Conestoga Valley nets third straight season-opening shutout of Penn Manor
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Joel Schreiner — LNP/Lancasteronline
MILLERSVILLE — The Conestoga Valley football team is liking this pattern.
| Final | |
| Conestoga Valley | 28 |
| Penn Manor | 0 |
For the third straight season opener against Penn Manor, the Buckskins defense pitched a shutout.
The latest, Friday night in Millersville, was a 28-0 blanking as the Bucks held the Comets offense to just 118 total yards and seven first downs (two via penalty).
“I thought it was a good all-around win in all phases of the game,” Conestoga Valley coach Jon Scepanski said afterward. “The defense really played great and with Sawyer’s decision-making, the offense executed well.”
Sawyer is Buckskin senior quarterback Sawyer Esbenshade who picked up this night right where he left off last year in his stellar junior season.
Esbenshade threw for three touchdowns and completed 15 of 18 passes, including his last nine, against the Comets. A season ago, he threw for nearly 2,100 yards and 25 touchdowns.
“It was great to get back out on the field,” said Esbenshade who threw for 244 yards and rushed for 45 more. “We have a lot of new players, so it’s great to be back.”
Esbenshade & Co. got all the points needed when they marched down the field for a 93-yard, eight-play scoring drive that was capped by two-yard TD run by Gabe Justiniano. On the drive, Esbenshade completed two passes for 62 yards, including a 47-yard bomb to Josiah Garcia.
Midway through the second quarter, Esbenshade hooked up with Jayden Conaway for.a 46-yard TD that pushed the CV lead to 14-0.
On the third play of the ensuing drive, Penn Manor quarterback Collin Robinson was injured on a 4-yard run and did not return to the game.
“Whenever you lose your quarterback, you lose your leader and lose the guy you’ve been working with the entire offseason, so that can be challenging,” said Jordan Clark, who was making his debut as the Comets’ head coach. “We saw glimpses of some things we wanted to do offensively and some positive things defensively. We were in position to make a lot of plays, but we just didn’t execute those plays.”
After Robinson left the game, the Comet offense mustered only 49 yards and two first downs.
The CV offense, meanwhile, produced a touchdown in each quarter. Esbenshade opened the third quarter by engineering an 11-play, 74-yard scoring drive that ended with an 11-yard scoring pass to Konner Fisher.
Early in the fourth, Esbenshade connected with Cordell Bair for a 13-yard touchdown that capped the night’s scoring. Bair was Esbenshade’s favorite target, hauling in five passes for 57 yards, including a pair of third-down conversions during the last CV scoring drive.
“We’ve been playing football, basketball and baseball together since like third grade, so we connect well,” Esbenshade said of Bair. “He’s a great athlete and player. Whenever I need someone, I know he’s got me.”
The Buckskins racked up 413 total yards on offense and they have outscored Penn Manor 90-0 in the last three meetings.
