilly Friday night in Lampeter-Strasburg set the stage for the 2-2 Cocalico Eagles and the 3-1 Lampeter-Strasburg Pioneers.

Despite the great football weather, not everything can be perfect. Lampeter-Strasburg’s scoreboard was not working, so the officials had to keep the game clock on the field for the entirety of the game.

The Eagles won the toss and elected to receive. The very first play from scrimmage went for a touchdown as Tyler Angstadt exploded through the outside and took it 79 yards to the end zone to get the Eagles up early. The PAT from Cole Roos made it 7-0 Eagles.

After a series of punts from both sides, the Pioneers started their second drive with great field position across the 50-yard line. Trent Wagner connected with Hunter Hildenbrand for a 37-yard reception to put Strasburg in the red zone. This set up a ten-yard touchdown pass from Wagner to Carson Coleman. The Peter Fiorello PAT tied the game up at 7-7.

After another Cocalico punt from the back of their own end zone, the Pioneers started their next drive with the ball at Cocalico’s 37-yard line. Coleman got his second touchdown of the night off a one-yard rushing touchdown to put the Pioneers up 14-7.

After a failed fourth down attempt from Strasburg in the red zone, the Eagles marched 90 yards to tie the game before halftime. However, the Pioneers had different plans. The Strasburg defense forced a fumble in the end zone and the Pioneers recovered it for safety. This put the Pioneers up 16-7 midway through the second quarter.

Cocalico had a shot to get back on the board right before halftime as they were down inside Strasburg’s 10-yard line but they failed the fourth down attempt and came away with no points, leaving them down two possessions at half still.

After an eventful first half, Cocalico struck first in the second half converting a 21-yard touchdown reception from Josh Myer to Aaryn Longenecker. This put the Eagles within two points making it 16-14.

Cocalico then blocked a Pioneer punt, setting them up inside the Strasburg 40-yard line on offense. Later that drive, however, the Eagles coughed up the ball. Drexton Frank jumped on it for the Pioneers to give them the ball.

The Eagles and Pioneers kept turning the ball over on downs until the Pioneers finally broke loose on a 79-yard touchdown reception from Wagner to Hildenbrand. This put Strasburg up 23-14 midway through the fourth quarter. From there, Cocalico failed on two fourth-down attempts to try to keep the game alive.

The first fall football game between these two teams did not disappoint as both teams battled neck and neck the whole way. However, the Pioneers held on to win 23-14.

Hunter Hildenbrand had a monster game posting up 142 receiving yards with a touchdown. Carson Coleman also had over 100 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns tonight for the Pioneers as well.

Cocalico falls to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in LL Section play. They will host ELCO next week.

Lampeter-Strasburg advances to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in section play. They will travel to Octorara next. 

On Friday night, the 1-1 Cocalico Eagles traveled to Manheim Central to take on the 2-0 rival Barons. It seemed like the entire towns of Manheim and Denver were in the stadium cheering on their respective teams. 

Cocalico deferred starting the game. On the opening kickoff, Manheim Central fumbled and Cocalico’s Tyler Angstadt recovered. However, on the first play from scrimmage for the Eagles they fumbled and the Barons got it right back. The drive quickly stalled out resulting in a punt. 

The first scoring didn’t come until three minutes remained in the first quarter when Cocalico’s Brayden Eppinette dodged defenders to barrel into the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown. The Kole Roos’ PAT made it 7-0 Eagles. 

On the Barons’ next drive, Zac Hahn connected with Aaron Enterline for a 69-yard reception to set up Central at the Cocalico eight-yard line. Hahn then connected with Rocco Daugherty for a five-yard touchdown pass. Dylan Neff added the point after and tied it up at 7-7.

The next Cocalico drive went for 61 yards and was capped off by an Aaryn Longenecker 28-yard touchdown rush. Roos missed the extra point leaving the score 13-7 at the end of the first quarter. 

