Blazers fall short in loss to Octorara
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
By Matt Hagy — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Trailing for the first time in the second half, Octorara needed a response and it got one. The Braves scored their only touchdown in the third quarter and held on to defeat Daniel Boone 10-8 on Friday Night at the Blazers’ Brazinsky Field in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 opener.
Daniel Boone (0-1, 0-4) has seen its fair share of mistakes plague the early part of the season and had a penalty halt a promising opening drive that nearly made it into Braves territory. Octorara drove inside the Blazers 10-yard line but were turned away on fourth-and-5 to keep the game scoreless in the first quarter.
The Blazers defense stood to task once again on the ensuing Braves drive as they stopped Octorara on fourth-and-3 from their own 27-yard line.
The Braves (1-0, 3-1) finally broke the scoreless tie with a 35-yard field goal from Austin Kurtz with 5:37 left in the second quarter. Nate Dow set Octorara up for the field goal attempt after forcing a fumble by Blazers quarterback Hadyn Moyer at the Daniel Boone 21-yard line.
Daniel Boone stopped Octorara just shy of the 50-yard line on downs and took its first lead of the game at 6-3 when Moyer found a wide-open Blake Elliott for a 43-yard touchdown pass. The Braves bounced back with a nine-play, 57-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Chandler Stoltzfus on fourth- and-goal, which made it 10-6.
Darius Cruz sacked Braves quarterback Collin Wood in the end zone to force a safety with 8:48 left in regulation and cut the deficit down to 10-8. The Blazers made a valiant stand on fourth-and-1 from the Braves own 44-yard line with just over a minute left to get one last crack at a game-winning score.
However, Max Heffner sailed a 43-yard field goal just wide right with 20 seconds left to seal the win for the Braves.
Moyer left the game late in the third quarter after a hard hit on a quarterback scramble. He finished with 108 passing yards behind going 7-of-11 with a touchdown pass while adding 14 rushing yards.
Wood finished the night going 11-of-18 for 112 yards with two interceptions.
Octorara will host unbeaten Twin Valley next Friday night while Daniel Boone faces an unbeaten Lampeter-Strasburg on the road.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Octorara | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Daniel Boone | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
Scoring summary
| 2 | Octorara | Kurtz, 35 FG | 5:37 |
| 3 | DB | Elliott, 43 pass from Moyer (kick blocked) | 9:01 |
| 3 | Octorara | Stoltzfus, 1 run (Kurtz kick) | 4:41 |
| 4 | DB | Safety | 8:48 |
Team statistics
| Octorara | Daniel Boone | |
| First downs | 9 | 8 |
| Rushes-yards | 37-40 | 24-(-3) |
| Passing yards | 112 | 160 |
| Total yards | 153 | 157 |
| Passes | 11-18-2 | 12-21-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-0 | 4-3 |
| Punts-average | 1-35.0 | 3-26.3 |
| Penalties-yards | 3-16 | 10-51 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Octorara: Stoltzfus 16-28, Teufert 3-15, Kurtz 10-13, Lambert 1-2, Wood 6-(-17), Team 1-(-1).
Daniel Boone: Moyer 12-14, Heffner 3-6, Elliott 1-0, Stoudt 3-(-6), Team 1-(-7), Cruz 4-(-10).
PASSING
Octorara: Wood 11-18-2–112.
Daniel Boone: Moyer 7-11-0–108, Stoudt 5-9-0–52, Team 0-1-0–0.
RECEIVING
Octorara: Stoltzfus 5-30, Prokay 2-50, Lambert 2-15, Mastrippolito 1-10, Teufert 1-7.
Daniel Boone: Delissaint 4-53, Heffner 4-36, Elliott 2-56, Salata 2-15
INTERCEPTIONS
Daniel Boone: Elliott 2.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Octorara: Kurtz 44.
Daniel Boone: Heffner 43, 43.
