Blazers can’t close the deal against Mounts

By Matt Hagy — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

Daniel Boone saw red zone problems surface again Friday as it to Ephrata 28-20 in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 game at Brazinsky Field.

For the Blazers (0-2, 1-4) it was the second-straight week they had an excellent chance to earn a league win at home but saw it slip away because of missed opportunities in the red zone, specifically on the goal line.

“We have to finish drives,” Daniel Boone coach Rob Flowers said. “If you leave all of those points out there it just you cannot win football games like that.”

Daniel Boone got the start it wanted after Jared Hewitt blocked the Mountaineers first punt to set the Blazers up at the Ephrata 25.

The Blazers were stopped on fourth and goal from the 2 after trying to punch the ball in on a pitch to running back Ethan Kryman.

Another issue that has plagued the Blazers this season has been big plays allowed by their defense. Ephrata brought those problems to light on third-and-8 when quarterback Sam McCracken found Nate Conover on a slant for a 96-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead at the 5:14 mark of the first quarter.

“We simply cannot give up big plays,” Flowers added. “You have to do the little things right and be disciplined on both sides of the ball. It cost us last week and cost us this week in both games that were very winnable.”

The Blazers slowly worked their way down the field on their ensuing drive and tied the game at 7-7 at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter. Quarterback Dean Rotter silenced the recent goal line problems by sneaking across the goal line, capping a 15-play, 54-yard drive that took 8:01.

Daniel Boone forced a short punt and took its first lead at 14-7 on a 24-yard scamper by Rotter with 5:20 left in the first half.

Things seemingly looked to be falling apart on the Mountaineers side as Sam McCracken was intercepted by Robert Burns at the Ephrata 40 to set the Blazers up once again with good field position.

The Blazers were stopped on downs and were bit by the big play again on Ephrata’s next drive. McCracken found running back Andre Weidman up the far sideline for a 79-yard touchdown to tie it 14-14 heading into the half.

Daniel Boone was stopped immediately at the start of the second half and gave the Mountaineers prime field position at their 31 following a 9-yard punt.

McCracken put Ephrata in front 21-14 after lofting a 25-yard pass over the top of the Blazer defense to an open Weidman for his second touchdown reception of the game.

Kryman got things started for the Blazers with a 37-yard run to the Mountaineers 40 on their ensuing drive. Boone used its ground game to churn out yards and get a first down at the 5. Kryman advanced the ball on two carries to the 1 before the red zone problems appeared for the second time. Rotter tried to sneak the ball twice up the middle and was stopped both times.

Ephrata made the Blazers pay once more by going the length of the field to take a 28-14 lead with just eight seconds left in the third quarter.

McCracken gave the Mountaineers breathing room with a 36-yard completion to Conover from their 1 and Weidman finished the drive with a 27-yard scamper for his first touchdown on the ground.

Weidman kept the drive alive on fourth-and-2 from the Blazers 44 by fighting for extra yards after being initially stopped short of the marker.

The Blazers were given second life in the fourth quarter after a Mountaineer 55-yard interception return for a touchdown was called back due to a roughing the passer penalty.

Rotter cut the deficit down to 28-20, finding tight end Draven Klick for a 19-yard score.

Daniel Boone had one last chance to potentially go for a tying score with just over three minutes left after forcing an Ephrata punt but was stopped on fourth-and-3 from their own 37.

“Last year we got physically dominated by them and the message all week has been getting revenge,” Ephrata head coach Kris Miller said. “We overcame a ton of adversity in the first half and it felt like the whole first half was on our side of the field. It was a total team win and I am proud of our guys.”

Kryman paced the Blazers offense with 119 yards on the ground behind 25 carries while Rotter went 11-of-25 for 131 yards through the air with one touchdown pass.

Rotter also had 41 rushing yards on 20 carries with two scores.

“We have to keep getting better and identify what the problems are that have led to the big play and red zone issues,” Flowers said. “We have put ourselves in positions to win ball games and just have not finished anything.”

Weidman totaled 172 all-purpose yards for the Mountaineers. McCracken went just 6-of-19 through the air but for 244 yards and three touchdown passes. Ephrata held a 329-311 edge in total yards.

The Mountaineers used big plays on offense to earn the win but also had special contributions on the defensive side. Defensive tackle Weston Nolt racked up 13 tackles, with a pair of sacks and six tackles for loss.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Ephrata	7	7	14	0	28
Daniel Boone	0	14	0	6	20

Scoring summary

1	Team	Scoring	Tiime
1	Ephrata	Conover, 96 pass from McCracken (Jones kick)	5:14
2	Daniel Boone	Rotter, 1 run (Brown kick)	7:15
2	Daniel Boone	Rotter, 24 run (Brown kick)	5:20
2	Ephrata	Weidman, 79 pass from McCracken (Jones kick)	1:46
3	Ephrata	Weidman, 25 pass from McCracken (Jones kick)	8:25
3	Ephrata	Weidman, 27 run (Jones kick)	0:08
4	Daniel Boone	Klick, 19 pass from Rotter (Brown kick)	5:29

Team statistics

	Ephrata	Daniel Boone
First downs	10	18
Rushes-yards	25-85	50-180
Passing yards	244	131
Total yards	329	311
Passes	6-19-2	11-25-0
Fumbles-lost	0-0	1-1
Punts-average	5-25	2-16.5
Penalties-yards	7-879	9-58

Individual statistics

RUSHING

Ephrata: Weidman 20-72, Knowles 2-11, McCracken 3-2.

Daniel Boone: Kryman 25-119, Rotter 20-41, Tolosky 5-20.

PASSING

Ephrata: McCracken 6-19-2-244.

Daniel Boone: Rotter 11-25-0-131.

RECEIVING

Ephrata: Weidman 3-100, Conover 2-132, Knowles 1-12.

Daniel Boone: Heffner 3-48, Kryman 3-34, Burns 2-24, Klick 2-22, High 1-3 .

INTERCEPTIONS

Daniel Boone: Burns, Heffner.