The Eagles’ first drive in the second quarter ended with another turnover giving the Barons the ball at midfield off of a fumble. The Barons capitalized off the turnover with a Brycen Arnold 22-yard rushing touchdown.  Abbie Reed kicked the extra point to put the Barons up 14-13.

The Barons got yet another turnover as Bode Sipel intercepted Josh Myers’ pass to give Central the ball back at midfield again. Hahn hit his big receiver Enterline for a monster 41-yard touchdown pass to extend the Barons’ lead. Neff’s PAT put Manheim Central up 21-13 at halftime.

Midway through the third quarter, the Eagles had a chance to cut into the lead with a 26-yard field goal, but Kole Roos missed it wide. There was no scoring the entire third quarter and most of the fourth quarter.

With six minutes left, Longenecker ran in a six-yard touchdown for his second touchdown of the night. The Eagles failed to convert on the two-point attempt leaving them trailing 21-19.

This is where Hahn took control into his own hands, rifling the ball to Sipel for a 42-yard passing touchdown to put the Barons up 28-19 with the extra point. This put them up by two possessions making it difficult for an Eagle comeback with less than three minutes left.

On the next Eagles drive Myer’s pass was picked off by Daugherty to seal the game and set up the Barons to advance to 3-0. The Barons added on another touchdown when Kahlen Watt hauled in a 28-yard touchdown reception from Hahn on fourth down. The PAT made it 35-19 to end the game. 

The score was very deceiving of how this game actually played out. Cocalico was only down by two with less than five minutes left. Cocalico had four crucial turnovers, which arguably cost them the game. 

Rocco Daugherty, Aaron Enterline, Zac Hahn, Brycen Arnold, and Bode Sipel all had phenomenal games for the Barons leading them to a 35-19 win. Zac Hahn had a whopping four passing touchdowns. 

The Barons already appear to be in mid-season form improving to 3-0 and next week they will host the 2-1 Susquehannock Warriors. Cocalico falls to 1-2 and looks to get back on track next week when they will host a struggling 1-2 Octorara. 

Overall, both teams played great. It just so happens Manheim Central ran away with it towards the end to seal the game.

After a dominant 49-0 win over Kennard-Dale in week one, the Wyomissing Spartans traveled to face the 0-1 Pottsville Crimson Tide. Wyomissing picked up right where they left off last week to start this game.

After three quick plays to start the game, Pottsville was forced to punt. The Spartans’ offense quickly got to work driving down the field on six plays and 58 yards capped off by a Collin Niedrowski rushing touchdown. Ian Levering made the PAT to make it 7-0 early.

Pottsville was forced to punt again leaving the Spartans with the ball at the Crimson Tide 42-yard line to start their second drive. In the same exact fashion, Wyomissing drove down the field and Matthew Kramer took it in off a two-yard rushing touchdown. After the PAT from Levering, it was 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

Pottsville had a promising drive ahead of them that came to a halt after a fumble that was recovered by Drew Eisenhower to give the Spartans the ball back at midfield. Wyomissing capitalized off the turnover when Kramer ran his second touchdown of the night in from 23 yards out. Wyomissing was playing flawlessly on offense executing everything perfectly.

On Pottsville’s next drive the Spartans hauled in an interception by Eisenhower that got waved off by a roughing the passer penalty. However, in the next play, Wyomissing did gain possession after Pacen Ziegler recovered a fumble at their own 39-yard line. Drew Eisenhower had a monster 41-yard run to set up the Spartans in the red zone once again. Andrew Forrey finished the drive by breaking tackles to dive into the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown run. This put the Spartans up 28-0 still in the first half.

One of the only flaws that Wyomissing had on offense the whole night was a fumble that was recovered by Pottsville’s Tejay Allen. This gave Pottsville a chance to get on the board before halftime. However, another promising drive came to a halt when Allen’s pass was picked off by Wyomissing’s Derek Macrina. This gave Wyomissing the ball at the Pottsville 26 with a minute left in the first half. It turns out a minute was more than enough time for Wyomissing as Ben Zechman connected with Drew Eisenhower for a 47-yard touchdown pass. This put the Spartans ahead 35-0 going into halftime.

