MANDATA – Cody Cooper’s four-yard touchdown run and a Tyler Koppenhaver to Zach Markel 6-yard touchdown pass in the second half gave Upper Dauphin (7-0) a 21-7 win over Line Mountain in a Twin Valley Conference game at Eagle Stadium.
In a game that featured 13 fumbles on a muddy night, the Trojans had to abandon their high-flying offense and were forced to grind it out on the ground.
Upper Dauphin head coach Carmen DeFrancesco said, “It was horrible. We fumbled in the first half. They fumbled in the second half.”
Tyler Grosser started the scoring when he scored on a one-yard run in the opening quarter. The Trojans led 7-0. The Trojans defense would force five Line Mountain turnovers by the end of the night.
Line Mountain’s only score came late in the first quarter when Joey Hukill scored on a two-yard run to tie the game up at 7.
The Trojans defense came up big in the first half, Eagles quarterback Marty Beninsky was stopped at the Trojans one-yard line as the clock ran out.
The Trojans broke a 7-7 half time tie with a 13-play, 67-yard drive on its first possession of the second half. On third and goal from the four, Cooper went in for the score. The PAT was blocked. The Trojans went up 13-6 with 2:51 left in the third quarter.
The last score was setup on a fumble by the Eagles. The Trojans recovered at the Line Mountain 22-yard line.
Koppenhaver hooked up with tight end Zach Markel for a 13-yard gain, than he hit him again for the final score on a five-yard touchdown pass with 7:23 remaining.
On their next possession Line Mountain drove to the Upper Dauphin 44 yard line, but on third-and-eight Beninsky’s pass slipped out of his hand and was picked off by Cooper with 4:12 remaining.
The Trojans went on to run out the clock and go on to the 21-7 win over Line Mountain.
Upper Dauphin finished the game with 248 total yards and 14 first downs. Next week they play Millersburg. Line Mountain travels to Halifax.
Tyler Grosser rushed for 123 yards on 26 carries,
Line Mountain (5-2) running back Chris Moore rushed for 104 yards on 22 carries. This was the second consecutive loss for Line Mountain.
