Raiders close gap on unbeaten Pioneers, but not enough
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
LAMPETER — The gap between Twin Valley and Lampeter-Strasburg closed significantly over the last four weeks.
It was too wide, though, for the Raiders to fully overcome as they fell to the top-seeded Pioneers 31-13 Friday in a District 3 Class 4A semifinal.
The game resembled nothing of the 62-14 drubbing administered by the Pioneers (12-0) in Week 9. The fifth-seeded Raiders (9-3) were able to slow down quarterback Caileb Howse, who ran for 323 yards scored seven touchdowns the last time they met.
Howse was held to 66 yards rushing and didn’t reach the end zone; he threw for just 48 yards. Lampeter-Strasburg finished with 360 yards, a far cry from the 601 yards they rolled up last month.
“Our kids played so hard,” Twin Valley coach Brett Myers said. “Our defense played their tails off. In the end, I didn’t get our guys to close the gap enough from the last time we played. That’s a great team over there, give them all the credit in the world.”
The Raiders got off to another rough start when Lampeter’s Danny Weichler went 73 yards for a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage. The defense responded with three straight three-and-outs and gained field position with a superior punting game.
“Our defense played almost phenomenal, I would say,” Raiders quarterback Evan Myers said. “(We had) a couple big plays that kind of gave stuff away but I couldn’t ask more from anyone on that side of the ball.”
Twin Valley took advantage of good field position and scored on a Drew Engle 5-yard run to tie the game with 10:43 left in the first half. Engle missed the first matchup with a broken collarbone but returned last week after missing 10 games.
It was a quick response by the Pioneers that tempered upset hopes. Cole Lopez returned the ensuing kickoff 59 yards and two plays later Weichler scored on a 29-yard pass from Howse.
Lampeter-Strasburg tacked on another touchdown before the half on a drive that foreshadowed the second half. Dominic Brown ran seven times on the drive and accounted for 52 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown run to make it 21-7 with 1:03 left in the half. Brown finished with 29 carries for 183 yards and was used heavily in the second half to keep the clock running and the chains moving.
The Raiders did score once in the second half on an Evan Myers’ 1-yard run that made it 24-13 with 4:20 left in the third quarter; they couldn’t get closer.
“We have been playing together since we were 6 years old,” Evan Myers said. “We just wanted to see another week and unfortunately we didn’t have enough time and we didn’t prepare well enough to do so.”
The seniors played their last game but depart with four of the five winningest seasons in school history. Brett Myers is the winningest coach in school history at 26-10. His oldest son, Evan, leaves with 5,751 passing yards, second-most in Berks history.
The cupboard is not bare. Engle is back for his senior season and Myers’ youngest son Lucas, a running back and linebacker, will be a junior. Most of the defensive starters are underclassmen.
“The past four years have been an uphill trajectory for everyone,” Evan Myers said. “From a team that was going 0-10 and 2-8 to a playoff team. It has some people game-planning a little bit longer for us and it’s a good feeling. I’m excited for the guys for next year.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Twin Valley | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
| Lampeter-Strasburg | 7 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 31 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Weichler, 73 run (Fiorello kick) | 11;28 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Engle, 5 run (Shaffer kick) | 10:43 |
| 2 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Weichler, 29 pass from Howse (Fiorello kick) | 10:00 |
| 2 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Brown, 4 run (Fiorello kick) | 1:03 |
| 3 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Fiorello, 35 FG | 6:37 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | E. Myers, 1 run (run failed) | 4:20 |
| 3 | Lampeter-Strasburg | Fluhr, 8 pass from Howse (Fiorello kick) | :47 |
Team statistics
| Twin Valley | Lampeter-Strasburg | |
| First downs | 14 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 41-211 | 46-312 |
| Passing yards | 96 | 48 |
| Total yards | 307 | 360 |
| Passes | 12-24-2 | 2-9-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-39.33 | 4-32.50 |
| Penalties-yards | 10-62 | 7-55 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Twin Valley: Engle 18-83, E. Myers 11-66, Johnson 12-62.
Lampeter-Strasburg: Brown 29-183, Weichler 1-73, Howse 14-66, Team 2-(-10).
PASSING
Twin Valley: E. Myers 12-24-2—96.
Lampeter-Strasburg: Howse 2-9-0—48.
RECEIVING
Twin Valley: Grundy 5-9, Knight 3-56, Johnson 2-12, Hardy 1-13, Engle 1-6.
Lampeter-Strasburg: Weichler 1-29, Fluhr 1-19.
INTERCEPTIONS
Lampeter-Strasburg: Nolt, Howse.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Lampeter-Strasburg: Fiorello 39.
