Fast-starting Eagles will have to wait until Saturday to finish game vs. Lions
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mick Reinhard — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
YORK — Exeter led 14-0 in the final minute of the first quarter Friday at West York but will have to wait another day before putting another notch in the win column.
On-field officials initially halted play due to lightning and ultimately suspended the game until Saturday at 11 a.m.
After West York’s opening kickoff went out of bounds, the Exeter offense began a promising first drive as Pharrell Caceres barreled 17 yards out of the backfield for a first down.
On the next play quarterback Riley Martinez connected on a 23-yard strike to push the drive deep into Exeter territory. But the Eagles turned it over when West York’s Daegan Trostle recovered the loose ball after a muffed handoff.
The Exeter defense stifled the West York attack, forcing three-and-outs on all Bulldog possessions. In doing so, the Eagles won the field position battle when punter Nate Pashley boomed a 41-yard punt to pin West York at its 2-yard line.
After failing to convert a first down, the Bulldogs punted out of their end zone to the 30-yard line, giving Exeter a short field with which to work.
A 10-yard screen pass to Genuine Stutzman picked up a first down and put the Eagles in the red zone. With the West York defense bunched up the middle, Jayden Zandier swept around the left tackle to find the end zone from 11 yards out to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
Another three-and-out by West York again gave Exeter good field position. With the Bulldog defense dropped back into coverage on third-and-long, Caceres took a handoff through the line of scrimmage. The junior running back followed a lead block from Stutzman, freeing him up for a 44-yard score with under a minute remaining in the first quarter.
The officials decided to pull the teams off the field after Casey Gerhart converted the point after touchdown.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Exeter | 14 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 49 |
| West York | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Exeter | J. Zandier, 11 run (Franek kick) | 3:16 |
| 1 | Exeter | Caceres, 44 run (Franek kick) | :44 |
| 2 | Exeter | Paschall, 4 run (Franek kick) | 6:58 |
| 2 | West York | Anderson, 9 run (Recber kick) | 4:00 |
| 2 | Exeter | J. Zandier, 32 run (Franek kick) | 3:30 |
| 2 | Exeter | Caceres, 6 run (Franek kick) | 2:01 |
| 3 | Exeter | Stutzman, 30 pass from R. Martinez (Franek kick) | 10:28 |
| 3 | Exeter | Martinez, 7 run (Franek kick) | 4:18 |
| 4 | West York | Lightner, 6 pass from I. Roberts (Recbar kick) | :12 |
Team statistics
| Exeter | West York | |
| First downs | 10 | 10 |
| Rushes-yards | 27-200 | 36-123 |
| Passing yards | 128 | 78 |
| Total yards | 328 | 201 |
| Passes | 7-100–128 | 7-14-2–78 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Punts-average | 1-41.0 | 5-27.8 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-35 | 7-70 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Exeter: Caceres 6-87, Z. Paschall 7-55, J. Zandier 5-53, Boston 2-8, Redding 1-2, Martinez 4-(-2), Ware 2-(-3).
West York: Kirkpatrick 8-55, Roberts 13-54, Anderson 2-7, Gray 3-6, Welch 1-2, Cain 2-1, Harris 6-0, Madden 1-(-2).
PASSING
Exeter: Martinez 7-10-0 128.
West York: Roberts 7-14-2 78.
RECEIVING
Exeter: Z. Zandier 2-49, Stutzman 2-40, Pashley 3-39.
West York: Moore 3-64, Anderson 2-13, Lightner 1-6, Gray 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS
Exeter: Oswald, Pinero.
