Shakespeare pens a tragic ending for Daniel Boone
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Pete Beck — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Even the fastest cars off the starting line are sometimes slow to the finish.
That was the case for Daniel Boone Friday night.
The Blazers were unable to overcome costly penalties, losing 22-16 to Elizabethtown in overtime in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 game at Brazinsky Stadium.
Daniel Boone had its chances to put the game away early.
Senior quarterback Dean Rotter led the Blazers (0-3, 1-5) on two first-quarter scoring drives, both ending in Anthony High touchdown catches. Rotter began the game 12-for-12 for 140 yards and the two scores, taking a 13-7 lead after the first quarter.
From then on, however, the finely tuned Blazers attack started to sputter.
The Blazers were unable to contain the pressure brought by Elizabethtown’s middle linebacker Brady Yohn, which forced Rotter off his spot and interrupted the timing and tempo of the Blazer passing attack and stifled the running game.
Add 11 penalties for 110 yards to the mix and the Blazer offense ground to a halt.
“Dean played a great game tonight,” said first-year coach JD Okuniewski. “But we struggled to run the ball.
“We couldn’t run to the outside or the middle and we became very one-dimensional.”
The Blazers lost senior wide receiver and captain Ethan Kryman for the season last week to a leg injury but Okuniewski shouldered the responsibility for his team’s errors.
“I have to do a better job preparing some of the sophomores we have playing now to be ready to go on Friday night,” he said. “We can’t have that number of penalties and expect to win.”
The Bears didn’t do themselves any favors with 10 penalties, but Elizabethtown (1-1, 1-5) was able to make plays when it needed them the most.
Faced with a third-and-10 from their 1 yard line, sophomore quarterback Trent Kauffman found Avery Kopcha for a 48-yard reception, which set up the eventual game-tying field goal eight plays later.
The tide turned for good on the first play of overtime, which saw Elizabethtown flanker Saequan Shakespeare take a direct snap for a 10-yard touchdown.
After the ensuing point-after was blocked Shakespeare intercepted Rotter’s first-down pass attempt, securing the Bears’ first of the season.
“Our team played hard tonight,” said Okuniewski, “but we have to play cleaner football to win.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final | |
| Elizabethtown | 7 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 22 |
| Daniel Boone | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Elizabethtown | Cintron, 9 pass from Kauffman (Fuge kick) | 8:10 |
| 1 | Daniel Boone | High, 21 pass from Rotter (Aidukas kick) | 6:08 |
| 1 | Daniel Boone | High, 7 pass from Rotter (kick blocked) | 2:01 |
| 2 | Elizabethtown | Moran, 60 pass from Kauffman (kick blocked) | 4:55 |
| 3 | Daniel Boone | Aidukas, 27 FG | 7:26 |
| 4 | Elizabethtown | Fuge, 30 FG | 7:05 |
| OT | Elizabethtown | Shakespeare, 10 run (kick blocked) | 0:00 |
Team statistics
| Elizabethtown | Daniel Boone | |
| First downs | 9 | 10 |
| Rushes-yards | 20-32 | 24-13 |
| Passing yards | 271 | 293 |
| Total yards | 303 | 306 |
| Passes | 17-42-0 | 19-35-2 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Punts-average | 5-27.2 | 5-34 |
| Penalties-yards | 10-90 | 11-110 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Elizabethtown: Kauffman 9-23, Capello 2-16, Citron 1-5, Steffe 1-1, Moran 5-(-6), Huber 2-(-7).
Daniel Boone: Moyer 11-23, Lacey 2-9, Rotter 11-(-19).
PASSING
Elizabethtown: Kauffman 11-26-0–175, Huber 6-16-0–100.
Daniel Boone: Rotter 19-35-2–291.
RECEIVING
Elizabethtown: Cintron 8-81, Moran 2-66, Copello 2-19, Kopcha 1-48, Shakespeare 1-34, Engle 1-14, Conteh 1-6, Brosey 1-3.
Daniel Boone: High 9-105, Heffner 8-148, Digiacomo 1-38, Moyer 1-2.
INTERCEPTIONS
Elizabethtown: Shakespeare 2.
