Drew Engle, Evan Johnson lead Raiders over Tigers and to program’s first 4-0 start
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
With one stud running back a high school football team has a good chance for success.
With two? Watch out.
Twin Valley junior Evan Johnson entered Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 play as the second-leading rusher in the league; sophomore Drew Engle was right behind him in third.
“Stats don’t really matter to us, to be honest,” Johnson said. “It just comes down to if we win. That’s all we’re worried about.”
The duo combined for 331 rushing yards and five touchdowns Friday night as Twin Valley toppled Fleetwood 49-19 in a league opener in Elverson to reach 4-0 record for the first time in program history.
“In practice we run a play until we get it perfect every single time,” Engle said. “Doing that prepares us for this.”
Engle rushed 12 times for 197 yards and two scores and Johnson nine times for 134 yards and three touchdowns.
“We trust our instincts and our O-line works really hard,” Johnson said. “In practice we run multiple plays multiple times and see how the defense will potentially play it.
“We have different moves and different possibilities ready in our head that might happen (depending on how the defense reacts).”
It took a little while for Twin Valley’s high-powered offense to shift into gear Friday; but once it did, it went full throttle.
The Tigers (2-2) played tough in the first half and only trailed 14-12 after Czion Brickle’s 2-yard plunge with 3:27 left in the second quarter.
Engle then dashed on runs of 39 and 33 yards on the next drive and Evan Myers’ 2-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds left before the break signaled what was to come.
“Give Fleetwood a lot of credit,” Twin Valley second-year coach Brett Myers said. “They played really, really hard. They played a physical game in the first half. We didn’t have a great week of practice. It’s a great experience for us to learn. I’ve got to do a better job of getting our guys ready and not needing another team to help us be motivated to play well.”
The Raiders were ready in the second half as Engle scored on a 23-yard run and Johnson on an 18-yarder. Engle added a 66-yarder and Johnson a 97-yard burst in the fourth.
“Those two have really good feet and really good vision,” Myers said. “You’ll notice now they’re doing a really good job of running between the tackles. A year ago they were speed guys. Now they trust the scheme and linemen.”
Overall, the Raiders racked up 363 yards on the ground and 563 total as they aim to get back to the District 3 playoffs, where they hosted and won a game for the first time in program history last season.
First things first: Get through the L-L Section 3 gauntlet, which Twin Valley finished in fifth last season behind Lancaster sides Solanco, Elizabethtown, Garden Spot, and Ephrata. Those four are next up on the schedule.
“We’re just trying to build a healthy program,” Johnson said. “Our motto is ‘Be the change’ because younger kids are watching us. As soon as we had a big season last year, numbers are going up at the youth and middle school levels. We’re just trying to be the change for the youth and then they can hopefully come up in high school and have that same success that we’re having.”
Myers has seen success coaching at Middletown — he went 73-22 over eight seasons — and Twin Valley is trending in a good direction as it continues compiling a number of program firsts. Even better, the dynamic duo of Engle and Johnson are slated to be in the backfield next year.
“We talked last year about closing the gap on some really good teams,” Myers said about the 47-3 district semifinal loss to Bishop McDevitt, which had a few spectators in the stands donning Crusaders attire Friday. “When you spend time in the weight room together, you start building different relationships.
“That’s the ultimate goal, for them to have a good experience, enjoy being together, and play really hard. We’re working towards that.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Fleetwood | 3 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 19 |
| Twin Valley | 7 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Fleetwood | Maurek, 42 FG | 4:58 |
| 1 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 5 run (Frey kick) | 2:24 |
| 2 | Fleetwood | Maurek, 30 FG | 7:52 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Grundy, 44 pass from Myers (Frey kick) | 6:33 |
| 2 | Fleetwood | Brickle, 2 run (Riffle pass failed) | 3:27 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Myers, 1 run (Frey kick) | 0:22 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Engle, 23 run (Frey kick) | 10:10 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 18 run (Frey kick) | 2:59 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Engle, 66 run (Frey kick) | 10:08 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 97 run (Frey kick) | 3:44 |
| 4 | Fleetwood | Brickle, 66 run (Maurek kick) | 1:53 |
Team statistics
| Fleetwood | Twin Valley | |
| First downs | 16 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 35-239 | 31-363 |
| Passing yards | 113 | 200 |
| Total yards | 352 | 563 |
| Passes | 10-26-1 | 11-21-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-30 | 1-13 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-55 | 9-80 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Fleetwood: Brickle 26-181, McFarland 4-31, Riffle 3-16, Maddocks 2-11.
Twin Valley: Engle 12-197, Johnson 9-134, Myers 7-29, Rose 1-4, Murphy 1-0, Team 1-(-1).
PASSING
Fleetwood: Riffle 10-26-1–113.
Twin Valley: Myers 11-21-0–200.
RECEIVING
Fleetwood: Musitano 3-51, McFarland 3-25, Maddocks 3-14, Brickle 1-23.
Twin Valley: Rose 4-61, Grundy 3-87, Engle 2-27, Johnson 1-28, Winchester 1-(-3).
INTERCEPTIONSTwin Valley: Johnson.
