Greyson Miller, Raiders put it all on the line in district playoff win over Elco
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Regardless of whether Twin Valley was on offense or defense, No. 63 was making plays.
Greyson Miller impacted the game on both sides of the ball a la Chuck Bednarik in the Raiders’ 35-7 District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal victory over Elco Friday night at chilly, damp Elverson.
No. 2 Twin Valley moves on to play No. 3 Manheim Central, a 38-21 winner over Susquehanna Township, in the semifinals Friday back at Twin Valley Stadium.
“It’s a blessing that I’m able to contribute on both sides of the ball,” Miller said. “There are a lot of good players around me on both sides.”
The stat book shows some gaudy numbers for Twin Valley’s stable of talented backs and a first half in which Elco’s record-breaking Jake Williams was bottled up, but what doesn’t show is the work from the big boys up front.
Miller was relentless in pulling from his guard position to pancake Elco defenders and open up holes for Drew Engle (203 yards, two touchdowns), Evan Myers (97 yards, touchdown), and Evan Johnson (50 yards, touchdown).
Defensively, he was in the middle of the line holding Williams, who has rushed for over 2,000 yards this season, to only 44 rushing yards and 3.1 yards per carry in the first half as Twin Valley (10-1) jumped out to a big lead.
“Both sides are really physical,” Miller said. “Our coaches do a good job of teaching us both sides. There’s just some differences in technique.”
Miller is only a sophomore but in football years he’s not a newbie. He started as a freshman on a Twin Valley team that hosted and won its first District 3 playoff game.
“Greyson is a really hard-working kid,” Twin Valley coach Brett Myers said. “He’s in his second year as a starter so you can’t really say he’s young anymore. He probably has 20 starts under his belt. He just has a really strong point of attack and loves to play. Kinda like the rest of our linemen: They just like to work.”
The winner along the lines was the X factor coming into Friday. Miller, Paul McClune, Aris Drake, Noah Roehm, and Sam Donnellan won offensively. Miller, Ben Savidge, Markell Norris, Ean Winchester and Kyle Kline won defensively.
Players such as Miller are perfect examples of the new football culture in Elverson. Work hard, be humble, and give no mind to who leads the stat book at the end of the night. As long as there’s a ‘W’ at the end of the night.
“It’s really cool to have the whole community behind us,” Miller said. “It’s a great opportunity. We’re just going to keep pushing.”
Eighth-seeded Elco (8-4) had the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s top rusher, Williams, who had gone for 251 yards and three scores in a first-round win over Big Spring.
Twin Valley made sure that didn’t happen again.
Williams was held to 44 yards on 14 carries in the first half while Engle, who broke the program rushing earlier record this season, rushed for 118 yards and two scores in the first half as Twin Valley built a 28-0 lead.
“He’s a special running back,” Myers said of Williams. “Our defensive line did a great job of containing him. We’ve got some pretty good running backs, too.”
Engle scored on a 6-yard rush at the 3:48 mark. Ean Winchester pounded in a 2-yarder with eight seconds left after Evan Myers hit Ben Grundy for a 57-yard gain.
Engle scored his second TD from 2 yards out with 8:10 left and Myers, who broke the program career passing record Friday, scored on a 52-yard run with 1:44 left in the first half.
Evan Johnson, another 1,000-yard rusher for Twin Valley, scored from the 5 with 3:10 left in the third to enact the running clock.
Williams finally found room for a 47-yard TD dash on the first play of the fourth quarter.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Elco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Twin Valley | 14 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Twin Valley | Engle, 6 run (Frey kick) | 3:48 |
| 1 | Twin Valley | Winchester, 2 run (Frey kick) | 0:08 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Engle, 2 run (Frey kick) | 8:10 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Myers, 52 run (Frey kick) | 1:44 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 5 run (Frey kick) | 3:10 |
| 4 | Elco | Williams, 47 run (Gensamer kick) | 11:51 |
Team statistics
| Elco | Twin Valley | |
| First downs | 7 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 32-200 | 48-358 |
| Passing yards | 29 | 92 |
| Total yards | 229 | 450 |
| Passes | 2-15-0 | 6-11-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-0 | 3-1 |
| Punts-average | 7-30.9 | 2-33 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-50 | 3-25 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Elco: Williams 22-168, Bicher 2-17, Rosado 4-10, Team 1-7, Frederick 1-3, Gensamer 1-0, Kreider 1-(-5).
Twin Valley: Engle 24-203, Myers 6-97, Johnson 12-50, Winchester 3-20, Team 3-(-12).
PASSING
Elco: Rosado 2-14-0—29, Kreider 0-1-0—0.
Twin Valley: Myers 6-11-1—92.
RECEIVING
Elco: Frederick 1-29, Kreider 1-0.
Twin Valley: Johnson 2-2, Grundy 1-57, Winchester 1-16, Rhoads 1-12, Pinciotti 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS
Elco: Kreider.
