Lampeter-Strasburg survives Solanco in overtime to retain Milk Jug trophy
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Jeff Reinhart — LNP/Lancasteronline
| Final | OT | |
| Lampeter-Strasburg | 45 | |
| Solanco | 44 |
LAMPETER — In what will go down as one of the best Milk Jug trophy games played to date, Friday’s backyard rivalry clash between Lampeter-Strasburg and Solanco now vaults to the top of the charts.
In a game that featured a little bit of everything, the host Pioneers survived in the 2025 season opener before an overflow crowd.
Colby DeJessa scored the game-tying touchdown in overtime, and All-State kicker Peter Fiorello added the game-winning extra-point boot, giving Lampeter-Strasburg an exhilarating 45-44 win over the shell-shocked Golden Mules, who had the lead with less than two minutes to go in regulation.
“We were down, but we pulled it out,” said L-S QB Asher Jones, who had three TD passes and a TD run. “We stuck together as a team, and we were able to win a really big game.”
The Milk Jug remained at L-S for the third year in a row, and the Pioneers took a 12-4 lead in the trophy series.
“Awesome,” said L-S’s Cole Lopez, who had a pair of TD receptions. “We got it done. We were gritty, we persevered, and we’re keeping the Milk Jug.”
Barely.
Solanco scored three unanswered fourth-quarter touchdowns and had a 38-31 lead on Johnny Garcia’s 17-yard TD romp with 1:48 to go in regulation.
Jones — flushed from the pocket, scrambling, and just looking to make a play — lobbed a 34-yard TD pass on third and long to Brady Cunningham with 25 seconds to go, and Fiorello’s PAT tied it at 38-38 and forced OT.
Solanco had the ball first, and got a 1-yard dive from Garcia, his third TD run of the the game. L-S’s Thad Wolf blocked the PAT, and the Mules had a 44-38 lead.
DeJessa’s four-yard run tied it up, and Fiorello — who earlier booted a 44-yard field goal — capped it with his PAT.
“Great win for us,” L-S coach Victor Ridenour said. “(Solanco) is such a solid football team, and they’re so physical on both sides of the ball. It was a battle right out of the gates. Our kids are trying to make a name for themselves, and what a better way to do it than to win a game like that.”
Lampeter-Strasburg, fresh off winning the Section 4 crown and the District 3 Class 4A championship last fall, on the way to a runner-up appearance in the PIAA title game and a 14-1 record, picked up right where it left off — after losing a lot of firepower to graduation.
L-S took advantage of a couple of fumble recoveries, including one late in the first half. Just after DeJessa’s 1-yard TD dive gave the Pioneers a 17-14 lead, the Mules coughed up the ensuing kickoff.
Easton Cunningham recovered the fumble for L-S, and one play later, Jones zipped a 27-yard TD strike to Lopez, and L-S had a 24-14 lead at the half.
“That one hurt,” Solanco coach Tony Cox said.
The teams traded scores in the third quarter — Solanco QB Chase Sensenig hit Eric Koch for a 20-yard TD strike, and Jones flipped a 37-yard TD toss to Lopez — setting up the frenetic finish.
“We gotta move on,” Cox said. “It was a great game, and it’s always going to be a great game against L-S. It’s the Milk Jug. I told our guys before the game that whoever makes the least amount of mistakes is going to win. They made fewer mistakes, and they won.”
