For Ephrata’s Andre Weidman, the goal line has become the district playoffs

By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

Given the preseason buzz surrounding Ephrata’s Andre Weidman it’s hard to believe the Mounts went five straight seasons without a win not that long ago.

Weidman, a bruising 6-1, 215-pound running back, became a dominant offensive force last year, scoring 18 touchdowns and leading the Lancaster-Lebanon League with 1,430 rushing yards. He scored three TDs in a season-opening win over Muhlenberg and went for five scores in a 48-32 win over Lebanon.

As a hybrid linebacker/defensive back he had 75 tackles to help the Mounts go 5-5 and finish .500 or above for the fourth season in a row.

“We went through a rough spell,” Weidman said, looking back at five consecutive winless seasons. “It’s hard to come back from that. We’ve had like five wins every season (since), but we want to get past that. We want more than .500.”

Weidman and the Mounts hope to continue their upward swing as they begin play in Section 3 of the newly expanded 37-team Lancaster-Lebanon League.

They’ll compete with Daniel Boone, Fleetwood and Twin Valley for the top spot in the seven-team section.

Weidman needs 683 yards to break the program rushing record and 13 touchdowns to break the career mark for TDs. (Eric Frees set the records from 1985-87, going for 2,562 yards and 33 TDs.)

“I’m going to try and get 1,800 (rushing yards), 20-plus touchdowns,” the senior said of personal goals. “But for me, the biggest goal is to win the section and get into districts. It’s been since 1987 that we made districts.”

Weidman was in eighth grade when he witnessed Ephrata break a 52-game losing streak on the way to five wins in 2018. The next year Weidman started as a freshman and led the team in tackles as the Mounts went 6-4, barely missing out on districts.

Ephrata head coach Kris Miller said it was a tough decision to bring Weidman up to varsity.

“I didn’t want to bring him up if he wasn’t going to be a starter,” Miller said. “I didn’t want to waste his freshman year sitting on the bench.”

An injury to a prospective running back/linebacker during the summer forced Miller’s hand. After a talk with Andre’s parents, including his father David, a coach in the Ephrata program, the frosh was deemed ready.

“He’s a special kid,” Miller said. “We super-froshed him and brought him up as a freshman. He was a full-time defensive starter and Defensive Player of the Year for our team. It was a breakout year. From the time he stepped on the football field we couldn’t take him off.”

Weidman didn’t want to come off. He didn’t play much offense right away but led the team in tackles and was named as a Section 3 all-league first-team pick at outside linebacker. He earned all-league honors at defensive back as a sophomore, helping the Mounts go 4-3.

“I really don’t know,” Weidman said of his preference for offense or defense. “I like scoring touchdowns but I also like tackling somebody. I like making that tackle. Like a tackle for loss on the first play of the game to set the tone.”

Much as Weidman likes to be on the field Miller knows he needs to give the two-way star an occasional rest.

“Trying to find ways to get him breaks is the hard part because he just wants to go, go, go, go,” Miller said. “We need him healthy and fresh in the fourth quarter.”

Weidman is garnering college interest and attended eight camps this summer to improve his game and get exposure. He also trains with former Conestoga Valley and Syracuse wide receiver Darryl Daniel, who runs a sports and fitness academy in Manheim.

“I’d love to go D1, but if I go D2 and a school wants me for me I’ll be completely fine with that,” Weidman said.

A lot of Ephrata’s recent success can be attributed to Weidman but an overall team approach instilled by Miller and increased community support has given the program a chance to sustain success.

“Before I even got there, the community and alumni put a lot of focus on our youth football program,” Miller said. “We’ve been developing that and getting the kids new equipment and getting good coaches in there and getting a curriculum that allows the kids to be successful.”

“We’ve all played football together for a while and Coach Miller did a great job of telling us that we can win,” Weidman said of the culture change. “If we put our mind to winning, we’re going to. If we want to play good, we have to do the little things in practice. (Coach Miller) said when he started there were like four kids in the weight room. Now we have 40.”

Rising junior and kick returner/receiver/corner maestro Jeremiah Knowles is one of those kids; he was named Section 3 Receiver of the Year as a sophomore and returns to give the Mounts even more do-it-all firepower.

Knowles, a team captain along with Weidman and senior lineman Weston Nolt, scored nine touchdowns last season (one punt return, two kickoff returns and six receiving), had 84 tackles, and three interceptions.

He’ll be catching passes from junior quarterback Sam McCracken, who was thrown into the fire after a season-ending injury to Hunter Mortimer last season.

“McCracken has been working out with the same guy that Hunter worked out with and he’s definitely improved,” Knowles said. “We’re both in the same grade and had quite a few classes together last year. I think that’s (helped) our chemistry.”

Ephrata has its sights set on getting back to the District 3 playoffs for the first time since a 21-12 loss to Bishop McDevitt in the 1987 semifinals. The Mounts were No. 18 in the Class 5A power rankings last season; the top 14 qualified.

To reach the postseason they’ll have to perform well in a wide-open Section 3 race that includes Elizabethtown, Garden Spot and Solanco, as well as the three Berks schools.

“I think it’s sick,” Weidman said of the competition. “There are teams like Fleetwood that I’ve never played before. I never played Daniel Boone until last year (a 33-14 loss). It’s cool that we’re going to be playing them our senior year and then continue playing them every year. I think Section 3 is wide open for us. We can be one of those teams that can take it.”

Lancaster-Lebanon League

Section 1	Section 2	Section 3	Section 4	Section 5
Cedar Crest	Conestoga Valley	Daniel Boone	Berks Catholic	Annville-Cleona
Hempfield	Exeter	Elizabethtown	Cocalico	Columbia
Manheim Twp.	Gov. Mifflin	Ephrata	Conrad Weiser	Hamburg
McCaskey	Lebanon	Fleetwood	Donegal	Kutztown
Penn Manor	Manheim Central	Garden Spot	Elco	Lancaster Catholic
Reading High	Muhlenberg	Solanco	Lampeter-Strasburg	Northern Lebanon
Wilson	Warwick	Twin Valley	Octorara	Pequea Valley
			Wyomissing	Schuylkill Valley