Exeter rebounds from tough losses, heads into playoffs with momentum
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Matt Hagy — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
To say the last few weeks have been challenging for Exeter is an understatement. The Eagles experienced two gut-wrenching losses — to Hempfield and Conestoga Valley — that saw them lose control of both Lancaster-Lebanon Section 2 and prime position in the District 3 5A rankings.
| Final | |
| Exeter | 42 |
| Elizabethtown | 7 |
Friday night at Don Thomas Stadium the Eagles were in complete control of their regular season finale against Elizabethtown. They used a balanced offense and overpowering defense to move past the Bears 42-7.
“These last two weeks have tested our kids mettle,” Exeter head coach Matt Bauer said. “These kids put together great performances the past two weeks despite the end results, and we were not going to be denied tonight.”
Leo Brown was in the spotlight for Exeter (5-1, 8-2) as it entered the final regular season game against Elizabethtown (2-4, 5-5).
Brown had recorded over 200 rushing yards in all three previous games during the month of October, including a career-high 305 yards last week against Conestoga Valley. Entering Friday’s game, he was 256 yards shy of reaching the 2,000-yard mark, poised to become the second straight Exeter running back to achieve the mark, following Jayden Zandier last season.
Brown got his yards against Elizabethtown, 156 yards to be exact, on 30 carries, but two of his fellow senior classmates were also a big part of the story.
Quarterback Jake Hafer threw for a career-high four touchdown passes and finished with 185 yards on 10-of-16 passing. Hafer nearly accounted for five touchdowns but had a touchdown run in the second quarter nullified due to a holding penalty.
“We wanted to challenge him a little bit to add a little bit more balance to our attack,” Bauer said. “We asked him to do so much since he converted from wide receiver within a week last year and he has delivered in big games for us.”
While Hafer and Brown were cruising on offense, Joel Ummarino was anchoring a dominant effort by the offensive and defensive lines. Ummarino finished with four tackles, a sack, and had multiple pressures on Elizabethtown quarterback Trent Kauffman.
“We were highly motivated tonight,” Ummarino said. “I had a pit in my stomach from these last two games and did everything we needed to do to dominate tonight.”
Ummarino was awarded a game ball for his two-way effort and drew high praise from offensive line coach Chris Badinger, who has seen his fair share of talented lineman to come through Exeter.
“He (Joel) is the best high school offensive lineman I have ever coached,” Badinger said.
The Eagles went 2-for-2 on offensive drives to open the game and took a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter behind a pair of Hafer touchdown passes to Braylon Reinert and Jayden Ware. Exeter maintained its lead behind its defense, allowing just one first down in the first half.
That allowed Hafer to extend the Eagles lead with a late first-half drive that resulted in a 30-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds left to Jake Franek, who made a brilliant catch over his defender that gave the Eagles a 21-0 halftime lead.
“I felt comfortable in the pocket tonight and found some openings in their defense,” Hafer said. “My offensive line gave me all the time in the world to be successful tonight.”
The Eagles snuffed out an Elizabethtown onside kick to start the second half and Hafer tossed his fourth touchdown pass, this time to Aidan Dauble, from 4 yards out to put Exeter up 28-0.
| SECTION 2 | League | Overall |
| Conestoga Valley | 6-0 | 10-0 |
| Exeter | 5-1 | 8-2 |
| Muhlenberg | 4-2 | 8-2 |
| Ephrata | 3-3 | 6-4 |
| Elizabethtown | 2-4 | 5-5 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 1-5 | 3-7 |
| Lebanon | 0-7 | 0-10 |
Brown finished off the Eagles romp with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns
“This is a special group and a special group of seniors as well,” Bauer said. “To get contributions from so many different guys tonight I wish I could have given out six game balls.”
Elizabethtown got on the board late in the third quarter with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Trent Kauffman to Carter Burgos that made it 28-7.
The win unofficially locks up a home game next week in the District 3 5A playoff home game next Friday night for the Eagles and they will find out their opponent when pairings are announced on Sunday.
“It’s a new season now and it is win-or-go-home the rest of the way,” Bauer said. “We have to go back to work tomorrow but we are just so thrilled to have at least another game at home.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Elizabethtown | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Exeter | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Exeter | Reinert, 15 pass from Hafer (Franek kick) | 4:36 |
| 2 | Exeter | Ware, 31 pass from Hafer (Franek kick) | 2:04 |
| 2 | Exeter | Franek, 30 pass from Hafer (Franek kick) | 0:39 |
| 3 | Exeter | Dauble, 4 pass from Hafer (Franek kick) | 8:26 |
| 3 | Elizabethtown | Burgos, 5 pass from Kauffman (N’dikwe kick) | 5:22 |
| 4 | Exeter | Brown, 2 run (Franek kick) | 10:01 |
| 4 | Exeter | Brown, 10 run (Franek kick) | 9:40 |
Team statistics
| ELIZABETHTOWN | EXETER | |
| First downs | 4 | 19 |
| Rushes-yards | 18-8 | 40-185 |
| Passing yards | 84 | 185 |
| Total yards | 92 | 370 |
| Passes | 9-18-1 | 10-16-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 3-1 |
| Punts-average | 5-32.8 | 1-31.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-46 | 6-50 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Elizabethtown: Wratto 11-21, Yohn 1-0, Kauffman 6-(-13).
Exeter: Brown 30-156, Dasilvio 2-9, Hafer 4-7, Jackson 2-6, Dauble 1-5, N. Kozik 1-2.
PASSING
Elizabethtown: Kauffman 8-17-1–46, G. Shank 1-1-0–38.
Exeter: Hafer 10-16-0–185.
RECEIVING
Elizabethtown: Wratto 3-16, B. Shank 2-39, N’dikwe 2-25, Burgos 2-4.
Exeter: Ware 3-52, Dauble 2-53, Franek 2-39, Reinert 2-32, Bonslaver 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS
Exeter: Ware
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Exeter: Franek 36.
