Lampeter’s Caileb Howse tunes up for Twin Valley with defensive hat trick
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
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(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By David Bohr — LNP/Lancasteronline
STRASBURG — It’s nothing new for Caileb Howse to make big plays for unbeaten Lampeter-Strasburg.
Though Howse usually guides the Pioneers to the end zone in his role as quarterback, he made his biggest impact in Lampeter-Strasburg’s playoff opener as a defensive back by scoring three touchdowns on takeaways in the first half.
That allowed the top-seeded Pioneers to roll to a 42-7 victory over visiting Elco in the District 3 Class 4A quarterfinals on Friday.
“That helped us a lot,” Howse said of getting the scores early in the game. “The last time we played them, it was 17-7 at the half. Coming out hot really helped our momentum.”
The first defensive score prevented eight-seeded Elco (6-6) from ever making the game competitive. Lampeter-Strasburg (11-0) already had a 7-0 lead, but the Raiders’ first drive got down to the Pioneers’ 32-yard line. There, a pitch to the left went to an empty area, but was still live as it went backward. Howse fielded it on a bounce and ran it back 66 yards for a 14-0 lead with 6:28 left in the first quarter.
Howse’s ball-hawking continued into the second quarter. He ran down a deep ball at his 25, made the interception and weaved through the other players for a 75-yard touchdown return a 28-0 lead with 10:10 left in the second quarter.
Then Howse jumped a short route and turned it into a 45-yard interception return for a TD to make it 35-0 with 3:58 left in the first half.
“Our coach just told us they were going to hit us with a slant or a double move in that situation,” Howse said. “We had the corner slide back and I stepped up and it worked.”
Howse was 5-for-12 for 97 yards passing and rushed for 19 yards, but had 186 return yards on his three defensive scores.
“I’m just finding the green grass, trying not to get tackled and following my blockers,” Howse said.
Howse also took the air out of Elco’s balloon even before he had a defensive snap.
On the Pioneers’ first offensive series, he helped convert two third downs.
His 13-yard run converted a third-and-9, and a 19-yard pass to Dominic Brown converted a third-and-7. One play after that pass to Brown, Howse threw a 31-yard hitch pass for a touchdown to Danny Weichler for the game’s first points with 10:35 left in the first quarter.
Lampeter-Strasburg’s other first-half touchdowns were 23-yard scoring run by Brown in the first quarter and a 1-yard dive by Brady Cunningham in the second.
Elco got on the board with its first possession of the third quarter, when the mercy-rule running clock was already in action.
The Raiders drove 80 yards on 15 plays, reaching the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown run by Mitchell Frederick.
In the regular season, the Pioneers won at Elco 52-7.
In next week’s semifinals, Lampeter-Strasburg will host Twin Valley, a 47-19 winner at Susquehanna Township. The Pioneers beat the Raiders 62-14 in Week 9.
