Spartans have the drive to turn back upset-minded Raiders
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
Craig Eberhart knew he and his Wyomissing teammates were up against it Saturday afternoon.
They took possession at their own 2 late in the third quarter on a slick surface and a precarious one-touchdown lead against Elco at Bob Wolfrum Field.
“It was rough,” admitted the Spartans senior guard.
During the quarter changeover Eberhart tried to pump up his teammates.
“I said: ‘Let’s get it done,’ ” Eberhart said, “let’s get inside, let’s clean up and let’s go home with the win.”
The Spartans did all of the above. They methodically drove the field, taking 14 plays and more than five minutes off the clock for the clinching score in a 28-14 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 victory – their record 40th straight in the regular season.
The Spartans (2-0, 5-0), with a rebuilt offensive line, a new quarterback, and a lot of new faces on defense haven’t been the dominant knockout artist of the past few seasons, when most games were decided by halftime. They’ve had to work for some of their wins.
The Raiders (1-1, 4-1) made sure of that with good line play, a strong defensive effort and a healthy dose of the state’s leading rusher, Jake Williams.
It took a monster drive to shake free and avoid an upset.
“We just had to take it play by play, grind, play some Wing-T football,” senior halfback Drew Forrey said of the clinching drive. “After the second or third first down we felt like we were rolling and couldn’t be stopped.”
Sophomore fullback Chase Eisenhower, who went for 116 yards on 18 carries, finished the drive with a 3-yard run. He was one of six backs to touch the ball on that possession. His 27-yard tackle-busting rumble to the Elco 38 was the only long play of the drive.
“We just went back to our basic offense,” said Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum. “We ran two plays: our halfback trap and our fullback dive. We had decent plays the whole way down the field.”
The long drive finished off the Raiders, not only on the scoreboard but physically. Wyomissing ran the ball 52 times and it took its toll in that final quarter.
The Raiders played cleanly and efficiently; they didn’t turn the ball over and were called for just three minor penalties. Twice Williams ran for a touchdown that made it a one-possession game, the last time with 6:17 left in the third quarter.
The Elco defense just had a difficult time getting off the field; the Spartans converted 11-of-12 third downs and ground them down.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how they played,” Elco coach Bob Miller said of his players. “They played like they belong in this section and belong playing against the best teams in the state.”
Elco had run down its first four opponents on the strength of Williams, a 5-10, 185-pound tackle-busting senior. He averaged over 250 yards a game and 16 yards a carry through the first month of the season.
It was a little tougher sledding against Wyomissing: Williams finished with a season-low 133 yards on 23 carries. He had just two carries that went for more than his season average, including a 25-yard TD in the third quarter – his only breakaway run of the afternoon.
“He ran really hard, shoulders down, low center of gravity,” said Forrey, an outside linebacker. “He was hard to bring down and he was slippery because of the rain.”
Williams and the Raiders had the Spartans on their heels several times but couldn’t finish. They were stopped on downs three times in Wyomissing territory. They were also turned back after reaching the Wyomissing 22 late in the third quarter; a penalty and Collin Niedrowski’s third-down sack ended that threat and forced a punt.
“Their linebackers get to the ball really well, especially on the outside,” said Miller. “Jake normally bounces (to the outside for big gains). This is a faster team than we’ve seen throughout the year. He wasn’t able to take some of those inside runs and bounce ’em out like he’s normally able to do.”
Eisenhower and Ryker Jones, the inside linebackers, had nine and six tackles, respectively. Niedrowski, an outside ’backer, had five.
Wolfrum gave his team an “average” grade for its work against Williams.
“He’s a good back,” Wolfrum said. “He’s even better than I thought he was. Mentally, we made some mistakes; guys weren’t where they were supposed to be. We were flustered for a while early in the game.”
The Spartans saw Derek Macrina’s 76-yard run to the 5 nullified by a penalty – one of five yellow flags in the first half.
The Spartans set the Raiders up with their first score when a poor snap from center went past Niedrowski, the punter. The Raiders took over at the 27 and found the end zone in seven plays, the last a 3-yard run by Williams.
The Spartans immediately regained the lead, taking advantage of a short field after Marvin Armistead’s 23-yard kickoff return to the Elco 36. Forrey struck for the second of his three TDs, this time from 24 yards for a 14-7 lead the Spartans took into halftime.
Forrey stole the show with a career-high 158 rushing yards on just 10 touches. Two of his scores came on sweeps to the right side with Eberhart out front setting the edge.
“The guards are really moving well and getting up field and in their blocks,” Forrey said.
“The middle wasn’t working for us really well,” said Eberhart, “so we decided to get the edge and the edge kept working, so we just kept going with that. (Drew) finds the hole and he just goes. When he has a straightaway he’ll beat anyone”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Elco | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Wyomissing | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wyomissing | Forrey, 54 run (Maher kick) | 6:33 |
| 2 | Elco | Williams, 3 run (Gensamer kick) | 9:59 |
| 2 | Wyomissing | Forrey, 24 run (Maher kick) | 7:18 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | Forrey, 50 run (Maher kick) | 10:03 |
| 3 | Elco | Williams, 25 run (Gensamer kick) | 6:17 |
| 4 | Wyomissing | Eisenhower, 3 run (Maher kick) | 7:42 |
Team statistics
| Elco | Wyomissing | |
| First downs | 11 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 38-169 | 52-351 |
| Passing yards | 32 | 9 |
| Total yards | 201 | 360 |
| Passes | 2-4-0 | 1-5-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-0 | 2-0 |
| Punts-average | 2-36.5 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 3-15 | 5-42 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Elco: Williams 23-133, Kreider 9-36, Frederick 3-6, Rosado 3-(-6).
Wyomissing: Forrey 10-158, Eisenhower 18-116, Niedrowski 5-31, Marv. Armistead 4-27, Macrina 5-23, Hardy 5-9, Hyde 1-(-2), Team 4-(-11).
PASSING
Elco: Rosado 2-4-0–32.
Wyomissing: Hyde 1-5-1–9.
RECEIVING
Elco: Prosser 1-30, Frederick 1-2.
Wyomissing: Brower 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS
Elco: Kreider.
