Mounts pull out all the stops, beat Mustangs
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Brian Rippey — LNP/Lancasteronline
EPHRATA — Pulling out all the stops from start to finish, Ephrata made a valiant attempt to extend its football season by defeating visiting Gov. Mifflin 35-21 Friday night in a Lancaster-Lebanon Section 2 game.
| Section 2 | ||
| Conestoga | 6-0 | 10-0 |
| Exeter | 5-1 | 9-1 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 3-3 | 5-5 |
| Ephrata | 4-2 | 6-4 |
| Elizabethtown | 2-4 | 2-8 |
| Muhlenberg | 1-5 | 3-7 |
| Lebanon | 0-6 | 0-10 |
Needing a victory and some help to qualify for the District 3 Class 5A playoffs — for which the field is expected to be announced Sunday — the Mountaineers resorted to trickery on their first offensive play, then went for a fourth-and-1 from their own 29 in the final minutes with the outcome hanging in the balance.
Caleb Grant threw for four touchdowns, three to Brayden Brown, and ran for the other to help Ephrata (4-2, 6-4) win its third straight.
Ephrata opened the game with a 40-yard pass from wide receiver Nate Conover to Zach Coble. That set up a 14-yard TD pass from Grant to Brown that gave Ephrata a 6-0 lead.
The Mountaineers built their lead to 27-7 in the third quarter before Mifflin (3-3, 5-5), which is expected to make the Class 6A field, mounted a comeback. TD runs by Javien Pletz and Grady Garner trimmed Ephrata’s lead to 27-21 with 6:35 to play.
Ephrata faced a fourth-and-1 from its 29 with over four minutes left and decided to go for it. Grant picked up 4 yards and the first down, then later iced the victory with just under two minutes left with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Brown.
Grant also had a 63-yard TD pass to Conover in the first quarter.
Ephrata’s Nick Keller intercepted a pass at the goal line to stop a Gov. Mifflin drive in the final minute of the first half after the Mustangs had earned a first-and-goal at the 9. Keller also intercepted a pass with just over one minute left to seal the win
Grant completed 10-of-16 passes for 215 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 68 yards and another score. Brown had touchdown catches of 14, 36 and 26 yards and rushed for 69 yards.
“We had to use all our tricks and do everything we had to do to win this game” said Ephrata coach Kris Miller. “We couldn’t leave anything to chance.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Gov. Mifflin | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Ephrata | 13 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Ephrata | Brown, 14 pass from Grant (pass failed) |
| 1 | Ephrata | Conover, 63 pass from Grant (Honberger kick) |
| 2 | Gov. Mifflin | Leaf, 14 run (Koenig kick) |
| 2 | Ephrata | Brown, 36 pass from Grant (Honberger kick) |
| 3 | Ephrata | Grant, 1 run (Honberger kick) |
| 3 | Gov. Mifflin | Pletz, 15 run (Koenig kick) |
| 4 | Gov. Mifflin | Garner, 6 run (Koenig kick) |
| 4 | Ephrata | Brown, 26 pass from Grant (Pugh, pass from Grant) |
Team statistics
| Gov. Mifflin | Ephrata | |
| First downs | 17 | 15 |
| Rushes-yards | 41-178 | 32-138 |
| Passing yards | 182 | 255 |
| Total yards | 360 | 393 |
| Passes | 13-23 | 11-17 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 2-25.5 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-50 | 2-20 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Gov. Mifflin: Pletz 14-54, Garner 12-49, Leaf 10-48, Hohl 3-19, Jenkins 1-4, Kalis 1-3, Steuer 1-0.
Ephrata: Brown 11-68, Grant 19-68, Prange 1-4, Conover 1-2.
PASSING
Gov. Mifflin: Pletz 13-22-2–187.
Ephrata: Grant 10-16-0–214, Conover 1-1-0–40.
RECEIVING
Gov. Mifflin: Hohl 5-76, Leaf 4-74, Garner 2-10, DiNatale 1-16, Johnson 1-10.
Ephrata: Brown 3-76, Conover 3-71, Pugh 2-56, Keller 2-51, Bryant 1-0.
