Ephrata goes up top for a change, tops Lebanon

(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)

By Mike Gross — LNP/Lancasteronline

It was late in the second quarter of Friday’s Ephrata-Lebanon game and the scoreboard kept insisting it was (insert down here)-and-35, from the Lebanon 29-yard line.

An incomplete pass here, a no-gain run there, a couple plays nullified by penalties against both teams and eventually it was fourth-and-35 from the 29. Impossible, and yet, on this night, somehow plausible.

Also in keeping with the tone of this night’s proceedings, the Mounts converted, quarterback Josh McCracken hitting Josh Musser over the middle for an easy, 29-yard score on what was actually fourth and 28.

Ephrata got it done a bit differently on this very different night, but rolled past the Cedars 42-20 in a non-league game at Lebanon’s Alumni Stadium.

The Mounts (2-1) normally rely heavily on power running back Andre Weidman, who rumbled for 1,430 yards last year and 287 through this season’s first two weeks. He had 2 yards in 10 carries Friday.

McCracken, however, threw for four touchdowns, each on plays of 29 yards or more, three of them on third- or fourth-and-long. The junior QB finished 13 of 25 passing for 249 yards – that’s 10 yards per attempt – those four TDs and one interception.

Weidman’s understudy, Brayden Brown, handled the ground work in the second half and exploded for 126 yards, including a 78-yard TD, in 14 tries.

The turning point probably came early, Lebanon defending the run superbly and the team trading punts.

Ephrata dialed up a play on which the Mounts believably sold a swing pass to one side of the field, and then McCracken turned and dumped a pass the other way to Weidman, who rumbled an easy 38 yards for the game’s first score.

Ephrata executed the same play just as well, to Weidman, for a 32-yard TD in the third quarter.

Ephrata wide receiver/defensive back Jeremiah Knowles was in the middle of everything on both sides of the ball, with seven offensive touches for 77 yards (plus a 60-yard TD catch called back for a penalty) and a key interception.

For Lebanon (0-3), this game was oddly familiar to its 46-14 loss to Garden Spot in Week 2 – the Cedars stopped the run and made some big plays, but made even more big mistakes.

They had eight turnovers against the Spartans, and 10 penalties for 94 yards Friday.