Joey Schlaffer comes up big as Exeter stays perfect with win over Gov. Mifflin
All of the offensive plays Exeter runs are designed, then practiced over and over again until the execution becomes routine.
Every now and then, though, you’ve gotta let the kids ball out a little on their own, and that’s what Joey Schlaffer and Mason Rotelli did on the play that put the Eagles in command Friday on the way to a 36-6 win at Gov. Mifflin.
A run was called on the sideline but the guys on the field thought differently.
“We both agreed, we’ve gotta take a shot here,” Schlaffer said.
Rotelli, the quarterback, ended up taking a big shot; he got rid of the ball a heartbeat before blitzing linebacker Chase Huber crashed into him.
He didn’t have time to put the ball on the money, but with a guy such as Schlaffer, who’s 6-7, agile, athletic and strong, that’s not always needed. A jump ball looks like a perfect spiral in the boxscore.
“He got it where it needed to be,” said Schlaffer, who soared above two defenders to snatch the ball along the sideline, iniside the 10, then bulldozed his way toward the end zone, carrying a pair of Mustangs with him to complete a 31-yard touchdown that put the Eagles up 22-6 late in the third quarter.
“It doesn’t matter how you draw it up,” Schlaffer said “as long as you get the six.”
A jump ball is generally not a high-percentage play but with Schlaffer doing the jumping for your team it’s always a good bet.
“I like our odds,” said Eagles coach Matt Bauer with a laugh.
“You’ve gotta trust the guy,” Rotter said. “I gave him a shot and he came down with the touchdown. You saw it last year, you’ve seen it this year.”
Schlaffer, a Penn State tight end recruit, tormented the Mustangs (0-1, 1-3) all night in this Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 opener. He ran for an early touchdown, threw a completion off a flea flicker and caught four balls.
The Mustangs, like every other team that’s faced the state-ranked Eagles (1-0, 4-0), didn’t know what to do with him or how to stop him. He lined up at wide receiver, tight end and in the backfield. He made plays from everywhere.
So did Eagles safety Nathan Pashley. He knocked down a potential scoring pass in the red zone in the second quarter, intercepted a pass in Exeter territory late in the first half and recovered a fumble at the Eagles’ 25 late in third quarter with the Mustangs still within striking distance, trailing by 16.
“He did it all,” Bauer said. “He’s one of the few kids I’ve had in my 14 years that’s gotten a game ball in back-to-back weeks.”
Pashley, along with linebackers Lucas Palange and Jonathan Martin and tackle Anthony Caccese, spearheaded a defensive effort that limited the Mustangs to 47 first-half rushing yards and kept them off the scoreboard until midway through the third quarter.
Quarterback Delsin McNeil finished off Mifflin’s best drive of the night — 67 yards in 11 plays — with a 1-yard sneak, cutting Exeter’s lead to 15-6 with 6:45 left in the third quarter. The touchdown was the first scored this season against the Eagles’ first-team defense.
A couple minutes later it was a 16-point game again after the last segment of Schlaffer’s highlight tape — the jump ball — was recorded.
He had a hand in two big plays that put the Eagles up 15-0 late in the first half. First, he took a toss in the backfield, ran around right end, then pulled up and threw a 29-yard flea flicker to Carter Redding, to the Mifflin 16. He finished the drive with a 9-yard run around left end, stretching the ball over the goal line, to extend the lead to 15 points with 2:52 left in the second quarter.
He enjoyed lining up in the backfield and getting a chance to lower his shoulder and run with the ball.
“I read the blocks well,” he said. “Our guys did a good job of blocking up front like they always do. It felt nice running the ball there.”
Rotelli got a chance to run a little more than usual. He went for 90 yards on 13 carries — each a season high — not all of them designed plays. He had to handle several erratic Shotgun snaps from center and decided not to mess around with them.
“(On those) I just want to take it and go and get what I can get out of those plays,” he said.
His two touchdown runs, of 5 and 27 yards, were designed plays; the second of them, with 10:03 left in the game, pushing Exeter’s lead to 29-6.
Richie Karstien’s 28-yard run to midfield started Exeter’s final scoring drive. He finished with 19 carries on 137 yards. All told the Eagles ran for 292 yards.
“It was an emotional, hard-fought game,” said Bauer. “We had a great effort from our kids, and that’s all I can ask.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Exeter | 0 | 15 | 7 | 14 | 36 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Scoring summary
| 2 | Exeter | Rotelli, 5 run (Redding run) | 9:40 |
| 2 | Exeter | Schlaffer, 9 run (Zandier kick) | 2:52 |
| 3 | Gov. Mifflin | D. McNeil, 1 run (run failed) | 6:45 |
| 3 | Exeter | Schlaffer, 31 pass from Rotelli (Zandier kick) | 4:20 |
| 4 | Exeter | Rotelli, 27 run (Zandier kick) | 10:03 |
| 4 | Exeter | Robinson, 5 run (Zandier kick) | 4:16 |
Team statistics
| Exeter | Gov. Mifflin | |
| First downs | 21 | 13 |
| Rushes-yards | 45-292 | 35-140 |
| Passing yards | 122 | 121 |
| Total yards | 414 | 261 |
| Passes | 7-10-0 | 5-13-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-1 | 4-1 |
| Punts-average | 1-30.0 | 2-31.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 13-86 | 7-75 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Exeter: Karstien 19-137, Rotelli 13-90, Robinson 9-59, Schlaffer 1-9, Team 3-(-3).
Gov. Mifflin: Reis 11-56, D. McNeil 14-32, T. Harter 2-23, Martin 3-20, Jones 2-8, Pletz 2-1, Garner 1-0.
PASSING
Exeter: Rotelli 6-9-0–93, Schlaffer 1-1-0-29.
Gov. Mifflin: D. McNeil 5-12-1–121, Martin 0-1-0-00.
RECEIVING
Exeter: Schlaffer 4-62, Zandier 2-31, Redding 1-29.
Gov. Mifflin: Parker 2-69, Huber 1-20, G. McNeil 1-16, T. Harter 1-16.
INTERCEPTIONS
Exeter: Pashley.