Spotlight Game: Twin Valley (6-0) vs. Garden Spot (6-0)
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Twin Valley (6-0) vs. Garden Spot (6-0)
Kick: Friday, 7, at Twin Valley Stadium.
Section 3 records: Raiders 3-0, Spartans 3-0.
Series: Garden Spot leads 8-2.
Last season: Evan Johnson scored on a 19-yard run and 54-yard pass from Evan Myers as the Raiders won 37-29 at New Holland. Led 30-14 after three quarters. Johnson ran for 159 yards on 16 carries. Myers passed for 122 yards and ran for 61, including a 27-yard TD. Kye Harting completed 19-of-30 passes for 180 yards and two TDs and ran 12 times for 93 yards and a TD.
Raiders update: Extended program-record regular season winning streak to 9 games with 29-28 win at Solanco last week, scoring TD and two-point conversion with 26 seconds remaining. . . Evan Johnson caught a 71-yard TD pass from Evan Myers on third-and-11 to set up the victory. . . Johnson rushed for 122 yards and Drew Engle for 118 yards, on a combined 17 carries. . . Defense withstood 80 plays and 25 first downs by the Mules, who scored with 1:08 remaining to take 28-21 lead. . . Raiders are averaging 40.6 points and are ranked No. 1 in the league in total offense at 462.5 yards per game. . . Rushing for 329.3 yards per game, No. 2 in the league. . . Engle is fourth in the league in rushing with 847 yards, Johnson is fifth with 799 yards. . . Engle’s 12.6 yards-per-carry average is tops in the league. . . Johnson is third at 10.6. . . Myers is fourth in the league in completion percentage at .631. . . Winning margin: 25.8 points per game, fourth-highest in the league. . . Ranked No. 2 in District 3 Class 4A power ratings, behind Bishop McDevitt.
Did you know? Twin Valley is ranked in the Top 10 in the state for the first time in program history, landing at No. 10 in Class 5A by PennLive.com earlier this week. In 27 previous seasons had been listed as a Team To Watch for one week.
Spartans update: Off to first 6-0 start in 11 seasons after 42-22 win over Ephrata, which was 5-0. . . Led 21-0 and 28-7 at the half. . . Mounts attacked through the air in the second half, with QB Sam McCracken throwing 48 passes overall for 326 yards. . . Air route might be the better choice against the Spartans, who are allowing fewer than 78 rushing yards per game, second-best in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. . . Ranked No. 7 in the league in scoring defense, allowing 14.6 points. . . Effectively replaced Section 4 Lineman of the Year Tyler Hurst with ball-stuffers DE Reed Gruber and DT Cullen Witmer, each a second-team all-league pick last season. . . Gruber has team-leading 16 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks. . . Team has 51 TFL, with 18.5 sacks. . . Defense has 12 takeaways. . . Have turned it over just 3 times. . . Austin Hurst leads team with 4 INTs. . . Senior QB Kye Harting a leading candidate for L-L Player of the Year. He has thrown for 1,095 yards and 23 TDs and run for team-leading 746 yards with 8 TDs. . . Trenton Hoober has 10 TD receptions, third-most in the league. . . Harting was an All-State pick and Mini Maxwell Award winner as a junior. . . Ranked No. 2 in the District 3 Class 5A power ratings, tailing only New Oxford. . . Lost opening-round game as No. 10 seed to Dover in District 3 Tournament last season and finished 7-4. . . 14 starters returned from that team, including 4 on the O-line.
Fast fact: Twin Valley has never started a season 7-0 and have never won more than 7 games in a season.
Quotable: “We’ve just gotta keep wanting to improve. We have great kids; they have great attitudes. They’re playing good football. We have a lot of really good leaders and they’re trying their hardest. The question is: How good do we want to be?” — Twin Valley coach Brett Myers.
