District 3 playoff preview: Exeter vs. South Western
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District 3 Class 5A Tournament
First round
No. 8 Exeter (9-1) vs. No. 9 South Western (7-3)
Kick: Friday, 7, at Don Thomas Stadium, Reiffton.
Series: Eagles lead 1-0.
Last meeting: Eric Nangle ran for 137 yards and Colin Payne passed for 203 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles opened their 2021 district championship run with a 38-21 win over the Mustangs at Don Thomas Stadium. Carson Schmidt caught a pair of TD passes and Joey Schlaffer had one.
Fast fact: Matt Bauer can match Don Thomas’ record for victories by an Exeter coach with a win Friday. Bauer is 122-56 over 16 seasons. Thomas won 123 games over 24 seasons, ending in 1982. The Eagles’ home stadium was eventually named in his honor. Bauer has recorded 14 straight winning seasons; the program had never enjoyed more than seven in a row before that.
(PhilMarPhoto)
Eagles update: Bounced back from lone loss with 71-0 win at Elizabethtown last week as Jayden Zandier ran for four touchdowns and passed for one. . . Were coming off a controversial 28-27 loss to Conestoga Valley that cost them the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 title. . . Eagles thought they had it won in final minute on Zandier’s two-point conversion run but officials ruled he did not cross the goal line. . . Photographic evidence suggests otherwise. . . Have played the last three games without QB Riley Martinez, the league’s passing leader, since he broke a bone in his leg against Muhlenberg in Week 7. . . Coach Matt Bauer said it’s possible that Martinez could play this week. He has been throwing but has not yet resumed full practice sessions. . . Zandier has taken over most of the QB duties in his absence, often out of the Wildcat formation. . . Junior Jake Hafer has also seen time at QB. . . Zandier has rushed for 1,473 yards, fourth-most in the league, and has scored a program-record 26 TDs. . .He is averaging 12.6 yards per carry. . . Carter Redding leads team with 26 receptions and has five TD catches. . . Jayden Ware has 15 receptions and leads team with six TD catches. . . Casey Gerhart leads team with 67 tackles. . . Genuine Stutzman has team-best 13 tackles for loss. . . Logan Wegman has recovered three fumbles. . . Have qualified for districts every year since 2011 with the exception of 2020, when the playoff fields were truncated due to COVID-19. . . Went out in first round of districts last year for first time since 2018.
Did you know? Jayden Zandier has rushed for 1,473 yards, third-most in Exeter history. He needs 342 yards to top Eric Nangle’s single-season record of 1,814 yards, set in 2021. He needs 46 yards to break Jesse Reider’s career record of 2,876 rushing yards, set in 2003.
Mustangs update: Finished third in Division 1 of the York-Adams League, behind Central York and Dallastown. . . Closed season with five straight wins after losing to those teams in Weeks 4 and 5. . . Only other loss came to unbeaten New Oxford, the No. 1 seed in Class 5A. . . QB Bryce Graham effectively runs RPO game for team that is averaging 320 yard and 29.6 points per game. . . Graham threw for over 1,700 yards as a junior and has thrown for a program-record 1,827 yards and 16 TDs this season, with just three INTs. . . He has been picked off just once in the past six games. . . Team has turned the ball over only six times and has a plus-11 turnover differential. . . RB Austin Rollman has rushed for 727 yards and scored 13 TDs; he rushed for nearly 1,200 yards last season. . .WR Owen Allen is a deep threat with speed and is averaging 20.8 yards on his 19 receptions. . . PK Gavin Fraim is perfect on three field goal attempts, with a long of 45. . . 13 starters and 18 seniors returned from a team that went 8-4 and won a postseason game for the first time in 12 years. . . Making 16th district appearance. . . Have won just one district playoff game over the past decade, in the first round last year, 21-3 over Greencastle-Antrim. . . Have never won a championship.
Fast fact: Exeter is 29-5 over the last three years, the best three-year stretch in program history.
Quotable: “We know how important things are and at this time of year one mistake can cost you everything you’ve worked for the entire year, for some kids for three or four years. We felt we that we underachieved last year; we felt we should’ve been able to do a little bit more. There’s a sense of urgency with this group.” – Eagles coach Matt Bauer.
Winner plays: At No. 1 New Oxford (10-0), Nov. 8, in district quarterfinal.
Championship: Nov. 22 or 23, at a neutral site.
