Across the 360-miles of which it spans, there are 36 exits located along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Not all of these are created equal though. Some serve as a direct dive into the largest and most vital cities in the state. Others meanwhile divert into other key arteries, like the Northeast Extension for example, that make other, distant markets beyond the horizontal west-to-east model more accessible. There are also others along the main drag that don’t really stick out at all quite frankly.
Exit 298, Morgantown, would likely be one that fits the bill of the latter.
Sure, there’s a Lowe’s there. A Walmart-Supercenter too. And lest we forget about a potent Taco Bell and Popeye’s operating in tandem inside the same strip mall if you’re looking for a more “cultural” take on cuisine if you will than average your run-of-the-mill Americana fast food joints. But aside from the Hollywood Casino, also located nearby, this off-ramp right near the 300-mile marker is rather prototypical in being as quaint and blasé as the greater area that surrounds it, constructed from the gentle rolling hills and farmland of the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside, likely making it a spot to load up on snacks and gas more than anything else for the average traveler. Granted, while this overview probably won’t be a piece that greater Elverson/Morgantown Tourism Board figures to use in its next advertisement any time soon, if you fancy yourself a high school football fan, there’s a program being built there that seems poised for a breakout season that may be worthy of a detour along your travels.
Coming into the season, they were right to feel bullish around these parts. For the Twin Valley Raiders, they’re dreaming of titles these days –yes, in the plural—and for good reason. Aside from being one of the preeminent stalwarts that figures to fight for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Four crown this year, the next phase of that journey beyond that, the District 3 playoffs, seems to be even more appealing as Twin Valley finds itself located in the 4A rank and file, a blessing of a locale to reside considering two of the behemoths who have predominantly wreaked havoc in that class most of all, Manheim Central and Bishop McDevitt especially, are now thrusted up into the 5A class. Sure, there’s of course the other beasts living in the neighborhood who still remain, such as Wyomissing and Lampeter-Strasburg, a pair of squads ironically enough that Twin Valley will have to get through first if they desire that aforementioned section crown most of all, but the point is that the 4A playing field at least feels somewhat more level-set considering two of the potent ingredients of late are now absent from the overall recipe. And while coaches will shudder and get nausea to think this far in advance, but when you stop and look at the way that the state brackets overwhelmingly break in District 3’s favor, a possible trip to Cumberland Valley and the state championship is then just one game away for the eventual champ who emerges from the fray.
But if we’re being candid here, the early returns on investment out through the first three weeks of 2024 may have actually been better than originally projected for the easternmost school inside the massive District 3 footprint.
How does a point-per-minute in the game of football sound? Pretty gnarly considering this isn’t hoops where the points are far more plentiful. But that’s precisely the pace in which Twin Valley had been operating through its first few contests out on the gridiron. In fact, the Raiders have barely even been touched while racing out to their 3-0 start in the form of solid takedowns against Berks Catholic, Selinsgrove, and Olney Charter respectively. And for their troubles, the assembled throng of sportswriters from around the state have also taken heed considering the consensus Top 5 ranking placed next to Twin Valley’s name in assorted polls conducted thus far, chief among them being slotted #3 in the statewide 4A Pennlive rankings coming into this week, along with a #5 rank in the combined 3A & 4A poll as posted here on EasternPAFootball.com. Suffice to say, when you win by an average margin of roughly 42-points-per-game, it’s hard to remain under the radar.
Yet for all the pomp they have rightly garnered through the first third of the campaign, Friday night brought with it a new challenge– the raising of the curtain on section play. And when you play a team that just flat-out knows how to win, it certainly doesn’t make your opening chore any easier.
For the ELCO Raiders, winning is in their blood. Long since established as a perennial thorn in the side of their conference foes behind the leadership of head coach, Bob Miller, the Raiders, who like to –and quite often—dictate the game on their terms, are also no slouch when it comes to District 3 playoff showings in their own right. In fact, their trip to Elverson on Friday had a bit of a “returning to the scene of the crime” feel to it considering Twin Valley High School was the exact piece of property where ELCO’s 2023 journey ended in the form of a 35-7 defeat at the hands of these very same green and white clad Raiders in the postseason 10 months ago.