Wyomissing continued to spread the ball around in the second half as Zechman connected with Ryker Jones for a 47-yard touchdown reception to add to the lead making it 42-0. Wyomissing wasn’t done scoring as Jeremiah Diaz punched in a one-yard rushing touchdown capping off a 47-yard drive to make it 49-0 midway through the fourth quarter.

Wyomissing absolutely dominated Pottsville tonight winning 49-0 to improve to 2-0. Pottsville falls to 0-2 after a tough loss tonight. They look ahead to next Friday when they travel to Lehighton.

Matthew Kramer had another monster game with two touchdowns putting him at five total touchdowns through two weeks. He tweaked his ankle on the first play of the game but continued to stay in. After the game, he said, “Another good win. We had good energy and gave a good effort, but there’s still a lot of mistakes we need to clean up.”

Wyomissing hosts Trinity next week. They have now outscored their opponents 98-0 through two weeks.  Both the defense and offense are in phenomenal shape. Ian Levering is also now a perfect 14/14 on PATs to start the season. This team is extremely fundamentally sound and shows a brotherhood between each other. Wyomissing represents perfectly what brotherhood, culture, and discipline can do to a team. This team is dangerous. Watch out Pennsylvania. 

The Governor Mifflin Mustangs (1) hosted the Spring Grove Rockets (4) on Friday night for the District III 5A Semifinals. Governor Mifflin’s Nick Singleton was coming off a seven touchdown outing in their quarterfinal victory against Warwick last week.

The Mustangs started off with the ball and drove down the field to the Spring Grove 25 yard line before the Rockets defense forced a turnover on downs. Governor Mifflin had two crucial penalties on the drive that assisted in halting it.

On the Rockets first time with the ball, they got only 16 yards before having to punt the ball back to the Mustangs.

More Governor Mifflin penalties forced them to punt it back to Spring Grove. However, the snap flew over the punter, Lamarion Northan’s head. He was lucky enough to recover it and throw it up for grabs which turned into an interception at the line of scrimmage. This set up Spring Grove with excellent field position at Governor Mifflin’s 45.

The Rockets turned this into a touchdown off of a 43 passing touchdown from Andrew Osmun to Darien Osmun. Andrew Osmun then made the PAT. The brothers’ touchdown connection gave Spring Grove the lead 7-0 ending the first quarter.

The Mustangs answered back quickly from an Aiden Gallen nine-yard touchdown run capping off a 47 yard drive. The PAT was good from Jackson Schools, tying it up at 7-7 with 9:41 left in the half.

Spring Grove’s next possession resulted in a three and out forcing a 27-yard punt to the Mifflin 25. Bad field possession wasn’t enough to stop Governor Mifflin from driving 75 yards and taking the lead on a Nick Singleton 31-yard touchdown run. The PAT made it 14-7 Governor Mifflin.

The Rockets were forced to go three and out a second time in a row forcing them to pin the Mustangs at their own 20. With over three minutes left in the half, Mifflin had plenty of time to drive down the field. Right before the end of the half, Jackson Schools hit a 28-yard field goal to put Mifflin up 17-7 at the half.

Spring Grove came firing out of the gates in the second half scoring a touchdown just 21 seconds into the second half. The touchdown came off of a 44-yard run from Zyree Brooks. The PAT was no good. The Mustangs still had the lead 17-13.

However, Mifflin came right down the field on their first drive of the half getting a touchdown from Nick Singleton off of a 36-yard touchdown run. The PAT made it 24-13 in the third.

The Mustangs’ defense forced another three and out from Spring Grove giving them the ball back at their own 35-yard line. On a fourth down and ten situation, Governor Mifflin decided to go for it.  Eden Johnson connected with Braylon Stewart for a 36-yard passing touchdown. The Mustangs were pulling away, leading 31-13 at the end of the third quarter.

