Twin Valley tramples Elizabethtown to reach 5-0 for first time
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Kyle Morgan — LNP/Lancasteronline
ELIZABETHTOWN — Through four weeks of high school football, one thing was apparent in Section 3 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League: Twin Valley is extremely talented and Elizabethtown is struggling to find its footing.
That theme continued Friday night at the Bears’ den where the Raiders remained perfect with a 49-8 victory. They forced three turnovers and turned in a productive performance on offense to reach 5-0 for the first time in program history.
Twin Valley (2-0, 5-0) opened the game with a steady eight-play drive, which began with a 13-yard throw to Ean Winchester from Evan Myers. Evan Johnson later converted a third-and-short, followed by a 26-yard sprint to the end zone on a Myers’ keeper.
Brayden Huber started under center for Elizabethtown after a two-week absence due to injury and the Raiders quickly put the pressure on. Drew Engle stepped in front of a pass on third-and-long and returned the interception to the 3. Winchester rumbled in for a score on the next snap.
The third phase of the game came into play immediately afterward, as Twin Valley executed an onside kick recovered by Ben Grundy. The Raiders moved the ball inside the Elizabethtown red zone before Brady Moran tackled Myers short of the markers on a fourth-down scramble for a turnover on downs.
That momentum quickly subsided with another interception, this time on a juggling catch by Brendan Yagle. Jordan Rose then ran a jet sweep in from 12 yards out on the next snap for a 21-0 Raiders lead.
Another turnover followed on the next play from scrimmage with a botched snap recovered by Twin Valley. Myers picked up his second TD of the night on a 34-yard option run, pushing the score to 28-0 late in the first quarter.
While the Bears went three-and-out on their next two drives, their defense did come to life a bit, first with a Jacob Engle strip of Matthew Wright for a fumble recovered by Caleb Kreider, then with a fourth-down pass breakup from Ian Brosey for a near INT and a turnover on downs.
After an Elizabethtown turnover on downs on the Bears’ side of the field, the Raiders managed a 10-play, 38-yard series, carried by three third-down conversions from Johnson on the ground. Myers scrambled in for a TD from 3 yards out.
Engle joined the scoring party with a 10-yard TD with just over a minute left before halftime to make it 42-0. Twin Valley held the Bears to just 8 passing yards and no rushing yards during the first half with no first downs.
The second half went quickly as the mercy rule kept the clock running. Myers got his first TD of the night through the air in the third with a 21-yard toss to Grundy.
Elizabethtown got its initial first down of the night on a 31-yard pass from second Trent Kauffman to Avery Kopcha on fourth down, though the Bears turned the ball over on downs inside the Raiders red zone. The two teamed up again late in the fourth to avoid the shutout, with Kopcha pulling down a jump ball in the end zone for an 11-yard TD; he caught a two-point pass from Kauffman as well.
Myers finished with 94 yards on 11-for-15 passing plus 70 yards on the ground and four total TDs.
Johnson finished with 10 carries for 62 yards while Engle had 47 yards and a TD on eight carries. Grundy led the team in receiving with 35 yards and a TD on three catches. The Raiders had 294 total yards of offense, along with 19 first downs.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Twin Valley | 28 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 49 |
| Elizabethtown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Twin Valley | Myers, 26 run (Frey kick) | 9:35 |
| 1 | Twin Valley | Winchester, 3 run (Frey kick) | |
| 1 | Twin Valley | Rose, 12 run (Frey kick) | 4:38 |
| 1 | Twin Valley | Myers, 34 run (Frey kick) | 0:31 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Myers, 3 run (Frey kick) | 5:03 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Engle, 10 run (Frey kick) | 1:28 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Engle, 21 pass from Myers (Frey kick) | 5:37 |
| 4 | Elizabethtown | Kopcha, 11 pass from Kauffman (Kopcha pass from Kauffman) | 1:52 |
Team statistics
| Twin Valley | Elizabethtown | |
| First downs | 19 | 6 |
| Rushes-yards | 31-213 | 17-55 |
| Passing yards | 91 | 57 |
| Total yards | 310 | 112 |
| Passes | 14-18-0 | 11-26-2 |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-1 | 2-1 |
| Punts-average | 1-52 | 4-24 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-28 | 5-30 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Twin Valley: E. Myers 7-78, Johnson 11-65, Engle 8-47, Rose 1-12, Rementer 3-7, Winchester 1-4.
Elizabethtown: Kauffman 4-31, Moran 9-29, Huber 1-5, Steffe 1-0 Cintron 2-(-10).
PASSING
Twin Valley: E. Myers 13-17-0–94, Moser 1-1-0-3.
Elizabethtown: Huber 5-13-2–5, Kauffman 6-13-0–52.
RECEIVING
Twin Valley: Grundy 4-36, Pinciotti 3-18, Winchester 2-21, Engle 1-6, Karros 1-2, Rose 1-1, Summers 1-(-3).
Elizabethtown: Kopcha 6-46, Cintron 3-7, Capello 1-3, Brosey 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS
Twin Valley: Marks, Yagle.
