Book, Bucks defense keeping step with offense during impressive run
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 Jason Guarente — LNP/Lancasteronline
WITMER — The cheers were noticeably louder whenever Parker Book made a tackle. Conestoga Valley’s senior had a lot of friends and family in the bleachers.
Some of them came prepared with photos taped to oversized popsicle sticks. One featured Book in his No. 8 uniform. One showed him in a buttoned-down shirt and could’ve been clipped from a catalogue.
| Final | |
| Conestoga | 42 |
| Elizabethtown | 7 |
These are the salad days for Conestoga Valley. Great team. Great times. A great season that seems to have endless possibilities.
Book personifies all of it. A perfect fit for the roster and his role.
“He’s a hard-working kid,” Conestoga Valley coach Jon Scepanski said. “He does everything you ask. He’s the perfect role model for what you want a football player to be.”
Conestoga Valley kept the ride going Friday night. The Buckskins raced past Elizabethtown 42-7 in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 game at Witmer.
Book recorded a few tackles and earned a few cheers. The best came on a blitz that turned into a sack for a 12-yard loss.
Scepanski couldn’t say enough nice things about Book. The coach called the 5-10, 175-pound linebacker “a gamer” and “a big-timer.”
“I try to fly to the ball,” Book said “Just be a leader and call the plays I see.”
Conestoga Valley’s offense is so extraordinary it can obscure what the Buckskins have achieved on defense. They’ve held eight opponents to a total of 63 points. That’s No. 1 in the entire L-L. They’re one of only four teams allowing fewer than 200 yards per game.
It starts up front with Sam Matonti at nose guard and Connor High and Liam Price at end. It continues with the three linebackers: Book, Teagan Ruble and Jonathon Serrano.
“We’ve all got a connection and we all trust each other,” Ruble said. “We play gap defense pretty much. Everyone has their gap. I do my job and I don’t have to worry about them.”
The five defensive backs aren’t too shabby. Two of them, Cordell Bair and Camryn Bair, recorded interceptions against Elizabethtown (1-3, 4-4). Konner Fisher, JoJo Garcia and Anthony Rodriguez have made their share of plays.
“Obviously, we’ve been doing very well so far,” Book said. “I feel like it’s all levels. The defensive line eats up a lot of blocks so we get to move around. We just run to the ball and have fun.”
It’s impossible not to mention Conestoga Valley’s offense, which is a study in precision and preparation.
For most of the first half, the question wasn’t whether the Buckskins were going to win or how many points they might score. It was whether or not the ball was ever going to touch the ground.
Quarterback Sawyer Esbenshade was 11-for-11 for 221 yards and three touchdowns at one point. He looked like a student with all the answers to the test. Ruble, Fisher and Jayden Conaway caught those TDs.
“Hats off to the kids,” Scepanski said. “They put in the work to be where they are. I’m super-proud of their dedication. Everybody is bought in. Everything is coming around and working well together.”
Ruble rushed for 100 yards and a second score. Cordell Bair caught CV’s first pass, E-town’s first pass for an interception and rushed for a 7-yard touchdown. Garcia ran four yards on a jet sweep for the final TD.
Conestoga Valley (4-0, 8-0) avoided looking ahead to its showdown against Exeter for first place. Exeter couldn’t avoid the same trap. The Eagles fell to Hempfield 30-28 in a non-league game.
Next week’s matchup will likely determine the Section 2 champion. It’s time to answer what Scepanski called, “The question everybody has asked since August.”
Book’s family was waiting for him along the fence when he headed toward the locker room. No. 8 stopped for a few more pictures.
No matter what happens next, these have been a memorable few months for CV.
“It’s definitely really cool,” Ruble said. “A lot of people don’t get this opportunity. I’m just trying to soak it all in.”
So is Book. One tackle and one cheer at a time.
