All the little things add up to a giant victory for Twin Valley
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
One point can make all the difference when two evenly matched teams take the field.
That was the case Friday night when a blocked extra point proved to be the slim difference that separated undefeated Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 rivals Twin Valley and Garden Spot.
Twin Valley continued the rushing rampage it has been riding all season, saw a couple special teams plays went its way and celebrated as Garden Spot’s 37-yard game-winning field goal attempt sailed wide as time expired.
The Raiders held on for a 35-34 victory at Twin Valley Stadium to extend the best start in program history.
“Danny Murphy came up big,” Twin Valley head coach Brett Myers said of the senior who blocked the extra point. “That’s what high school football is about. Every week, somebody gets an unbelievable experience that they’ll remember forever. He was that dude tonight.”
Drew Engle, the top rusher in the section, scored the tying touchdown on a 33-yard run with 1:22 remaining, setting up a crucial PAT attempt which freshly crowned Homecoming King Sam Frey calmly knocked through.
“Holes will open up running behind a great offensive line,” Engle, a sophomore, said of his tying touchdown run. “I saw a little bit of daylight even though it was foggy.
“I knew I was going to get the first down but on my way to the end zone I was a little bit surprised. I’ve been getting hawked down from the back recently, but I was happy it didn’t happen there.”
Engle finished with 230 rushing yards and two touchdowns; backfield running mate Evan Johnson provided 166 yards and three touchdowns. Twin Valley piled up 406 rushing yards against a Garden Spot defense that had only allowed 466 total rushing yards in six earlier games.
“This was a huge win,” Engle said. “Definitely our biggest game of the season so far. This gives us a ton of momentum and we’re excited for Ephrata next week.”
The Raiders (4-0, 7-0) matched a program record for victories in a season and took over sole possession of first place in Section 3. There’s no time to waste as they travel to the play the Mountaineers next week.
“There is no top dog in Section 3 until it’s all over,” Myers said. “Garden Spot is really, really good. Ephrata is going to come out with a spread attack, a quarterback that can run and a physical defense. We’re weeks away from being the top dog in Section 3.”
Seemingly every time the Raiders made a push the Spartans (3-1, 6-1) and do-it-all quarterback Kye Harting had an answer. Harting accumulated 200 passing yards, 84 rushing yards, and four total touchdowns.
Engle scored the first touchdown just 1:18 in on a 2-yard plunge and Johnson took it 56 yards to the house about three minutes later. The Raiders appeared to recover the ensuing onside kick before illegal touching was called.
Harting answered with a 27-yard touchdown run but Johnson scored again from 14 yards out with 1:55 left in the first quarter.
Harting scored on a 4-yard run 1:04 into the second quarter and, after a Twin Valley missed field goal, drove 80 yards in six plays before finding Trenton Hoober for a 13-yard touchdown strike.
Neither team scored the rest of the half as Hoober picked off Evan Myers on two straight possessions and the Spartans punted twice.
Cole Humphreys intercepted Myers on the first play of the fourth to give Garden Spot its first lead at 28-21.
“Give those guys credit,” Brett Myers said. “They made some adjustments and it took us a little bit to make some counter-adjustments. It was clear our pass game wasn’t there like the past couple of weeks.”
Johnson was in the end zone again for Twin Valley three plays later after setting up his 23-yard score with a 43-yard run on the previous play.
“We have a one-two punch so we’re always fresh,” Johnson said of he and Engle. “We’re always trying to make each other better during practice and we have friendly competition.”
The Spartans embarked on an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by Harting’s 18-yard TD pass to A.J. Hurst with 5:40 left to retake the lead, but Murphy blocked the PAT.
Engle scored on the 33-yard touchdown and Frey converted the deciding PAT after a 12-play, 79-yard game-winning drive that ended with 1:22 left.
Garden Spot drove all the way to Twin Valley’s 20 after starting on its own 15 but the 37-yard field goal attempt missed.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Garden Spot | 7 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 34 |
| Twin Valley | 21 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Twin Valley | Engle, 2 run (Frey kick) | 10:42 |
| 1 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 56 run (Frey kick) | 7:31 |
| 1 | Garden Spot | Harting, 27 run (Martin kick) | 5:43 |
| 1 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 14 run (Frey kick) | 1:55 |
| 2 | Garden Spot | Harting, 4 run (Martin kick) | 10:56 |
| 2 | Garden Spot | Hoober, 13 pass from Harting (Martin kick) | 6:36 |
| 4 | Garden Spot | Humphreys, 27 interception return (Martin kick) | 11:52 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 23 run (Frey kick) | 10:33 |
| 4 | Garden Spot | Hurst, 18 pass from Harting (Martin kick blocked) | 5:40 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Engle, 33 run (Frey kick) | 1:22 |
Team statistics
| Garden Spot | Twin Valley | |
| First downs | 21 | 19 |
| Rushes-yards | 27-133 | 51-406 |
| Passing yards | 200 | 56 |
| Total yards | 333 | 462 |
| Passes | 17-34-0 | 5-12-3 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 4-2 |
| Punts-average | 6-35.5 | 1-29 |
| Penalties-yards | 10-80 | 9-84 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Garden Spot: Harting 20-84, Zimmerman 2-29, Eberly 1-20, Martin 3-3, Conrad 1-(-3).
Twin Valley: Engle 23-230, Johnson 16-166, Winchester 3-25, Grundy 1-1, Team 1-(-6), E. Myers 7-(-10).
PASSING
Garden Spot: Harting 17-34-0–200.
Twin Valley: E. Myers 5-12-3–56.
RECEIVING
Garden Spot: Conrad 7-75, Hoober 3-43, Hurst 3-41, Martin 2-30, Zimmerman 1-7, Redcay 1-4.
Twin Valley: Winchester 2-26, Pinciotti 1-21, Engle 1-7, Johnson 1-2.
INTERCEPTIONS
Garden Spot: Hoober 2, Humphreys.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Garden Spot: Martin 37.
Twin Valley: Frey 29.