To open the fourth quarter, Spring Grove drove down to the Governor Mifflin 20-yard line before being stopped on fourth down. With 8:20 left in the game, Nick Singleton got his third touchdown of the night on a 17-yard touchdown run. This made it 38-13.

Spring Grove tried to make a final push but came short at Mifflin’s six-yard line. This sealed the Mustangs 38-13 victory over Spring Grove to advance to the finals.

The District III 5A final will be an All-Berks rematch between Governor Mifflin (1) and the Exeter Eagles (7). When the two teams met in early October, Governor Mifflin won convincingly 54-21. This time, they will be fighting for a District title. 

The first playoff game for the Cocalico Eagles (5) and Berks Catholic Saints (4) in the 2021 season will go down as an instant classic. Both Cocalico and Berks Catholic entered Friday’s District III 4A playoff game at 6-4. 

The game started with two kick-offs that went out of bounds for Berks Catholic giving Cocalico an excellent field position at the Saints’ 42-yard line to begin. The Eagles marched down the field on the drive converting two fourth downs and taking 7:33 off of the clock. The drive resulted in a five-yard touchdown scramble from quarterback Blayke Taddei. The PAT from Cole Roos made it 7-0 Cocalico.

The first Saints’ drive was a quick one as Cocalico recorded three tackles behind the line of scrimmage forcing a three and out. Tonight’s game was a battle of the line of scrimmage and the defenses were winning it on both sides. Every drive up until the final two minutes of the first half resulted in no points. 

With 1:50 left in the first half, the game flipped. Blayke Taddei’s screen pass attempt was intercepted by Berks Catholic’s defensive end Tyler Givens who came off of a block and went up and secured the acrobatic catch. This gave Berks Catholic phenomenal field position at Cocalico’s 32-yard line.

The first play for the Saints’ offense following the interception was a 32-yard touchdown run from Christian Cacchione with 1:42 left in the half. Not only did Givens get the interception, but he tied it up at 7 with his successful extra point. Cocalico was unable to take the lead before halftime, keeping it 7-7 after 24 minutes of play. 

The second half started off like most of the first half had been played, offensively slow. Berks Catholic was knocking on the red zone door in the middle of the third when the drive halted and the Eagles defense made a stand forcing a turnover on downs. Cocalico couldn’t translate it into any points.

Cocalico then recovered a Berks Catholic fumble at the Saints’ 46-yard line with 1:47 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Eagles went three and out giving the ball back to Berks Catholic. No scoring in the third quarter kept it tied at seven entering the last 12 minutes of regulation. 

Berks Catholic’s Josiah Jordan then broke free and hit a 50-yard touchdown run making it 14-7 Saints early in the fourth quarter. 

Cocalico had a game-tying 42-yard Bourassa touchdown on their drive called back for an offensive holding penalty. The drive eventually halted. 

The next Saints’ drive resulted in a punt leaving Cocalico time to potentially tie the game up. However, Berks Catholic’s Jackson Huddleson recovered a Taddei fumble with 1:32 remaining. 

Josiah Jordan sealed the Saints’ victory with his second rushing touchdown of the night. This one was from 42 yards out. Berks Catholic defeated Cocalico 21-7 moving on to the District III 4A Semifinals against Bishop McDevitt (1) next Friday.

The first Friday night in November can only mean one thing, playoff football. Tonight in the District III 5A playoffs, the battle of the Warriors went down between Gettysburg (9) and Warwick (8). 

Warwick came out hot despite the cold temperatures and scored first on a Christian Royer four-yard touchdown rush. This capped off a 45-yard drive. With the successful PAT from kicker Gage Meckley, Warwick had a 7-0 lead with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter.

Christian Royer got Warwick’s second touchdown off a 22-yard rush with 11:14 in the second quarter. The PAT failed, but Warwick still had the 13-0 lead.