Admittedly though, this go-round of a season hasn’t exactly been what the group from Myerstown had been shooting for, at least out of the chute.
Granted, probably easy to recognize how that might’ve been a real possibility coming in when you graduate the services of one of the best ball-toters from the eastern side of the state, Jake Williams, who rumbled his way to over 2,000 yards on the ground, a single-season program record to boot, who spearheaded the collective ELCO machine last fall. Yet while ELCO may have spent the first few weeks of 2024 searching for a remedy following setbacks courtesy of West York and Conrad Weiser in dual fashion, they may have just found what ailed them in the form of a stupendous come-from-behind 28-22 win at Lancaster Catholic just week ago, one of the preeminent forces that figures to be right there at the finish line in L-L Section Five play this year in its own right, after erasing a two-score deficit at the intermission against the homestanding Crusaders.
Suffice to say, with the Raiders now taking their show on the road to a second county in as many weeks, Berks County on this venture, that added bit of juice that came from a well-earned victory just seven days ago could likely do wonders for ELCO if they could somehow harness said momentum and then parlay it against undoubtedly the best team they had yet to go up against so far this season, Twin Valley, on a chamber of commerce-like evening for playing scholastic football in the mid-state on Friday night.
But as would become apparent almost right from the opening kick in this one, this would quickly turn into a Twin Valley showcase event.
How close to the opening kick you ask? How about 54 seconds?
Not only that, but the hosts wouldn’t even begin the night with possession of the football. Instead, after getting ELCO behind the sticks in the form of a 3-yard tackle for loss on the visiting Raiders’ first play from scrimmage, their second play would end up in a far worse fate as a tipped pass ended up in the hands of Twin Valley senior do-everything man, Evan Johnson, as Johnson’s interception off the deflection set his offensive mates up with sparkling field position to begin their evening. After then trotting out onto the field, his fellow troops needed just one play and 19 yards to do the rest as a dart thrown by four-year signal-caller, Evan Myers, to another senior classmate, Matthew Knight, led to a touchdown pass before fans even settled in to their seats as the host Raiders themselves with ownership of the 7-0 lead following a Nate Shaffer PAT with all of 11:06 remaining in the opening frame.
That said, while understandably getting knocked back on their heels to say the least considering the early haymaker, it seemed as if ELCO started to settle into the fight somewhat on their ensuing offensive series. Case in point, a nice strike up top from ELCO senior quarterback, Steven Rosado, into the mitts of another senior, wideout Justin Smucker, as the pair of 12th-graders gave the white-clad Raiders their initial first down of the evening with the ball resting on their own 42-yard line for the 20-yard pass.
From there however, Twin Valley was lights out defensively.
What may have been most impressive, aside from the staunch resistance overall, was the fact that a handful of Twin Valley defenders were constantly flowing to the ball, hats upon hats, in true swarm-tackle fashion on what felt to be every ELCO offensive play. And with that being the impetus, it was no wonder that an ELCO punt wouldn’t be far behind here, this time setting Twin Valley up at their own 31-yard line following the exchange in possession.
But speaking of tough defensive work, ELCO wouldn’t be a slouch here when called upon.
Especially not when you consider the pair of tackles for loss tallied by way of Gavin Bicher and Luke Bailey respectively, the last of which came on a 3rd & 10 play, forcing Twin Valley to bring out their punt unit after the offense had been stalled.
And while it may not be all that often when you can argue that a punt can change the overall trajectory of an entire game, may we submit junior specialist, Ben Grundy’s bounding punt here, one which died at the ELCO 9-yard line, entirely flipping field position in TV’s favor? In fact, it was so lethal that it directly led to points, this of the safety variety, as an intentional grounding call whistled against ELCO in the endzone while trying to hold off the hard-charging Twin Valley defense on the very first play led to the deuce, making it a 9-0 Twin Valley advantage with 6:09 left in the first stanza.
By now, the floodgates had totally opened.
Sure enough, on the ensuing kickoff no less, Evan Johnson ripped off a 71-yard return to the house. That was of course until yellow laundry on the field brought the proceedings all the way back, setting Twin Valley up at their own 46-yard line instead.
