Cocalico builds big early lead, holds off Elizabethtown
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Brian Rippey — LNP/Lancasteronline
For one half, Cocalico looked like a team that has won back-to-back District 3 football titles.
In the second half, the Eagles resembled a unit trying to fill some holes created by graduation from a team that reached last year’s PIAA Class 5A semifinals, especially across the front line.
But the Eagles showed the heart of a champion when it mattered most Friday night, holding off visiting Elizabethtown for a 28-14 non-league victory in a season opener.
Cocalico, which led 28-0 at the half, needed a goal-line stand to prevent Elizabethtown from making it a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter.
The Eagles returned to their ground game to run the last five minutes off the clock to preserve the victory.
“Obviously we’re on the ropes there and they’ve got all the momentum in the world,” said Cocalico coach Bryan Strohl. “We needed to get that stop. It was nice to see our kids step up in a big situation.”
The way the Eagles started it looked as if it would never come down to that. Cocalico scored on its first four possessions and took a 28-0 lead with 3:34 left in the first half.
The Eagles, who lost their opener last year before reeling off 12 straight wins, used a dominant running game to build the four-score lead. Cocalico finished with 270 rushing yards on 53 carries.
The Eagles took the opening kickoff and went 80 yards in 11 plays, all on the ground, with Dane Horning scoring on a 5-yard run.
Horning carried 21 times for 90 yards and scored on another 5-yard run early in the second quarter.
In between, Josh Myer connected with Brayden Eppinette for a 60-yard touchdown pass, Cocalico’s only completion.
Myer, who carried 16 times for a game-high 94 yards, scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak and tacked on a two-point conversion to make it 28-0 before the half.
But the second half was a different story.
“We came out believing we could win,” said Elizabethtown coach Keith Stokes. “A couple of mistakes at the end or it’s a different game.”
The Bears turned it around by recovering a fumble early in the third quarter, one of three Cocalico turnovers. Quarterback Trent Kauffman scored on a 6-yard scramble to get Elizabethtown on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter.
Kauffman scored again on an 18-yard run in the final minute of the third quarter to pull Elizabethtown within 14 points.
“All credit to E-town,” Strohl said. “They battled tough until the end. I think maybe we went in a little overconfident at halftime after things went well. They better learn that lesson.”
The Bears also squandered a few opportunities. After Kauffman’s first score, the Bears recovered an onside kick. But they came up empty on that possession when a potential 59-yard touchdown on a screen pass was called back because of an ineligible receiver down field.
The Bears also dropped a sure touchdown pass in the end zone on their final possession before Cocalico held on downs at the 2-yard line.
“I thought the first half we executed pretty well,” Strohl said. “We faced some adversity in that second half. We’ve got to respond to it better.”
