Upstart Cocalico stuns Exeter to claim District 3 Class 5A championship
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
Cocalico made District 3 football playoff history Friday, stunning second-seeded Exeter 34-14 in the District 3 Class 5A championship game at Don Thomas Stadium.
No. 12 seed Cocalico (10-4) became the highest seed ever to win a football championship in District 3.
Exeter (12-1), which last week set the program record for wins, was looking for a second straight district title after knocking off No. 1 seed and unbeaten Gov. Mifflin 31-28 at Mifflin Stadium last year.
Cocalico made a statement with a 16-play, 8 1/2-minute opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. No one’s done that against the Exeter defense this season; no one had reached the end zone in the first quarter before that.
Exeter pulled within 20-14 late in the third quarter but Cocalico answered with a touchdown, set up by a 45-yard pass from Josh Myer.
Cocalico rarely throws the ball but stung Exeter twice with huge passes, the biggest coming in the final seconds of the first half when Meyer found Aaryn Longenecker for a 42-yard score that made it 20-7.
Lucas Palange pulled Braden Eppinette down for a 3-yard loss on Cocalico’s first play, and it faced third-and 12 — a tough proposition for a Flex Bone offense. Cocalico made an early defining play when Longenecker broke around the left edge for a 12-game gain.That was the first of five third-down conversions on the opening drive, leading te Sam Steffey’s 2-yard TD run for a 7-0 lead.
After Exeter went three-and-out, Cocalico pulled off another stunner: A 46-yard run by Eppinette to make it 13-0 in the final minute of the second quarter.
Exeter took advantage of a short field to get on the board in the first half, taking over at the Cocalico 36 after a 13-yard punt. Richie Karstien got the call on all seven plays of the drive, the last a 1-yard run on fourth down to make it 13-7.
Exeter took over at midfield in the final minute of the first half, looking to take a lead into the locker room. Instead it fell further behind when Mason Rotelli was intercepted on the first play.
It was the first of three turnovers by Exeter.
With the ball at the Exeter 42 and 31 seconds left in the half Cocalico pulled off another stunner, Myer’s first pass of the game finding Longenecker streaking down the right sideline uncovered. He pulled the pass in for a TD and 20-7 lead 21 seconds before halftime.
Cocalico advances to face the winner plays District 7 champ Pine-Richland next week in a state semifinal, time and site to be determined. The PIAA championship game is Friday, Dec. 9 at Cumberland Valley at 7.
Exeter lost to Penn Trafford 49-14 last year in its only state playoff game.
Exeter had not allowed a first-quarter touchdown in 12 games this season, and had allowed just three in the first half, outscoring ts opponents 341-27 in the first half. Exeter had trailed in only one game, 17-7 in the second quartrer at Manheim Central. It shut the Barons out in the second half and won 21-17.
Exeter had the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s top-ranked rush defense, allowing 76.4 yards per game. It allowed 79 rushing yards on 23 attempts in last week’s 21-7 win over Northern. It has help five straight opponents under 100 rushing yards; none have rushed for more than 171 yards. It has allowed just eight rushing touchdowns.
Cocalico was the league’s No. 3 rushing team, averaging 309.4 yards per game, topped only by Wyomissing (326.3) and Annville-Cleona (330.6).
Cocalico opened districts with a stunning 44-2 win at Elizabethtown, sacking Josh Rudy nine times and shutting down the league’s premier passing attack. Next it knocked off No. 5 Gettysburg, 23-13. Last week it turned the tables on unbeaten Solanco, which it lost to 21-7 in Week 2. Cocalico, again playing air-tight defense and running its Triple-Option to perfection, built a 25-0 lead in route to a 32-8 win.
Playing all of its postseason games on the road, and as the No. 12 seed, hasn’t deterred Cocalico.
“We felt if we could get in (the playoffs) we could be dangerous,” said Cocalico coach Bryan Strohl. “(Once) you’re in, seeds don’t matter, anything can happen. Our kids believed that if we got in there wasn’t anybody we weren’t capable of beating.”
Cocalico has been a completely different team in the second half of the season. It entered Friday’s game with a six-game winning streak and trying to become the first No. 12 seed to win a District 3 title in any classification.
No team higher than a No. 8 has ever won a championship, and only two No. 8’s — in 170 tournaments, among all classifications — have won.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Cocalico | 13 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 34 |
| Exeter | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Cocalico | Steffey, 2 run (Roos kick) | 3:28 |
| 1 | Cocalico | Eppinette, 46 run (run failed) | 1:05 |
| 2 | Exeter | Karstien, 1 run (Skipper kick) | 5:35 |
| 2 | Cocalico | Longenecker, 42 pass from Myer (Roos kick) | 0:21 |
| 3 | Exeter | Karstien, 1 run (Skipper kick) | 2:04 |
| 4 | Cocalico | Myer, 13 run (Popolis kick) | 11:06 |
| 4 | Cocalico | Myers, 5 run (kick failed) | 3:47 |
Team statistics
| Cocalico | Exeter | |
| First downs | 11 | 12 |
| Rushes-yards | 43-189 | 38-95 |
| Passing yards | 87 | 96 |
| Total yards | 276 | 191 |
| Passes | 2-3-0 | 7-20-3 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 5-26.8 | 3-49.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 2-20 | 6-37 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Cocalico: Myer 16-70, Eppinette 5-52, Steffey 17-49, Longenecker 5-18.
Exeter: Karstien 22-89, Schlaffer 6-17, Rotelli 9-(-10).
PASSING
Cocalico: Myer 2-2-0–87, Longenecker 0-1-0–0.
Exeter: Rotelli 5-17-2–36, Schlaffer 2-3-1–60.
RECEIVING
Cocalico: Longenecker 2-87.
Exeter: Zandier 3-73, Karstien 2-13, Redding 2-10.
INTERCEPTIONS
Cocalico: Getz, Longenecker, Drain.