Raiders put it all on the line in quest for district championship
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Twin Valley’s season has been one continuous, loop of highlights: long touchdown runs, Pick-6’s, and kicks taken back to the house.
One of the plays that resonates most with Raiders head coach Brett Myers is a block on a 5-yard run at Wyomissing. No one scored on the play. No one was credited with a “pancake.”
It was just an effort play from Zach Troutman, an unheralded right tackle and relative newcomer to the game. The play epitomizes why the Raiders are still playing this deep into the season, prepping for a District 3 Class 4A championship game and state quarterfinal Friday against Susquehanna Township.
Troutman’s assignment was to seal off Andrew Bresnahan, one of the league’s top linemen, to create a running lane for Drew Engle. The 6-3, 335-pound Troutman locked horns with the 6-4, 210-pound Bresnahan; the two battled to the whistle, and beyond.
“They’re fighting the whole way to the sideline, both kids,” Myers said admiringly. “Neither one of them stopped competing. For Zach to understand (blocking) angles and his own body positioning enough to be able to fight with a kid who fights that hard . . . that was a special moment to me.”
A couple of years ago making such a play, in such a big game, would’ve been unimaginable for Troutman. He wasn’t interested in football. Despite possessing the kind of size that screams “offensive tackle” he had never played the sport. He was training to throw the shot put and discus when Myers spied him in the weight room.
One of the reasons Myers has been so successful at Twin Valley – his teams are 38-10 over past four seasons and have a program-record 12 wins to date – is because of his ability to “recruit” within his own school. He covets multi-sport athletes and will often approach baseball, lacrosse, or basketball players and ask them to return to football, or in the case of some, such as Troutman, to give it a try.
Troutman put on the pads for the first time as a sophomore. Last year, as a junior, he earned a starting spot. Now he’s playing an integral part in the best season in program history.
He calls his football experience “life-changing.” He’s in the best physical shape of his life, and his confidence has soared.
He admits the transition has not been easy. Adapting to football culture. Understanding the techniques and footwork that are so vital to line-play. Learning the plays, he says, has been harder for than figuring out proofs in geometry class. That stuff comes easily to a math whiz such as Troutman. Keeping an all-league linemen off your quarterback? Much more challenging.
“It’s been a long journey,” Troutman said. “I’m grateful for (former Twin Valley linemen) Carter Faubel and Aris Drake. They took me under their wing last year; they helped me be able to play how I’m playing now.”
The guy who lines up next to Troutman, right guard Andrew Boswell, has a similar underdog story. He was overlooked for most of his high school days; most of his playing time as a junior came at the JV level.
Boswell got tossed around at practice each day by the likes of Drake and Faubel, his all-league temmates, but he kept coming back for more. He was determined to prove himself.
“I wasn’t too confident in myself for most of last year,” Boswell said. “It really challenged (me). You needed true skill to go up against guys like that every day.”
Boswell, now 6-foot, 285, realized his path to a starting job went through the weight room, and he hit it hard. His strength and confidence grew throughout the offseason, and his coaches noticed.
So did Engle.
“Andrew works super-hard at practice, and it’s paid off well in games,” Engle said. “He’s grown so much throughout the season; it’s great to see that. He’s a lot more physical (now). His footwork’s come together throughout the year. It’s great to watch him grow.”
During preseason workouts Boswell’s 300-pound bench was second-highest on the team; his 475-pound squat ranked sixth. When the season opened Boswell was in the lineup along with Troutman, left tackle Liam Sheehan, center Noah DiGiacomo, and left tackle Greyson Miller.
The development of that group has been vital for a team that has scored more points than all but one team in the state, ranked No. 1 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League in total offense, and has produced a pair of 1,000-yard running backs, Engle and Lucas Myers.
Engle, a senior, has set just about every program record for rushing and scoring during a season that has seen him go for 1,574 yards and 33 TDs. Myers, a junior who alternates series with Engle, has rushed for 20 touchdowns and 1,020 yards. Each averages better than 10 yards per carry; none of the other 36 teams in the Lancaster-Lebanon League have a pair of primary backs who have done that.
Engle is easily one of the best all-around players in the entire league, and Lucas Myers isn’t far behind; they wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing right now if the bigs in front of them weren’t all doing their jobs.
“They’re super-hard workers and I appreciate all they do,” Engle said. “As the weeks go by, they keep building chemistry, keep getting better, learning from their mistakes. I keep trusting them more and more each week. It’s a great feeling running behind them.”
Miller, an all-league second-team pick as a junior, is the most accomplished of the group, and likely has the highest ceiling. He goes 6-1, 265, is a four-year starter, and routinely grades out of the highest of anyone.
“He plays with great hands and leverage,” Brett Myers said. “The thing that makes him special is his arm length. He has the wing span of 6-4 guy.”
The 5-11, 245-pound DiGiacomo is easily the strongest player on the team. He shares the school record with a 575-pound squat and is strong enough to bench press a Giant Panda.
“We’ve got a lot of hard-working kids, but he might be the hardest-working guy we’ve got,” Brett Myers said of DiGiacomo. “(In the summer), if our quarterbacks are setting up a (voluntary) throwing period, he shows up to snap. If somebody is talking about running hills, he’s there with them.”
Sheehan is first-year starter and the only junior in the group. At 6-5, 265 pounds he looks lean, but he’s one of the strongest on the team.
“His feet are really good,” Brett Myers said. “He does some things naturally as an athlete that not every big guy can do.”
After replacing three starters up front, two of them all-league picks, Myers naturally had concerns entering the season about his O-line. Those were dispelled quickly in a 49-19 opening win against a Berks Catholic team whose strength proved to be its defensive line.
“We knew we’d be OK (after that),” Myers said. “What’s kind of shocking is that this group hasn’t peaked yet, they haven’t plateaued. These guys are still improving every week; they want to get better.”
