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.
