Dutchmen answer the bell again in win over Pequea Valley
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Christian Eby — LNP/Lancasteronline
ANNVILLE — Devon Englehart has recorded 152 carries for 823 rushing yards through eight games this season. There are times when Annville-Cleona football coach Matt Gingrich has no recollection of his bell cow shouldering the workload.
| Final | |
| Ann.-Cleona | 35 |
| Pequea Valley | 14 |
That’s the beauty of the Dutchmen roster. Gingrich can call upon any player at any time, and they’ll answer the bell. He’s a magician who pulls the rabbit out of the hat.
James Garney and Hudson Sellers fit the analogy Friday in Annville.
Garney, Annville-Cleona’s backup tight end, secured a 51-yard touchdown reception for the first second-half score and Sellers romped to TD runs of 41 and 57 yards to help the Dutchmen erupt for 28 second-half points en route to a 35-14 triumph over Pequea Valley.
Annville-Cleona (5-0, 7-1) extended its winning streak to five games and remained in a first-place tie with Berks Catholic in Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
“I don’t think we’ve had the same game plan every week, not even once yet,” Sellers said. “So I think that we’re really adaptable. And no matter what it is, we’re super tough on the field. So even if we make a mistake, we’re gonna effort our way through the win.”
The effort the Dutchmen wore became a shade of green on their bright-red pants. It was evident the hosts were hungry, especially considering a 7-7 tie at halftime.
Annville-Cleona looked lost. Out of rhythm. The Braves exhibited schemes the Dutchmen didn’t catch in film.
Quarterback John Ditzler had thrown two passes before he uncorked the 51-yard heave to Garney with 7:13 remaining in the third quarter. Garney had one prior catch on his resume, a 52-yard TD grab against Hamburg Sept. 12.
“John Ditzler is a point guard,” Gingrich said of his sophomore protégée. “He knows what he’s doing with the ball. So he saw it, and boom, that was it. That was definitely the play jump-started everything.”
“I ran a vertical, and they weren’t really set,” Garney said of his perspective. “Both (defenders) covered the out, and I was wide open. And my QB put a good ball on me.”
Annville-Cleona held possession four times in the second half and scored on all four chances.
Sellers, who ran the ball four times entering Friday, bolted to paydirt on the first and third plays of his scoring drives. Yamaliel Navarro sandwiched a 5-yard burst between the senior’s lengthy gallops.
“It wasn’t us in the first half,” Sellers said. “We knew we could do way better, and I think that just jolted us. It made us hit a second gear in the second half.”
Meanwhile, Pequea Valley (1-4, 3-5) was in cruising altitude. Despite little offensive momentum themselves, the Braves had the Dutchmen walking the tight rope.
Lebran Woods stirred the pot with a 44-yard TD dash with 11:10 left in the second quarter. It was PV’s equalizer after Ditzler punched in a 6-yard keeper on a methodical nine-play, 76-yard march.
“The neat part for this is we do not have a player that we go to,” Gingrich said. “… So I always say, ‘Just deliver the mail.’ Wherever the ball is supposed to go, you get it there. The first half, we didn’t. The second half, we did. And tonight was Hudson’s night.”
Annville-Cleona has its toughest stretch of the schedule approaching with Schuylkill Valley and Berks Catholic set for the final two weeks. The Dutchmen will aim to stamp their winning ticket — to the tune of seven straight victories — but it will require more adaptations and an extra ounce of effort.
Annville-Cleona has proven that DNA. The Dutchmen are playing with some late fall magic. “We do a lot of different things that no one will ever know about, that no one understands,” Gingrich said. “And week to week, it changes. … And week to week, the kids seem to execute it.”
