Blazers give new coach J.D. Okuniewski first win with rout of rival Muhls
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Matt Hagy — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
The patience finally paid off for Daniel Boone first-year head coach J.D. Okuniewski.
Behind a 30-point second quarter, Daniel Boone defeated Muhlenberg 51-14 Friday night in a non-league game at Brazinsky Stadium in Birdsboro.
The win was the first for Okuniewski, a 2013 graduate of Daniel Boone, after dropping the first two contests of the season.
“I’ve got a lot of emotion right now,” Okuniewski said. “I have needed to overcome a lot of adversity these past two weeks and these guys have my back. I am so proud how hard they claw and fight every day.”
A look at the box score might make you think that the Blazers had it easy the whole way on a humid but dry night against the Muhls (0-3).
Not so.
The Muhls shocked the home crowd when quarterback Aaden Lopez lofted a 79-yard touchdown pass to Michael Miller on third-and-9 on the first possession of the game.
“We talk about this game being about players making plays,” Okuniewski said. “We can only do so much schematically to get them in the right spots.
“I ripped into them a little bit for blowing that Cover 2 but in the end (the score) did not faze them.”
Special teams struggles, which became a theme on the night for Muhlenberg, started with a blocked extra point and a short kick that gave the Blazers a short field.
Daniel Boone quarterback Dean Rotter was not bothered by the long Muhlenberg touchdown as he led the Blazers into the end zone to gain a 7-6 advantage late in the first quarter.
Rotter converted on a fourth-and-14, finding Ethan Kryman over the middle for 19 yards, leading to a Haydn Moyer touchdown from 2 yards out.
“I have so much trust in my receivers and offensive line that I know they are going to go out there and make a play,” Rotter said. “We just needed to get back to what we have done well in practice and had it all working tonight.”
Rotter was nearly perfect through the air, going 11-of-14 for 140 yards with a pair of touchdown passes.
The senior also added a score on the ground while converting one of the Blazers’ two two-point conversions.
“Dean Rotter is developing into a football player,” Okuniewski said. “I spoke to him about this at the end of last year when I was an assistant that when people ask what position he plays, he needs to say he is a football player or a safety. I truly believe him also playing safety has upped his game and translated it under center.”
One of Rotter’s favorite targets was Anthony High, who led the team with three catches for 35 yards and included a 15-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the second quarter. High also contributed on special teams when he recovered a fumbled snap on a punt and rolled over a teammate and into the end zone for a touchdown.
Seeing the Muhls punting struggles, Okuniewski turned up the heat and sent a rush to punter Javier Mayden on his next attempt and wrapped him up at the Muhlenberg 4-yard line to set up Rotter’s rushing touchdown.
Connor Reed capped the Blazers big second quarter with a 20-yard Pick Six for a touchdown which made it 37-6 at the half.
Lopez went 6-of-19 for 103 yards with one interception. Backup Anthony Cipolla led Muhlenberg on its second scoring drive in the fourth quarter that ended with a rushing touchdown by Jacob Torok.
Two botched punt attempts sent the Muhls to negative rushing yards for the second-straight week at minus-15.
Muhlenberg opens Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 play next week against Lebanon. Boone faces Section 3 contender Garden Spot on the road Friday.
“I want to give people what I had here at Boone,” Okuniewski said. “These kids are buying in to what our staff is teaching them, and we just have to keep fighting. We are in a good place right now.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Muhlenberg | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| Daniel Boone | 7 | 30 | 14 | 0 | 51 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Muhlenberg | Miller, 79 pass from Lopez (kick blocked) | 10:00 |
| 1 | Daniel Boone | H. Moyer, 2 run (Aidukis kick) | 5:57 |
| 2 | Daniel Boone | High,15 pass from Rotter (Aidukis kick) | 11:56 |
| 2 | Daniel Boone | High, recovered fumble in end zone (Reed run) | 10:53 |
| 2 | Daniel Boone | Rotter, 4 run (Rotter run) | 7:25 |
| 2 | Daniel Boone | Reed, 20 interception return (Aidukis kick) | 2:08 |
| 3 | Daniel Boone | Welker, 6 pass from Rotter (Aidukis kick) | 7:52 |
| 3 | Daniel Boone | Lacey, 54 run (Aidukas kick) | 4:35 |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Torok, 2 run (Dodson pass from Cipolla) | 10:33 |
Team statistics
| Muhlenberg | Daniel Boone | |
| First downs | 7 | 14 |
| Rushes-yards | 18 -(-15) | 23-78 |
| Passing yards | 128 | 140 |
| Total yards | 113 | 218 |
| Passes | 7-22-1 | 11-14-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 3-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-32.0 | 1-40.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 11-99 | 12-100 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Muhlenberg: Torok 4-15, Lopez 2-11, Ortiz 3-(-2), Miller 7-(-5), Mayden 1-(-15), TEAM 1-(-19).
Daniel Boone: Lacey 2-66, Rotter 10-41, Moyer 5-17, Reed 2-(-2), McKenzie 2-(-13), TEAM 2-(-31).
PASSING
Muhlenberg: Lopez 6-19-1– 103, Cipolla 1-3-0– 25.
Daniel Boone: Rotter 11-14-0–140.
RECEIVING
Muhlenberg: Miller 2-85, Dodson 2-28, Archie 1-5, Cruz 1-5, Hoffman 1-5.
Daniel Boone: High 3-35, Welker 2-31, DiGiacomo 2-25, Heffner 2-23, Kryman 1-19, Reed 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONSDaniel Boone: Reed.