No matter.
While largely ignited by a pair of Evan Myers quarterback keepers, both of the 22 and 15-yard variety respectively to move the ball down the field in dizzying fashion within the march, Johnson was rightfully awarded with the touchdown which just moments earlier had been taken away from him as his 4-yard touchdown gallop made it a 15-0 Raiders’ buffer following the PAT block with 2:57 still standing in the game’s first quarter.
But Johnson wasn’t finished tallying more points. Historic points to be exact.
After holding ELCO to a prompt three-and-out on their ensuing series, Johnson would have his fingerprints all over this next Twin Valley score as well. A drive that would take two plays and 23 seconds if you’re keeping track.
In this instance, not only did he scoot 45 yards to paydirt to help make it a 22-0 Twin Valley following the successful PAT venture this time around with just 58 ticks remaining in the opening quarter, but it was also a far more significant touchdown in that it signified Evan Johnson becoming the Twin Valley all-time leader in touchdowns scored as proclaimed over the public address system.
Regardless, strong opening statement and all, Twin Valley kept the pedal down during the second dozen minutes on Friday night just the same.
Here, on their first offensive drive of the second quarter, the perfect compliment of run-to-pass was on full display for TV. For the running portion, those services would be employed by way of sophomore running back/linebacker du jour, Lucas Myers, with a pair of scampers that pushed the pill over the midfield stripe and out to the ELCO 48-yard line following just two plays that accounted for 23 yards overall after employing a warp-speed offensive tempo. For the passing portion, brother Evan would pick that baton up quite nicely with a 29-yard touchdown strike to junior wide receiver, Patrick Shanahan, a play that would’ve counted in touch-football, as this most recent score upped the Twin Valley lead upwards to a 30-0 count as a two-point conversion run tacked on by Lucas Myers in the aftermath of ELCO being whistled for offsides on the PAT attempt with 7:53 before intermission would follow suit.
Unfortunately for ELCO, they just couldn’t seem to buy a break in the first two dozen minutes on Friday night in Elverson.
Remember that earlier interception that led to Twin Valley’s opening score? Well, it probably felt like a bad case of déjà vu here again as another batted pass on ELCO’s ensuing series ended up in another interception authored by the TV defense, this time with senior defensive back, Damarion Terry, having the honors, setting Twin Valley up with even more auspicious field position here too as if they even needed the extra assistance. And spoiler alert, but this drive would be more of the same in that it also ended in a Twin Valley addition up on the scoreboard as a 1-yard Lucas Myers TD dive over the pile on a 4th & Goal made it 37-0 with 3:26 remaining in the first half and the mercy-rule already set to be trigged once the second half would get underway.
Three minutes and change? That’s more than enough time to tack on one more just for good measure.
Again, spurred on by their nearly impregnable defense found throughout the first half, it seemed rather apropos that this next ELCO drive too would also end courtesy of the Twin Valley defensive troops. For the specifics of it all, a tandem sack authored by Ryan Rementer and Joey Buckley inside the backfield brought on the ELCO special teams following a 3rd & 9 play.
Yet for a first half which felt like Twin Valley touchdowns were being found around every corner, they quite possibly somehow saved their best for last.
One play, 50 yards. Those were the hard, finite numbers involved. Beyond that though, a fluttering dime of an over-the-shoulder pass through the night sky lobbed from the right arm of Evan Myers to Ben Grundy along the TV sideline –amid stellar defensive coverage from the ELCO defensive back on the scene no less– served as the whimsical storytelling portion of it all, as this 50-yard Myers to Grundy hookup of a touchdown made it a commanding 44-0 Twin Valley lead at the halftime recess once the last 91 seconds evaporated off the second quarter clock in short order.
By this point, even with an entire half yet to unfold, it was evident that the eventual outcome of this game was a foregone formality. And while that may have been true, this would be a second half contested on Friday night that would largely helped to determine the character and makeup of the young men residing in the ELCO’s dressing room. Yes, while you never want to award moral victories or anything of the sort, you’d have to be impressed with the way in which ELCO conducted themselves amidst such tough circumstances levied against them that came right from the jump. In fact, one could reasonably argue that the visitors largely “won” the second half on Friday evening.
