Conestoga Valley leans on defense to reach 3-0
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Justin Staggers — LNP/Lancasteronline
DOVER — Through three games Conestoga Valley’s defense has been dominant.
The Buckskins showed that again Thursday in a 33-6 victory over Dover in a non-league game at Eagle Stadium. Conestoga Valley has allowed 12 points in three games.
“It starts with the coaches,” Buckskins coach Jon Scepanski said. “They do a great job game-planning and the kids buy in. Their hearts are in it everyday at practice and their effort on the field has shown.”
On a night when the defense shined, the Buckskins’ offense was equally impressive.
The running back committee of Teagan Ruble, Jayden Johnson, and Josiah Garcia combined for four touchdowns — two by Garcia — to ease the pressure on junior quarterback Sawyer Esbenshade.
Esbenshade finished 10-for-15 for 189 yards and a touchdown with an interception.
It didn’t take the Buckskins (3-0) long to find their groove offensively, and once they did, there was no stopping them.
After a Dover punt put the Buckskins in Eagles territory, the offense went to work.
On third-and-14, Esebenshade found Konnor Fisher over the middle for a first down. The Buckskins marched inside the Dover 10 before handing it off to Johnson on a jet sweep. He found the edge and powered through a defender at the goal line to give his team the early lead.
Two possessions later, the Buckskins took over in Eagles territory again following a punt and put together an impressive drive on the ground. Garcia rumbled in from 3 yards to give his team a two-possession lead at the half.
Dover was just inches from making it a one-possession game at the half. After a Buckskins punt set the Eagles up in plus territory, the Dover offense got moving.
The Eagles found with a prime opportunity to get back in it with just under a minute on the clock.
Dover quarterback Lincoln Decker escaped a handful of defenders and fired a strike to Noah Wentz in the corner of the end zone, but Wentz was unable to get his feet in bounds with possession.
An incredible effort went as another incomplete pass. On the ensuing play, Decker rolled to his left, looking for Reese Husson, but instead found the waiting hands of Buckskins cornerback Isaiah Sensenig for an interception.
In the third quarter, following a lengthy Dover drive that resulted in a punt, Conestoga Valley went back to work, putting together a 91-yard drive capped by a 7-yard Garcia touchdown run.
Ensuing touchdowns from Ruble and Johnson would put it out reach.
Conestoga Valley will have an extra day of preparation before traveling to Ephrata next Friday to take on the Mountaineers in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 opener.
