Strong finish propels Eagles over West York; head to league opener 3-0
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mick Reinhard — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
YORK — It’s no secret to the Exeter coaching staff and Eagles players that they have started slowly in their first three games, including Friday evening at West York’s Bulldog Stadium.
Despite leading by 14 points before lightning suspended play late in the first quarter the score wasn’t indicative of the mistakes made and the points left off the scoreboard.
The Eagles righted those wrongs when the game resumed Saturday morning, scoring touchdowns on their first five possessions to force a running clock as they coasted to a 49-14 victory.
“I challenged them today to just come out and play,” Exeter head coach Matt Bauer said. “I think our offense really answered the bell. We had a couple of coverage breakdowns here and there on defense, but I thought we had an all-around great team effort.”
Continuing a theme from Friday, Exeter (3-0) took advantage of outstanding field position.
On their opening drive Saturday Zaymar Paschall carried the load for the Eagles, gaining 39 yards on five carries, the last a 4-yard TD run.
“This is a game of momentum swings,” Bauer said. “If we’re going to be successful, we must finish drives, and we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot.
“We often stop ourselves because of not being as mentally tough as we’d like to be.”
West York (0-3) showed signs of life after the score, assembling a six-play drive that culminated in Sherrod Anderson extending his 5-8 frame over the goal line for a 9-yard touchdown.
Exeter responded 22 seconds later, chewing up 51 yards in two plays: A 19-yard pass from Riley Martinez to Nathan Pashley and a 32-yard scoring run from Jayden Zandier, who bounced off multiple defenders on his way to the end zone.
“We started off slow,” Zandier said, who had the Eagles’ first TD, an 11-yard run in the first quarter. “It’s happened the past couple of weeks. We just showed that as long as we progress, it will show on the scoreboard.”
Exeter trailed Boyertown 14-0 last week before winning 36-14; in Week 1 the Eagles were held scoreless for the first 14 minutes before pulling away for a 42-7 win over Daniel Boone.
After Kevin Oswald grabbed a tipped ball out of the air for an interception, Exeter took over deep inside Bulldogs territory. Three plays later Pharrell Caceres punched it in from 6 yards out for his second touchdown and last of his 87 yards to push the lead entering halftime to 35-7.
It was more of the same after the break as Martinez connected with Genuine Stutzman on a 30-yard touchdown before scoring himself on a 7-yard run.
West York’s only score came with 10 seconds remaining.
Exeter used the three-headed running attack of Caceres, Paschall, and Zandier to amass 200 yards rushing yards and five touchdowns while controlling the clock.
Martinez was a perfect 5-for-5 under center on Saturday, bringing his total to 7-for-10 for 128 yards without an interception.
Exeter opens Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 play Friday at home against Gov. Mifflin.
“Let’s not beat around the bush,” said Bauer. “We have to play much better if we’re going to be successful in league play. We have Mifflin coming in next week. We know what the stakes are, and we have to play much more physically and much more disciplined to have a chance to be successful.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Exeter | 14 | 21 | 14 | 0 | 49 |
| West York | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Exeter | J. Zandier, 11 run (Franek kick) | 3:16 |
| 1 | Exeter | Caceres, 44 run (Franek kick) | :44 |
| 2 | Exeter | Paschall, 4 run (Franek kick) | 6:58 |
| 2 | West York | Anderson, 9 run (Recber kick) | 4:00 |
| 2 | Exeter | J. Zandier, 32 run (Franek kick) | 3:30 |
| 2 | Exeter | Caceres, 6 run (Franek kick) | 2:01 |
| 3 | Exeter | Stutzman, 30 pass from R. Martinez (Franek kick) | 10:28 |
| 3 | Exeter | Martinez, 7 run (Franek kick) | 4:18 |
| 4 | West York | Lightner, 6 pass from I. Roberts (Recbar kick) | :12 |
Team statistics
| Exeter | West York | |
| First downs | 10 | 10 |
| Rushes-yards | 27-200 | 36-123 |
| Passing yards | 128 | 78 |
| Total yards | 328 | 201 |
| Passes | 7-100–128 | 7-14-3–78 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 2-1 |
| Punts-average | 1-41.0 | 5-27.8 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-35 | 7-70 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Exeter: Caceres 6-87, Z. Paschall 7-55, J. Zandier 5-53, Boston 2-8, Redding 1-2, Martinez 4-(-2), Ware 2-(-3).
West York: Kirkpatrick 8-55, Roberts 13-54, Anderson 2-7, Gray 3-6, Welch 1-2, Cain 2-1, Harris 6-0, Madden 1-(-2).
PASSING
Exeter: Martinez 7-10-0–128.
West York: Roberts 7-14-3–78.
RECEIVING
Exeter: Z. Zandier 2-49, Stutzman 2-40, Pashley 3-39.
West York: Moore 3-64, Anderson 2-13, Lightner 1-6, Gray 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS
Exeter: Piniero, Ware, Oswalt.
