Given time to re-think, Raiders decide to go for the win, get first 6-0 start
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
QUARRYVILLE — Evan Myers and Evan Johnson quieted a raucous Solanco crowd with a 71-yard touchdown hookup that cut the Twin Valley’s deficit to one point with 25.6 seconds remaining Friday night.
Initially, Twin Valley coach Brett Myers decided to kick the extra point and play for overtime. But Solanco coach Tony Cox called timeout after the teams aligned for the kick attempt and gave Myers time to reconsider. Myers turned the decision over to his players and they decided to go for the lead.
Ean Winchester rewarded his teammates’ brave decision with a strong run over the left side to convert for a wild 29-28 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 victory.
“I wanted to talk to the kids and they wanted to run it left,” Brett Myers said. “They called the play, I didn’t. They called the formation, they knew everything.”
What no one knew was that these two teams on seemingly different trajectories would play such a tightly contested game.
The Raiders (3-0, 6-0) are tied for the Section 3 lead and are the top ranked offense in the league. The Golden Mules (1-5) are struggling after a historic 10-0 regular season. Twin Valley struggled against the physical Solanco offense and their monster center Gavin Cox. The Raiders’ defense faced an astounding 80 plays and gave up 440 yards.
“Their center is the best football player on the field,” Brett Myers said. “He is an outstanding player. Their fullback is their best back.
“If you are going to be a hard-nosed team you better be strong up the middle and they are strong up the middle. I know what their record is and that’s not who they are.”
The fullback is Johnny Garcia, who ran for 165 yards on 30 carries.
The Raiders have some backs, too. Drew Engle and Johnson are the top two rushers in Section 3 and they piled up huge numbers again on limited touches as the Raiders only ran 31 plays.
Johnson had 122 yards on eight carries and Engle had 118 yards on nine carries. They were the catalysts for an offense that only scored seven points in the first half.
Engle raced 62 yards on their first offensive play of the second half for his second touchdown to break a 7-7 tie. Two possessions later Johnson went 63 yards for a touchdown to regain the lead at 21-20. They ran a total of four plays in the third quarter but scored 14 points.
The Raiders needed every bit of the effort since Solanco scored on two straight drives in the third quarter. The first touchdown was a pretty 24-yard pass by Austin Jarabak reeled in with one hand by Austin Wegner. Solanco then had a short field to work with after a Bradley Weder interception and again it was Wegner on a 5-yard slant from Jarabak on fourth-and-goal.
It appeared the Raiders were going to get the ball back with 3:59 left to play and with a one-point lead. Solanco ran a fake punt against a Twin Valley punt safe formation and converted the fourth-and-8.
The Mules finished the 11-play drive with a pitch to Kris Burgos for a 4-yard touchdown. The defense collapsed on Garcia and Burgos walked in for a 26-21 lead. They added the two-point conversion to make it 28-21 and only needed to hold off the Raiders for one minute or four downs.
They could do neither. Faced with third-and-11 and 30 seconds to play, the Raiders never lost faith.
“We just worry about the next play,” Evan Myers said. “If there is time left on the board, we are going to play football until the horn (sounds).”
Twin Valley is now 13-5 under Myers, who took over in 2022. The program has never had more than seven wins in a season but the change is evident and can be heard in the players’ voices.
“It all started over winter,” Johnson said. “It starts in the weight room, all the hard work we’ve been through. It’s nine weeks since mini-camp has come and we just put all our effort, nine weeks, into that one play.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Twin Valley | 7 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 29 |
| Solanco | 0 | 7 | 13 | 8 | 28 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Twin Valley | Engle, 1 run (Frey kick) | 5:51 |
| 2 | Solanco | Weder, 9 pass from Jarabak (Lenhart kick) | 0:30 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Engle, 62 run (Frey kick) | 9:03 |
| 3 | Solanco | Wenger, 24 pass from Jarabak (Lenhart kick) | 4:59 |
| 3 | Solanco | Wenger, 5 pass from Jarabak (kick failed) | 0:57 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 63 run (Frey kick) | 0:38 |
| 4 | Solanco | Burgos, 4 run (Bangura run) | 1:08 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 71 pass from E. Myers (Winchester run) | 0:26 |
Team statistics
| Twin Valley | Solanco | |
| First downs | 11 | 25 |
| Rushes-yards | 18-236 | 64-308 |
| Passing yards | 144 | 132 |
| Total yards | 380 | 440 |
| Passes | 9-13-1 | 10-16-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-27 | 2-22 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-50 | 7-55 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Twin Valley: Johnson 8-122, Engle 9-118, Myers 1-(-4).
Solanco: Garcia 30-165, Burgos 6-43, Jarabak 18-39, Forren 8-33, Nolan 1-29, Team 1-(-1).
PASSING
Twin Valley: E. Myers 9-13-1–144.
Solanco: Jarabak 9-13-0–117, Weder 1-2-0–15, Sensenig 0-1-0–0.
RECEIVING
Twin Valley: Rose 4-40, Johnson 2-72, Engle 1-30, Grundy 1-3, Winchester 1-(-1).
Solanco: Burgos 6-83, Wenger 2-29, Lenhart 1-11, Weder 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS
Solanco: Weder.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Twin Valley: Hafer 46.
