Rough week of practice ends with fun night for resurgent Blazers
Football practice at Daniel Boone was not fun this week.
After a disappointing effort in a 35-point loss last week Blazers coach Rob Flowers made sure of that.
“Monday, it was a bit rough,” admitted junior center Reilly Mentzell. “We got a butt-whipping in the film room.”
The Blazers turned that around Friday night at Laureldale. It was their turn to do a little butt-whipping and they did, pounding Muhlenberg with a big second half for a 39-15 non-league victory.
“We worked so hard this week,” said junor tailback Ethan Kryman. “We brought the intensity, the aggressiveness, and we clicked.”
Kryman followed his big front wall for three touchdowns and 172 rushing yards and the Blazers (1-2) took their frustrations out on the Muhls (1-2), who hung in gamely for three quarters, even after quarterback Drew Fidler was knocked out of the game.
The Muhls got a 91-yard kickoff return from Jermicky Gumby to take a 15-9 lead in the second quarter but as the game wore on the Blazers took over up front and Kryman had plenty of working room.
The Blazers used halftime to work out adjustments against Muhlenberg’s three-man defensive front — Boone was expecting an even front — then pulled away at the end. They rushed for 157 yards in the second half and scored touchdowns on their final three possessions, the last two by hard-running senior Caden Tolosky.
“It took a bit for us to talk about (what Muhlenberg was doing defensively), see what we had to do differently,” said Mentzell. “We were running the ball hard and our guys were pushing to the whistle.”
The Muhls were spent over the final 20 minutes. They couldn’t stop any of Boone’s backs and they couldn’t make any headway against its defense. Muhlenberg netted minus-3 yards in the second half and managed just 76 for the game.
The Muhls took losses on 11 of their 37 plays, including a pair of safeties on their first possession of each half.
“They were determined to change the 77 points that they had given up,” Flowers said of his defense. “We reminded them about that. They played assignment football today, they were a little more physical, and there was a lot more energy.”
Flowers was disappointed in the effort the first two weeks, in losses to Exeter and Conestoga Valley. Last week it wasn’t so much the loss but the way in which the Blazers went down, allowing the final five touchdowns in a 42-7 loss. Not nearly enough fight for Flowers’ taste.
He and his coaching staff set about to light a fire, and they did.
“It was a tough week of practice, and we needed that,” said Kryman, who was just as dominant on the defensive side from his spot at inside linebacker as he was on offense. “The coaches were on our butts, but that’s what we needed to pull this off.
“We were executing and putting bodies on the ground. That was one of the biggest points of emphasis this week: Bodies on the ground. That means we don’t stop till the whistle blows, and that’s what happened tonight.”
The game turned for good in Boone’s favor when Kryman sacked Fidler in the end zone for a safety that made it 18-15. Fidler reinjured his left ankle and left the game.
After that the Muhls went with tailback Gio Cavanna at quarterback, running mostly out of the Wildcat, but by that point the Blazers had asserted their dominance up front and they weren’t about to let up.
Cavanna ran twice for a first down on his initial series but he was later picked off (the play was nullified by a roughing the passer call), then was sacked on consecutive plays late in the third quarter, the second of them on fourth down.
The Muhls didn’t get another first down until the final play of the game.
“That’s what we’ve been expecting to do since Week 1 against Exeter,” said Mentzell, “but until now we haven’t really seen it. We were satisfied with what we could do this week.”
The Blazers open Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 play next week against Garden Spot. They needed a big win to remind themselves that they’re good enought to contend for the section title.
“They got after it today,” said Flowers, “which was good — which was very good. The guys got the message this week as to how we have to move forward. I’m not saying we’re gonna win every game, or lose every game, but they got the message on how we have to play and what it has to look like.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Daniel Boone | 2 | 14 | 2 | 21 | 39 |
| Muhlenberg | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Daniel Boone | Safety, Cavanna tackled in end zone | 8:02 |
| 2 | Muhlenberg | Cavanna, 1 run (Madueno kick) | 10:45 |
| 2 | Daniel Boone | Kryman, 2 run (Brown kick) | 8:32 |
| 2 | Muhlenberg | Gumby, 91 kickoff return (Dodson run) | 8:14 |
| 2 | Daniel Boone | Kryman, 11 run (Brown kick) | 3:20 |
| 3 | Daniel Boone | Safety, Fidler tackled in end zone | 11:23 |
| 4 | Daniel Boone | Kryman, 6 run (Brown kick) | 11:23 |
| 4 | Daniel Boone | Tolosky, 26 run (Brown kick) | 7:00 |
| 4 | Daniel Boone | Tolosky, 12 run (Brown kick) | 2:44 |
Team statistics
| Daniel Boone | Muhlenberg | |
| First downs | 15 | 7 |
| Rushes-yards | 49-257 | 31-40 |
| Passing yards | 4 | 36 |
| Total yards | 261 | 76 |
| Passes | 1-7-1 | 5-6-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Punts-average | 1-30.0 | 2-14.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-52 | 11-90 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Daniel Boone: Kryman 32-172, Tolosky 9-84, Souder 4-13, Lacey 2-2, Rotter 2-(-14).
Muhlenberg: Cavanna 13-20, Gumby 5-14, Cruz 6-13, Fiddler 4-4, Rosario 1-(-1), Dodson 1-(-3), Madueno 1-(-7).
PASSING
Daniel Boone: Rotter 1-7-1–4.
Muhlenberg: Fiddler 3-4-0–45, Cavanna 1-1-0-(-12), Dodson 1-1-0-3.
RECEIVING
Daniel Boone: Errington 1-4.
Muhlenberg: Gumby 3-5, Clemson 1-28, Cavanna 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS
Muhlenberg: Gumby.
