Big night by Gio Cavanna not enough to top Andre Weidman, Ephrata
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Matt Pawlikowski — LNP/Lancasteronline
Ephrata’s Senior Night at War Memorial Field proved to be memorable in more than one way on Friday night.
Playing his last game at home, Andre Weidman ran for 148 yards, scored four touchdowns and eclipsed the 3,000-yard career rushing mark, a standard that could be around the program for a long time.
“We knew what we had to do, to come out and dominate, and that is what we did,” Weidman said.
More importantly, the Mounts (6-3) assured themselves of a winning season for the first time since 2019 with a 42-14 non-league win over visiting Muhlenberg (2-7).
Good as Weidman was, Muhlenberg’s Gio Cavanna had an even bigger night, rushing for 193 yards on 30 carries, with a pair of touchdown runs. That pushed his season total to 983 yards; he can top 1,000 in week in the season finale at Conestoga Valley.
The Mounts wasted no time getting on the board, taking just 42 seconds on their first series to put points on the board as Weidman rambled in from 3 yards out.
Sam McCracken’s arm provided the next score with a 4-yard strike to Evan Boley just minutes later, and Weidman plunged into the end zone from a yard out with 33 seconds left until halftime to make it 21-0.
Muhlenberg finally got on the board with 3:11 left in the third after a 9-yard scoring drive culminated in Gio Cavanna’s 8-yard run. Cavanna added another score for the Mules with 7:22 left in the fourth when he plowed through from 1 yard out, but the two-point conversion was no good.
After the 21st penalty flag of the night was thrown by officials, the Mounts got the final points of the contest on a perfectly executed play by McCracken. He found Nate Conover for a 75-yard score down the sideline, and the Mounts’ lead was 42-14 with just under six minutes remaining.
McCracken, Ephrata’s junior quarterback, set a single-season record for touchdown passes with his 19th, the 4-yarder to Boley in the first quarter. He added his 20th in the fourth quarter with the 75-yard bomb.
In next Friday’s regular season finale, the ramifications will be huge with a district playoff berth at stake as the Mounts travel to Elizabethtown to play the fifth-ranked team in District 3 Class 5A.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Muhlenberg | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| Ephrata | 14 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Ephrata | Weidman, 3 run (Jones kick) |
| 1 | Ephrata | Boley, 11 pass from McCracken (Honberger kick) |
| 2 | Ephrata | Weidman, 1 run (Jones kick) |
| 3 | Ephrata | Weidman, 2 run (Honberger kick) |
| 3 | Muhlenberg | Cavanna, 8 run (Gumby run) |
| 3 | Ephrata | Weidman, 7 run (Jones kick) |
| 4 | Muhlenberg | Cavanna, 1 run (pass failed) |
| 4 | Ephrata | Conover, 75 pass from McCracken (Honberger kick) |
Team statistics
| Muhlenberg | Ephrata | |
| First downs | 12 | 16 |
| Rushes-yards | 49-237 | 27-200 |
| Passing yards | 45 | 186 |
| Total yards | 282 | 386 |
| Passes | 5-11-0 | 10-17-2 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 5-28.4 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 13-100 | 9-95 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Muhlenberg: Cavanna 30-193, Ramirez 6-19, Miller 5-14, Gumby 5-13, Lopez 3-(-2).
Ephrata: Weidman 19-148, Knowles 2-27, Brown 3-19, McCracken 3-6.
PASSING
Muhlenberg: Lopez 5-11-0–45.
Ephrata: McCracken 10-17-2–186.
RECEIVING
Muhlenberg: Gumby 3-42, Cavanna 1-3, Miller 1-0.
Ephrata: Conover 3-81, Boley 3-58, Knowles 3-29, Weidman 1-18.