Raiders’ Drew Engle is Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offensive Player of the Week
Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offensive Player of the Week
It was evident at an early age that Drew Engle was going to be a special football player.
“He was extremely physical for a young kid,” said Twin Valley football coach Brett Myers, who watched Engle throughout his youth playing days. “He never ran away from contact as a ballcarrier.
“A lot of times in little league the fast kid runs right, he runs left. Drew was that kid but he also looked for contact, which is unusual at that age, so you knew there was something there.”
Engle has shown that during a breakout sophomore season that has seen him rush for a program-record 1,436 yards.
He tacked on 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns Friday in a 35-7 win over Elco to earn Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.
He carried a career-high 24 times, cracked the 200-yard barrier for the second time and went over 100 yards for the seventh time, also believed to be a program record.
Engle suffered a foot injury late in a 35-34 midseason win over Garden Spot. He still managed to break off a game-tying 33-yard touchdown run with 1:22 left in that game, sending the Raiders to their biggest win of the season to date.
That injury slowed him the next two weeks; he had just six carries in those two games.
He began to return to form in Week 10, rushing for 120 yards on 11 carries in a win over Hatboro-Horsham.
The bye week Twin Valley earned as the No. 2 seed in the District 3 Class 4A tournament gave him a chance to heal further and get stronger.
“It was pretty clear once we got into the game he was going to be okay (and that he’s back to the top of his game),” Myers said of Friday’s performance.
“We saw it in practice, but you never know (how someone will respond in a game); we haven’t tackled him in practice (the last few weeks).”
Twin Valley’s opponents haven’t tackled Engle much during a season that has seen him score 15 touchdowns. At 5-10, 175 pounds he’s not big but he’s fast – he’s a sprinter on the track team — and tough to bring down.
“One guy doesn’t tackle him very often,” Myers said. “He has this knack where guys don’t get good hits on him. When they do, they usually fall.”
Engle opened the season with 192 rushing yards against Schuylkill Valley and followed it with 190 yards in a Week 2 win at Lower Dauphin.
In the four games in which he hasn’t topped 100 yards he has had eight carries or fewer in each. The first two of those were because the Raiders were up big early; the last two because he wasn’t running at 100 percent due to the injury.
Engle is one of just four ballcarriers in the Lancaster-Lebanon League (with 50 or more carries) who is averaging better than 10 yards per carry: Cocalico’s Aaryn Longenecker (13.5), Elco’s Jake Williams (11.2), Engle (10.72) and Exeter’s Jayden Zandier (10.69).
Engle is the first player selected Offensive Player of the Week twice this season. Schuylkill Valley’s Dominic Giuffre is the only other player selected twice, once on offense, once on defense.
Engle is Twin Valley’s fifth Player of the Week selection this season, along with Lucas Myers, Evan Johnson and Evan Myers.
Players considered for Player of the Week honors are nominated by their coaches or by members of the MikeDragoSports.com coverage team.
Also considered for Wyomissing Physical Therapy Offensive Player of the Week:
- Evan Myers, Twin Valley
- Greyson Miller, Twin Valley
- Ethan Brower, Wyomissing
- Logan Hyde, Wyomissing
- Ryker Jones, Wyomissing
Selected earlier this season:
- Week 1: Tyler Shuey, Hamburg
- Week 2: Tommy Hunsicker, Wilson
- Week 3: Dominic Giuffre, Schuylkill Valley
- Week 4: Jayden Zandier, Exeter
- Week 5: Drew Forrey, Wyomissing
- Week 6: Evan Johnson, Twin Valley
- Week 7: Drew Engle, Twin Valley
- Week 8: Jayden Zandier, Exeter
- Week 9: Czion Brickle, Fleetwood
- Week 10: Evan Myers, Twin Valley
- Week 11: Jack Riffle, Fleetwood
Players selected last season:
- Week 1: Gio Cavanna, Muhlenberg
- Week 2: Cam Jones, Wilson
- Week 3: Pierce Mason, Hamburg
- Week 4: Gio Cavanna, Muhlenberg
- Week 5: Josiah Jordan, Berks Catholic
- Week 6: Ruben Rodriguez, Reading High
- Week 7: Cam Jones, Wilson
- Week 8: Dominic Giuffre, Schuylkill Valley
- Week 9: Leland Moore, Hamburg
- Week 10: Cam Jones, Wilson
- Week 11: Pierce Mason, Hamburg
- Week 12: Evan Johnson, Twin Valley
