GoBigRecruiting.com Game of the Week: Twin Valley vs. Elizabethtown
Twin Valley (3-1) vs. Elizabethtown (4-0)
Kick: Friday, 7, at Twin Valley.
L-L Section 3 records: Twin Valley 1-0, Elizabethtown 0-0.
Series: First meeting.
Raiders update: Off to 3-1 start for second straight season and third time in five years after beating Fleetwood 42-14 last week. . . Led 42-0 at halftime. . . Evan Johnson scored three touchdowns and rushed for 145 yards. . . Drew Engle rushed for 71 yards and scored on a 39-yard run. . . All told, rushed for six TDs and 334 yards. . . Rank second among Section 3 teams in rushing at 241 yards per game. . . Johnson is averaging 7.9 yards per carry and has 6 TDs. . . QB Evan Myers is averaging 8.3 yards on 17 carries. . . Jaydon Goebel leads team with 56 rushing attempts and 308 rushing yards. . . Goebel ran for 118 yards in 28-16 Week 3 win over Conrad Weiser. . . Lone loss came in Week 2, 17-14 to Lower Dauphin when Brandon Fritz hit a 24-yard field goal with 1:19 left to snap tie. . . Rank last among Section 2 teams in total defense, allowing 355 yards per game, including 171 per game through the air. . . Despite all the yards allowed have not surrendered more than 17 points in any game and are allowing 14.8 points, third-lowest in Berks. .
Winning margin of 16.0 is fourth-highest in Berks. . . Finished 6-4 in the regular season last year and qualified for the District 3 Tournament for the first time.
Fast fact: Twin Valley beat Conrad Weiser Weiser 37-34 in double-overtime last year in Week 5 to improve to 4-1 for the first time in the program’s 26-year history.
Did you know? Elizabethtown QB Josh Rudy is the grandson of former Holy Name coach Skip Rudy and the son of former Conrad Weiser QB John Rudy. Skip Rudy coached the Blue Jays for eight seasons, winning I-C championships in 1979, 1980 and 1983. John Rudy quarterbacked the Scouts from 1988-90, setting a program record with 3,041 career passing yards.
Bears update: Averaging 42 points and a league-leading 506 total yards per game. . . Have scored five touchdowns or more in every game and have won every game by two TDs or more. . . Josh Rudy, a three-year starter at QB, is completing 75 percent of his passes for a league-leading 1,088 yards and 11 TDs, with no INTs. . . He is the top-rated passer in the league. . . Top target is WR Braden Cummings, who is averaging 26.5 yards on his 23 receptions with a stunning 10 TD receptions. . . Cade Capello has 23 receptions. . . Ranked No. 2 in Section 3 in total defense, allowing 209 yards per game, including just 96 per game on the ground. . . Returned four starters on O-line and most of top skills people, including including all-league WR Braden Cummings, from team that finished 4-6 last season. . . All-league DT Braden Burkholder returned to league the defense. . . . . Picked to finish in the middle of Section 3. . . Have not had a winning record since going 6-5 and qualifying for the District 3 Tournament in 2018. . . Ranked No. 2 in District 3 Class 5A power ratings, behind Solanco.
Did you know? The Raiders’ only league championship came in 2007 when they went 6-1 in Section 2 of the Berks Football League, tying for first place with Wyomissing. The Raiders beat the Spartans 34-14 in the regular season finale that season; their only league loss came to Hamburg in the section opener.
Did you know? First-year Elizabethtown coach Keith Stokes played wide receiver at East Carolina University and in the Canadian Football League, the Arena Football League and with the Reading Express of the Indoor Football League. He previously was an assistant coach at Coatesville, Manheim Township and McCaskey. Stokes replaced Andy Breault, a Hall of Fame QB at Kutztown University.
Quotable: “Coach Stokes brought in a lot more energy than we’ve ever had before.
“In years past we have been unfocused and everybody (was) doing their own thing. He’s really bringing a team aspect. We’ve been more together in a preseason than we’ve ever been before.” — Bears lineman Zack Lippold, to LancasterOnline.com.
| Section 3 standings | League | Overall | ||
| Solanco | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Twin Valley | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Garden Spot | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Elizabethtown | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Ephrata | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Fleetwood | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Daniel Boone | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
