Eagles’ ‘killer speed’ overwhelms Blazers, leads to another Pig Iron blowout
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Mitchell Jr. — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
There is an old saying that “speed kills.”
That was on full display Friday night at Don Thomas Stadium in Reiffton where Exeter utilized its team speed for several big plays to rout rival Daniel Boone 42-7 in the 58th Pig Iron Bowl.
“We definitely have many versatile, speed type players in our offense,” said Eagles sophomore quarterback Riley Martinez.
Exeter’s big-play speed seemed to come from just about everyone on its roster. Junior Jayden Zandier blew by the secondary for a 31-yard touchdown catch and amassed 119 yards on two kickoff returns.
Junior Carter Redding took a forward pitch pass from Martinez, and raced 40 yards for a touchdown. He also threw a two-point conversion pass and ran in a two-point conversion.
The running backs were equally explosive: Junior Pharrell Caceres rushed 10 times for 118 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown run. Junior Zaymar Paschall carried six times for 89 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown run.
Martinez did not start at quarterback but he did come in for the second possession and played until the second team came in for the last drive. Martinez completed 6-of-9 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball four times for 18 yards and a touchdown.
“I was very pleased with Riley’s performance,” said Exeter coach Matt Bauer. “We gave him a series to watch and relax. We simplified the game plan for him. Overall, he did a really good job tonight.”
Coastal Carolina commit Zach Zandier was one of the few explosive offensive players to not get into the end zone. However, he had a huge impact on the game outside of his three catches for 44 yards.
“They were double-teaming Zach,” Bauer said. “Therefore, we were able to run away from him for some big plays. They adjusted and began slanting opposite of Zach, so we came back with some counter running plays which resulted in big plays as well.”
Redding was quick to credit the downfield blocking by the Eagles receivers.
“We work extremely hard on downfield blocking from our receivers,” he said. “You could see it on our long runs tonight, everyone was blocking to the whistle, which helped turn 10-yard plays into 40-yard plays.”
Exeter’s speed showed up on the defensive end, as well. It held Daniel Boone to 201 yards of total offense. The secondary closed hard and fast on many passes that initially appeared open and nearly had two Pick-Sixes.
Linebacker Joel Ummarino had two huge plays for the Eagles. With the game scoreless late in the first quarter, the Blazers had a fourth-and-5 from the Exeter 31. Ummarino shot the gap and made a huge tackle to stop the Blazers on fourth down. In the third quarter, he picked off a pass to set up a touchdown drive for the Eagles.
For the Blazers, quarterback Dean Rotter completed 10-of-20 passes for 112 yards and a touchdown. He also ran tough, rushing 10 times for 50 yards. Ethan Kryman caught five passes for 40 yards and a touchdown.
Exeter has won 11 straight games against Daniel Boone. They now lead the Pig Iron Bowl series 39-18-1. They lead the overall series vs. the Blazers 42-22-1.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Daniel Boone | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Exeter | 0 | 21 | 8 | 13 | 42 |
Scoring summary
| 2 | Exeter | J. Zandier, 31 pass from Martinez (Dauble, pass from Redding) | 10:00 |
| 2 | Exeter | Redding, 40 pass from Martinez (Z. Zandier Kick) | 2:48 |
| 2 | Exeter | Paschall, 41 run (kick blocked) | :33.4 |
| 3 | Exeter | Caceres, 40 run (Redding run) | 8:18 |
| 3 | Daniel Boone | Kryman, 17 pass from Rotter (Aidukas kick) | 3:51 |
| 4 | Exeter | Martinez, 1 run (kick blocked) | 11:56 |
| 4 | Exeter | Boston, 7 run (Gaston kick) | 9:12 |
Team statistics
| Daniel Boone | Exeter | |
| First downs | 8 | 13 |
| Rushes-yards | 26-89 | 29-248 |
| Passing yards | 112 | 179 |
| Total yards | 201 | 427 |
| Passes | 10-20-1 | 8-11-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 5-27 | 1-26 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-45 | 4-35 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Daniel Boone:Rotter 10-50, Reed 8-32, Moyer 5-23, Team 3-(-16).
Exeter: Caceres 10-118, Paschall 6-89, Martinez 4-18, Boston 5-12, Pashley 4-11.
PASSING
Daniel Boone:Rotter 10-20-1-112.
Exeter:Martinez 6-9-1-166, Pashley 2-2-0-13.
RECEIVING
Daniel Boone: Kryman 5-40, Heffner 3-35, Moyer 1-33, High 1-4.
Exeter: Z. Zandier 3-44, Stutzman 2-29, Redding 1-40, Pashley 1-35, J. Zandier 1-31.
INTERCEPTIONS
Daniel Boone: Heffner.
Exeter: Ummarino.