Warwick tacked on another touchdown with 5:33 remaining before halftime with a ten-yard pass from Jack Reed to Ryan Fink. This made it 20-0 Warwick. 

Gettysburg desperately needed an answer before halftime to keep things in control. With a 38-yard touchdown reception to Tanner Newman from Brady Heiser, Gettysburg got it back within two possessions. The PAT was good from kicker Jermaine Gondwe making it 20-7. The half ended at 20 -7 with Warwick leading.

Warwick came up with a big fourth-down stop halting a Gettysburg drive in the red zone. Warwick’s Colin Winters turned that into more Warrior points from a 20-yard rushing touchdown. Warwick controlled 27-7.

However, on Gettysburg’s next drive, they got another Heiser to Newman touchdown. This time it was for four yards and it cut Warwick’s lead by seven. 

Warwick drove down the field and set up for a 31-yard field goal attempt but Gettysburg blocked it, keeping the game at a two-possession difference. However, they could not turn it into points.

With 10:28 left in the game, Christian Boyer secured his third touchdown of the night off of a six-yard rushing touchdown. This made it 34-14. On the first play of Gettysburg’s next drive, Warwick forced and recovered a fumble. This set up a 33-yard field goal for Meckley, putting the game out of reach at 37-14.

 Warwick’s defensive back Blake Minnich intercepted a pass to halt a Gettysburg drive at the three-yard line with 6:41 left. Warwick then drove down the field. Colin Winters punched it in for his second touchdown of the game making it 44-14. 

As if one wasn’t enough, Minnich had a game sealing interception at the two-yard line to secure the victory for Warwick. 

Warwick rolled past Gettysburg in the first round of playoffs by a score of 44-14. This sets them up for a date at undefeated Governor Mifflin (1) next Friday night.

A drenched, cold, Panther Stadium was the site of the 2021 Frost Bowl between the Hamburg Hawks and Schuylkill Valley Panthers. Out of the past 50 meetings between these two squads, Hamburg has won 28 of them. They have had the trophy in Hamburg since 2019.

The biggest competitor tonight was the weather throughout the entire game. The rain, wind, and cold played a huge factor in play calling and turnovers. 

The Hawks started the scoring off when Diohnny Ruiz scored on a 25-yard touchdown rush capping off a 55-yard drive that was set up by a fumble recovery. 

Schuylkill Valley answered back with their own touchdown on their next drive. Michael Goad connected with Kyle Spotts for an 81-yard touchdown reception on the first pass attempt of the game. This tied it up at 7-7 and that’s how the half ended.

On the Hawks first drive of the half, they marched down the field chewing up 4:50 off the clock. Mitchell Watt got the score off of a five-yard touchdown rush. This made it 14-7 Hawks. Near the end of the third quarter, the Hawks went up two possessions off of a 12-yard touchdown rush from Mitchell Watt again. This made it 21-7.

With less than a minute left in the game, Drew Campbell connected with Julian Kemmerer for an 11-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion failed to make it 21-13. Schuylkill Valley failed their onside kick attempt ending the game. 

Hamburg running back, Diohnny Ruiz, hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season tonight. Also, as expected due to the weather, there were five total turnovers tonight.

The Frost Ball trophy stays in Hamburg for the third straight year following Friday’s 21-13 victory for the Hawks.

On a crisp, late September night, the Schuylkill Valley Panthers hosted the Kutztown Cougars. Kutztown came into this game 2-2 while Schuylkill Valley was 1-3.

To start off the scoring for the Panthers, Michael Goad capped off a 52-yard drive with a three-yard quarterback keeper for a touchdown. 

There was no more scoring until Kutztown finally answered back with less than two minutes remaining in the half off a Lennon Neiman touchdown pitch. The two-point conversion was scored by a Jacob Lafferty run. The Cougars led 8-7 with a little over a minute remaining.

The Panthers started their final drive of the half at the 50-yard line. Two enormous receptions from Michael Krishok and Michael Goad set up SV at the two-yard line. Goad finished the half on a buzzer beater two-yard touchdown keeper. This put the Panthers up 14-8 at halftime.

