District 3 playoff preview: Twin Valley vs. Lampeter-Strasburg
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No. 5 Twin Valley (9-2) vs. No. 1 Lampeter-Strasburg (11-0)
What: District 3 Class 4A semifinal.
Kick: Friday, 7, at Pioneer Field, Lampeter.
Series: Pioneers lead 1-0.
Last meeting: Caileb Howse ran for seven touchdowns and a passed for another as Lampeter-Strasburg blitzed Twin Valley 62-14 in Week 8 this season. The Pioneers scored four TDs in the first quarter and led 56-14 by halftime. Howse rushed for 323 yards. The Raiders were playing without their top two RBs, Evan Johnson, who became ill the day of the game, and Drew Engle, who suffered a broken collarbone in Week 1.
Key stat: Lampeter-Strasburg is allowing 8.0 points per game, lowest in District 3 and among all Class 4A teams across the state. Twin Valley is averaging 42.6 points per game, highest among all Class 4A teams in the state. Pioneers held Raiders to season-low 14 points in first meeting.
(PhilMarPhoto)
Raiders update: Got huge boost last week with return of all-league RB Drew Engle, who rushed for 122 yards and scored 3 TDs in 47-19 quarterfinal win at Susquehanna Township. . . Engle, who set program single-season rushing record last year, was out with a broken collarbone; he had not played since Week 1. . . Also got a big performance from second-team all-league RB Evan Johnson, who rushed for 135 yards and two TDs after missing the previous two games due to illness. . . Johnson owns program record for career touchdowns (49) and is within 400 yards of program career rushing record of 3,684 yards. . . QB Evan Myers has rushed for 901 yards and 13 TDs and has gone over 2,100 yards with 39 TDs in his career. . . The four-year starter has thrown for 5,676 yards, second-most in Berks history, and holds nearly every program passing record. . . Have reached district semifinal for third straight year. . . Have never won back-to-back games in districts. . . Were ranked No. 1 in the state for three weeks at midseason before consecutive losses to Wyomissing and Lampeter.
Did you know? Lampeter-Strasburg has won nine or more games in each of the last six seasons, with District 3 championships in 2019 and 2020. Victor Ridenour is 40-8 in four seasons as head coach.
Pioneers update: Have reached district semifinal for sixth straight year. . . Beat top Section 4 rivals Twin Valley and Wyomissing in consecutive weeks to earn first Lancaster-Lebanon League section title since 2021, when they won the Section 4 title. . . Have successfully reloaded after graduating 16 starters, including 10 all-league picks. . . Only returning all-league player is PK Peter Fiorelli, who has 20 touchbacks, is 5-of-6 on FGs and 56-of-57 on PATs. . . Caileb Howse dominated on defense in 42-7 romp over eighth-seeded Elco in opening round of districts with three touchdown returns, taking a fumble back 66 yards and INTs back 75 and 45 yards. . . Howse, a first-year starter at QB, has passed for 1,312 yards with 12 TDs and zero INTs and rushed for 1,183 yards and 19 TDs. He’s averaging 11.1 yards per carry. . . Dominic Brown has rushed for 1,096 yards and 20 TDs. . . Ranked No. 3 in rushing and No. 2 in total offense in the Lancaster-Lebanon League during the regular season. . . Averaging 41.8 points, third-highest in District 3. . . LB Emory Fluhr leads defense that has allowed 5 TDs over last 6 games. . . He has team-leading 106 tackles. . . Defense has intercepted 11 passes, 5 by Howse. . . Only close game came in Week 10 at Wyomissing, a 20-7 victory. . . Have 24-15 record in district play, with three championships: 2007, 2019, and 2020. . . Ranked No. 3 in the state by PennLive.com.
Fast fact: Lampeter-Strasburg has turned the ball over just four times this season and has a plus-19 turnover differential. Two of those turnovers came against Twin Valley. The Raiders have turned the ball over 16 times and are plus-3.
Quotable: “If you watch the film from that (first) game we didn’t block very well and we definitely didn’t tackle very well. We’ve gotta figure out a way to do that better and match their effort.” – Twin Valley coach Brett Myers.
