Eagles have no doubt they should be on top after Section 2 showdown
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
After a long, frustrating night of pushing that rock up the hill, Genuine Stutzman and his Exeter teammates finally had a chance to celebrate.
With just seconds to go in their Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 showdown against Conestoga Valley the Eagles saw Jayden Zandier crash into the end zone with a two-point conversion they thought gave them a one-point lead.
| Section 2 | ||
| Conestoga | 5-0 | 9-0 |
| Exeter | 4-1 | 8-1 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 3-2 | 5-4 |
| Ephrata | 3-2 | 5-4 |
| Elizabethtown | 2-2 | 2-7 |
| Muhlenberg | 1-4 | 3-5 |
| Lebanon | 0-6 | 0-9 |
“No doubt,” Stutzman said.
The officials didn’t see it that way. They ruled that the Eagles’ All-State tailback did not cross the goal line and that Conestoga Valley’s 28-27 lead would stand.
Stutzman and the Eagles (4-1, 8-1) were in disbelief when, after a long discussion by the officiating crew, it was the Buckskins (5-0, 9-0) who ran off the field celebrating what will likely be a Section 2 championship.
All the Bucks need to do is beat Muhlenberg (3-5) next week to make it, uh . . . official.
No matter what the standings indicate, no one in the Eagles locker room believes they shouldn’t be on top of the standings after fighting back and completing a clutch last-minute scoring drive.
“Everyone stepped up and everyone pulled together and that’s the mark of a good team,” said Exeter coach Matt Bauer said. “I just hate when things like that are taken away from the kids.”
The Eagles were behind the eight ball all night.
They came into the game with the league’s leading passer, Riley Martinez, sidelined with a lower leg injury.
They quickly fell behind 14-0 and trailed 21-7 midway through the second quarter.
Early in the second half they lost all-league lineman and Navy recruit Logan Wegman to an injury.
They couldn’t stop the pinpoint passing of Sawyer Esbenshade in the early going, as he threw for three touchdowns and 192 first-half yards.
They seemed out of it so many times but managed to stay close with a pair of critical defensive stops in the second half.
The first came midway through the third quarter, on an 11-play drive, when Stutzman swooped in on fourth-and-2 at the Exeter 12 and dragged Jayden Johnson down for a 3-yard loss.
The Bucks again had a chance to make it a two-score game early in the fourth quarter with a 12-play drive that spilled deep into the red zone. Bair Cordell took a fourth-down pass 14 yards to the Exeter 5 but missed a first down by an inch or two.
“What these kids did tonight was gosh darn impressive,” Bauer said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the way they responded and all the adversity they faced. I don’t think they could have responded better. Everyone stepped up and everyone pulled together and that’s the mark of a good team.”
The Eagles, down a touchdown, took over at their own 18 with 1:23 left. The drive got a jump-start when Jake Hafer connected with Carter Redding for 29 yards on third-and-10 and the Bucks were hit with a 15-yard targeting penalty on the play.
Hafer converted on fourth down, with Stutzman turning a short pass into a 19-yard gain to the Conestoga Valley 15.
When Hafer found Jayden Ware with a 15-yard touchdown with 7.8 seconds left Bauer had no doubt about going for two and the win. After a penalty moved the ball to the 1 Zandier, who rushed for 172 yards Friday, slammed the ball up the middle.
“(A key play like that) we’re gonna put the ball in Jayden’s hands,” Bauer said. “We need a yard, we’re gonna get a yard. And we got a yard. Clear as day. He’s over the line; he’s way deep in the zone.”
Conestoga Valley coach Jon Scepanski and his guys saw it differently, of course.
“I’m biased, but I’m gonna say we stopped ’em,” he said. “From where I was (on the sidelines), I never saw him cross. That was a tough play. We dug in deep. I’m proud of everybody’s effort.”
Video replays indicated Zandier crossed the goal line.
Stutzman didn’t need to a see a replay to know.
“I saw the ball go across the goal line,” he said. “No doubt.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Conestoga Valley | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Exeter | 0 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 27 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Conestoga Valley | Garcia, 23 pass from Esbenshade (Colson kick) | 9:04 |
| 1 | Conestoga Valley | Esbenshade, 2 run (Colson kick) | 3:02 |
| 2 | Exeter | Zandier, 1 run (Franek kick) | 9:34 |
| 2 | Conestoga Valley | Cordell, 28 pass from Esbenshade (Colson kick) | 5:47 |
| 2 | Exeter | Zandier, 6 run (Franek kick) | 4:21 |
| 2 | Exeter | Ware, 21 pass from Hafer (Franek kick) | 1:40 |
| 2 | Conestoga Valley | Johnson, 29 pass from Esbenshade (Colson kick) | 0:34 |
| 4 | Exeter | Ware, 15 pass from Hafer (run failed) | 7.8 |
Team statistics
| Conestoga Valley | Exeter | |
| First downs | 23 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 30-156 | 32-185 |
| Passing yards | 277 | 177 |
| Total yards | 433 | 362 |
| Passes | 18-31-0 | 12-30-2 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 4-30.5 | 3-26.7 |
| Penalties-yards | 13-106 | 15-81 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Conestoga Valley: Johnson 14-72, Esbenshade 9-47, Ruble 7-37.
Exeter: Zandier 27-172, Prizer 1-8, Brown 4-5.
PASSING
Conestoga Valley: Esbenshade 18-31-0–277.
Exeter: Hafer 10-19-0–161, Zandier 2-11-2–16.
RECEIVING
Conestoga Valley: Garcia 6-71, Johnson 4-63, Cordell 3-66, Salisbury 3-56, Fisher 1-14.
Exeter: Redding 4-46, Ware 3-46, Stutzman 3-45, Zandier 1-32, Prizer 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS
Conestoga Valley: Frankford, Sensenig.