In the fourth quarter, Drew Campbell capped off a 51-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run to put SV up 21-8 with 11 minutes left in the game. One drive later, Campbell connected with Colby Crills for a 44-yard touchdown reception. This sealed the game for Campbell and the Panthers. Schuylkill Valley is on a two-game winning streak after beating Kutztown 28-8.

Schuylkill Valley improves to 2-3, while Kutztown falls to 2-3. SV will travel to Conrad Weiser next week. Kutztown will host Hamburg.

On a perfect Friday night for football, the 1-2 Upper Perkiomen Indians traveled to face the 0-3 Schuylkill Valley Panthers. The game was a “Gold Out’ theme at Panther Stadium.

The scoring started off on Upper Perk’s first drive of the game in an unexpected way. The Panthers forced a three and out. On the punt, however, the snap flew over Tyler Miller’s head and out of the end zone for a Panther safety. 

The Panthers mixed in two different quarterbacks all game. Michael Goad and Drew Campbell evenly split the snap count. Campbell ran a keeper to the left side for a 24-yard touchdown run to put the Panthers up 8-0.

On Upper Perk’s next drive, SV’s Michael Krishock tipped a pass into the air. His teammate Michael Goad intercepted it and ran it back 70 yards for a touchdown. This put the Panthers up 14-0.

The Indians found the end zone for the first time, capping off a 55-yard drive on a Dylan Hank three-yard run. However, the Panthers answered back with a touchdown pass from Goad to Campbell for 15 yards. The Panthers led 21-7 at the half.

Upper Perkiomen opened up the second half on a scoop-and-score touchdown from Brady Thompson on a fumbled pitch to make it 21-14. After that, the Panthers took full control and tacked on three more touchdowns. 

Colby Crills had a three-yard touchdown reception to put SV up 28-14. Campbell then had a one-yard touchdown run to put them up 35-14. Finally, Dominic Giuffre added to the scoring on a 54-yard touchdown reception to seal the game for a 42-14 Panther victory.

Both teams go to 1-3 heading into week five. Next week, Schuylkill Valley will face Kutztown at home. Upper Perk travels to Pope John Paul II. 

Upper Perkiomen  14
Schuylkill Valley 42

On Friday, Schuylkill Valley hosted the Eastern Lebanon County Raiders in their home opener for the 2021 season. The Panthers came into this game 0-1 after a 35-7 loss last week against Springfield. This was ELCO’s first game of the season.

In 2020, the Raiders went undefeated in the regular season but suffered a loss to Lampeter-Strasburg in the second round of the playoffs.

ELCO runs a triple-option offense, with senior Luke Williams getting most of the workload. In ELCO’s first drive they ran it eight times and took 5:02 off the clock. The drive ended with the quarterback, Cole Thomas, punching it in from four yards out.

Schuylkill Valley answered with their own five-minute touchdown drive. Quarterback, Drew Campbell, capped off the drive with a six-yard touchdown run. The PAT was blocked by Luke Williams.

What seemed to be a promising drive for ELCO came to a halt when Thomas fumbled a snap and SV’s Jacob Stelluti scooped it up at the Panthers nine. At the half, ELCO led SV 7-6.

There was no scoring again until the fourth quarter when ELCO’s Elliott Kreider ran it in from three yards out. This capped off a 10:39, 19 play drive. This put the Raiders up 14-6.

ELCO sealed the game with another Thomas four-yard touchdown run. This put ELCO up 21-6 with less than seven minutes remaining. 

ELCO’s clock chewing, the triple-option offense simply wore down the SV defense. Schuylkill Valley kept this a close game for three quarters. The Panthers forced a few turnovers as well.

ELCO improves to 1-0. While Schuylkill Valley falls to 0-2. Next Friday, ELCO will travel to Conrad Weiser. And Schuylkill Valley will head southeast to face Pottsgrove.