Season Preview: Twin Valley Raiders
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Classification: Class 4A
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 3
Schedule: Click here
Last season: 3-3 Section 3, 7-5 overall
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2022
Head coach: Brett Myers, second season, 7-5 (101-75 overall in 15 seasons, including eight seasons at Middletown and six season at Pottstown).
Key losses: All-League FB/P Jaydon Goebel, all-league C Masen Ketner, FB/LB Nick Harris, LB Kelley Styer, WR Josh Zolty.
Top offensive players: QB Evan Myers (1,204 passing yards, 502 rushing yards), RB Evan Johnson (993 yards), RB and all-league KR Drew Engle, RB Jordan Rose, WR Justin Pinciotti, WR Tristen Bailey, WR Markos Karros, all-league TE Ean Winchester, C Noah Roehm, G Paul McClune, G Greyson Miller, T Aris Drake, T Sam Donnellan, all-league PK Sam Frey.
Top defensive players: E Ben Savidge, E Kyle Kline, T Ean Winchester, NG Markell Norris, LB Jacob Bachman, S Ethan Ameisen, S Julian Mendez, SS Ben Spiri, SS Mason Marks, all-league CB Evan Johnson, all-league CB Drew Engle, DB Jordan Rose.
Did you know? The Raiders set a program scoring record last season, averaging 32.2 points per game. They scored 40 or more points four times and scored at least two TDs in every game.
For the record: Evan Johnson broke the program record for touchdowns in a season last year as a sophomore, with 17.
Quotable: “We want to play a style of football that makes our community proud. If we look too far ahead we’re gonna miss an opportunity to do that. In the end, what’s on paper doesn’t matter. It’s whether we can put it out on the field.” – Raiders coach Brett Myers.
Outlook: The Raiders didn’t have their head coach last season until July; four months later they were playing their first District 3 home game – and winning it, also a first for the program.
Brett Myers already knew the ins and outs of the program when he took over, having lived in the Twin Valley school district for years and having his oldest son, Evan, already playing quarterback.
It didn’t take Myers long to get things cranked up in Morgantown and few were surprised when he did. The architect of three straight district championship teams at Middletown hit the ground running and had a very short learning curve at his new stop.
The Raiders matched the program record for wins in a season and showed they were an up-and-coming contender by battling Solanco and Elizabethtown – the top two teams in Section 3 – to the wire despite a senior-thin young roster.
Now they’re a year older, battle-tested after a pair of playoff games and positioned to win their first league championship since 2007.
Evan Myers, a heady performer and dual threat, returns as a three-year starter at quarterback and is surrounded by talented playmakers and what might be the biggest offensive line in the entire 37-team Lancaster-Lebanon League.
That front wall features 6-6, 295-pound third-year tackle Aris Drake and 6-4, 295-pound second-team all-league guard Paul McClune – a four-year starter. Both have scholarship potential.
Mix in 6-2, 265-pound second-team all-league tight end Ean Winchester – also a potential college recruit — and the Raiders average 6-3, 281 pounds across the front. That will be difficult to contend with.
“In high school football, blocking and tackling wins,” said Myers of his simple plan to physically overwhelm Twin Valley’s opponents.
The Raiders have the guys to do that and the personnel in the backfield to take advantage of it. Evan Johnson set a program record with 17 TDs last season, averaged 8.6 yards per carry and nearly went for 1,000 yards despite just 115 touches. He’s got breakaway speed, as he displayed in the playoffs against Milton Hershey when he broke off scoring runs of 60, 68 and 42 yards.
“He’s got wheels,” Brett Myers said.
So does Drew Engle, who will be a factor in all three phases of the game and will spell Johnson in the backfield.
The Raiders are deeper – Myers pulled in 10 more players – and more experienced than a year ago and found out by battling half-a-dozen playoff-caliber teams what it takes to win at this level.
“They understand what they’re getting into now,” Myers said.
At the wire: Clear favorite in Section 3, ahead of Garden Spot, Ephrata and defending champ Solanco, which graduated 23 seniors, 17 starters and 15 all-league players.