Case in point, after holding Twin Valley on downs on their first offensive series of the second half, ELCO went right to work and began asserting themselves in short order.
Here, sparked by a tough, hard-nosed 9-yard run between the tackles on the opening play courtesy of senior ball carrier, Mitchell Frederick, the visiting Raiders were off and on the prowl. Then, never one to turn down unexpected gratuity in the form of a 15-yard facemask call dinged against Twin Valley, ELCO found themselves setting up the store at Twin Valley 35-yard line. From there, with Steven Rosado using his wheels not just to get out of danger, but also picking up a first down in the process on a key 3rd & 3 play in the process, a 20-yard Rosado keeper around the left side of the line on the very next play would then place the ball right on the 1-yard line. Fittingly, considering he had done the bulk of the heavy lifting on this drive, Rosado would get his just desserts and finish things off with a 1-yard quarterback sneak standing up as the ELCO score narrowed things down to a 44-7 difference following Landon Goodison’s PAT which is precisely where things remained heading into the final stanza once the final 1:25 ran off the third quarter clock.
But in terms of the second half scoring, rest assured that Twin Valley wanted to at the very least end things in a stalemate. Fortunately for them, their next offensive drive would do the trick.
With freshman quarterback, Maverik Foster, getting his turn at driving probably the only “car” he legally can at this point, the Twin Valley offense that is, the 9th-grader looked quite comfortable while behind the wheel and operating the controls once his number was called. Case in point, an 18-yard connection out in the flat to another Raiders’ pup, sophomore back Keenan Munn, which matriculated the ball across the midfield stripe and onto the ELCO 43-yard line. Then, subbing his arm for his legs, Foster would then proceed to rattle off a 32-yard jaunt along the ELCO sideline to put the attack on the precipice of another score with the ball now resting at the 7-yard line. From there, Chase Reilly would have the honors of writing the final punctuation mark of the evening as the sophomore running back’s 2-yard touchdown run, plus Josiah Horst’s PAT on the back end, ended a thoroughly impressive night at the office for the home team as Twin Valley surely sent their fans home happy following a resounding 51-7 victory over ELCO in a game that was never really in question whatsoever.
On the surface, while a 44-point win over a divisional foe certainly isn’t anything to sneeze at, there will be still warts to be exposed and things to shore up upon further review from this game tape against ELCO despite this nonetheless emphatic Twin Valley victory from start to finish. Hey, when you have your eyes on bigger and better things down the line, it’s not nick-picking, it’s just reality.
“Let’s be honest, everyone’s chasing the perfect game, right? You’re never going to get it, but you’re chasing it,” Twin Valley head coach Brett Myers said postgame Friday night. “By no means were we perfect tonight and there’s still stuff to improve on. So, in the end, it’s a good night. The perfect game for a coach, right? Tomorrow morning, we come in at 9am, we got something to work on.”
And maybe the best part of that work? Nearly everyone who suited up for Twin Valley not just on this night, but most every night so far this season, can look and see themselves playing on the actual game film rather than standing idly by on the sideline considering the way in which the Raiders’ dominating performances tallied thus far have led to droves of the entire roster getting invaluable reps under the lights in live action.
“Oh, 100-percent,” said Myers when asked of the hidden formula that comes from not just building up, but sustaining long-term success program-wise when it comes to reps upon reps. “We’re at like 57, 58 players (on the roster), and our goal is to play 35 guys in a tight game, scripted, no matter what. We’re always trying to develop there anyways and these past couple of weeks have been great when we can get 55 to 58 guys on the field every night. That gives them good stuff to learn and experience to get because let’s face it, it’s a lot faster (in varsity games) than it is in a Monday JV game or in practice.”
For the future, that certainly bodes well for Twin Valley football on the distant horizon. For the here and now though, this is a pretty stellar looking crew as is currently constructed. To their credit, buzz both near and far blowing in at them from all directions this year, these Raiders seem deaf to the outside chatter if you look at their first four games and how surgical they have been. A feature certainly not lost on a coach who he himself is used to this whole song and dance when it comes to leading teams with overwhelmingly high expectations.
“So, probably the nicest way to say this is that I tell (his players) that you guys are very unimportant at the moment,” Myers said after a pausing with the sly grin of a Chesire cat and quick-wit when describing those contributing to said noise and praise from anyone outside of his squad’s locker room doors when it came to the team itself perhaps getting caught up in reading their press clippings and falling victim to metaphorical injury by all the pats on the back they’ve been receiving to date. “We will decide at the end of the day, at the banquet, the last game, that’s when we’ll decide how good we are,” Myers remarked of the internal apparatus having the final verdict as judge and jury. “Right now, like I said, we’re just chasing something that’s different. It’s not the scoreboard. It’s not the record. It’s, ‘Can we get 11 guys on the field at one time to play a perfect play?’ Then do it again. And again. And again. And again for 100-percent of the plays.”
If nothing else, you’d be foolish to doubt and go against the man in charge of Twin Valley these days and his operation considering it wasn’t all that long ago –2016 thru 2018 to be exact — that Myers led another public school, Middletown, to an incredible triumvirate feat of reaching three-straight state championship game appearances. On the surface, while Twin Valley and Middletown may seem as if they are totally apples and oranges to one another in a variety of different ways despite both calling District 3 their home turf, he isn’t so sure. Granted, while we’re still a far cry away from formally anointing Twin Valley into such an esteemed club as those Blue Raiders’ squads, Myers can see some like comparisons perhaps bubbling to the surface.
“We got tough kids here,” Myers said proudly of this Twin Valley crew. “People don’t always acknowledge that, but we got tough kids here. We had tough kids (at Middletown) too. Both places like to play a physical style of football. And whether anyone believes it or not, with all the flash found in both places, both places have a certain type of lineman that’s a little ‘different.’”
Different, but in many ways oh so similar when it comes to nastiness and playing with an edge. In a sense, that’s a perfect way to describe what’s going on in Elverson these days. While all the pieces appear to be there in the boxed set, only time will tell as to how this whole puzzle eventually gets put together and what it ends up looking like to see if it actually is a masterpiece. And if you too would like to check on their progress the rest of the way, it’s not a hard spot to find. Just set your GPS to Exit 298 on the turnpike as mentioned. It certainly has all the earmarks of being worthy of stopping off and paying the toll if you’re looking for something worthwhile to see.
NEXT UP: For Twin Valley, these next few weeks in particular appear to be those types of challenges Myers was referring to in terms of the Raiders maximizing and becoming the best versions of themselves heading into a key stretch of games not that far off the in the distance. From here, Twin Valley has the somewhat unenviable task of traveling to the furthest most south and furthest most north outposts in the “traditional” Lancaster-Lebanon League, traditional meaning every school sport absent of the one-off football arrangement with the Berks County schools, with back-to-back road trips to Octorara and Northern Lebanon respectively the next two weeks against a pair of teams with a combined 4-3 overall record at the time of this writing. From there though, the schedule ramps up ten-fold, particularly in Weeks 8 & 9 most of all, as those ballyhooed matchups against Wyomissing and L-S in successive fashion await, perhaps the first in a batch of meetings between those three in the ensuing weeks should fate happen to intervene and conjure up those same matchups in the district playoffs as well.
For the ELCO contingent, final scoreboard verdict aside in this one, the Raiders had their moments. Enough of tangible moments to try and string something together here for the stretch run of the season in fact. First up in that assignment list is a date with the oft-discussed crew from Wyomissing next Friday night back home in Myerstown before matchups with Daniel Boone and Octorara await beyond that. A game contested those two ironically enough that transpired Friday night with Octorara traveling to Boone and walking out of Birdsboro with the spoils of a tight 10-8 victory. And while only time will tell as to how their 2024 season eventually unfolds and gets written, ELCO fans can be rest assured this program is built on nothing if not solid footing regardless. While tough seasons for programs built on sand can cause an utter collapse, ELCO needn’t worry about falling victim to that. You can bet that the Raiders aren’t going to suddenly disappear into the void of the background without so much a whimper. Sorry, L-L Section Four foes.
