Twin Valley can’t stop Weidman, Ephrata
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
The Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 matchup between Ephrata and Twin Valley Friday was crucial for each sides’ playoff hopes.
The Mounts and Raiders entered with the same records and were tied for fourth place behind Solanco, Elizabethtown, and Garden Spot in the section with the winner having an opportunity to propel itself into better district playoff position.
It ended up being the Mounts who imposed their will on the ground in a 35-15 victory at Elverson.
“We didn’t play well and there’s a ton of things we’ll learn (from this),” Twin Valley head coach Brett Myers said. “We’ve just got to rebound. We’ve got a lot of tough kids that work really hard and I would expect them to come in ready to work our next practice. Our kids are resilient and they’ll be ready to go.”
The Raiders (2-3, 4-4) were coming off a big win over Garden Spot and narrow losses to Solanco and Elizabethtown; they will now have to settle for a .500 finish at best in the division with a matchup with Daniel Boone next week.
The issue Friday for Twin Valley was stopping Ephrata’s all-time leading rusher Andre Weidman, who scored three touchdowns and rushed for 187 yards after breaking the school record with 382 yards just last week.
“He’s a really good football player,” Myers said. “He’s probably been banged up all year and he’s probably getting healthy and that’s the results you get.”
Ephrata’s Sam McCracken started the scoring with a 4-yard TD run with 4:57 left in the first. A 30-yard run by Jeremiah Knowles and a 21-yard run by Weidman sparked the 75-yard scoring drive on the Mounts’ first offensive possession of the game.
After forcing a three-and-out, McCracken hit Knowles for a 33-yard gain and Knowles then rushed 28 yards to the 1. Weidman pounded it in for his first touchdown with 1:51 left in the first.
“Our preparation this week and the way we went about practicing, the focus that we had carried over and got us that quick start that we needed,” Ephrata head coach Kris Miller said. “I think it really put them on the ropes a little bit and got them out of their game plan because they’re a phenomenal running team. Getting up two scores is something we haven’t been able to do this year.”
Ephrata’s defense forced another punt and Weidman rushed for 51 yards on the next drive, including a 21-yard gain on a fake punt, before finishing with a 3-yard plunge with 7:05 left in the first half to make it 21-0.
“We had a great week of practice,” Weidman said. “We knew this team was really good offensively and struggled a little bit defensively. We knew if we could attack them, punch them in the mouth right away, we were good. So that was our goal.”
Weidman had 143 rushing yards on 24 carries in the first half.
“He realizes it’s his senior year,” Miller said about Weidman. “He has three guaranteed games left. Last week, getting the all-time school record I think took the weight off his shoulders especially since that little stretch in the middle of the year when we weren’t able to run the football very well.
“To see him be able to have a night like he did last week and then play free this week, that’s the Andre we’re used to.”
Twin Valley’s Evan Johnson scored on a 38-yard run to make it 21-7 with 6:24 left in the second quarter and that score held at the break.
Weidman rushed for 47 yards and scored from the 2 on the Mounts first drive of the third quarter which spanned 81 yards and 5:42.
McCracken hit Nick Keller for a 38-yard TD and the Mounts led 35-7 with 39 seconds left in the third.
Jaydon Goebel scored on an 11-yard run with 2:24 left in the game and the Raiders got a safety as time expired.
Despite the loss, Twin Valley is still in solid positionto make the district Class 4A playoff field.
Ephrata (3-2, 5-3) and Weidman are picking up steam at the right time with games against Muhlenberg and a season finale showdown against Elizabethtown.
“Where we’re at, we’re close to making districts (in Class 5A),” Weidman said. “We just have to keep winning. We have E-town coming up and they’re one of the best teams in our section, but they’re beatable.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Ephrata | 14 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 35 |
| Twin Valley | 0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 15 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Ephrata | McCracken, 4 run (Jones kick) | 4:57 |
| 1 | Ephrata | Weidman, 1 run (Honberger kick) | 1:51 |
| 2 | Ephrata | Weidman, 3 run (Jones kick) | 7:05 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 38 run (Frey kick) | 6:24 |
| 3 | Ephrata | Weidman, 2 run (Honberger kick) | 6:18 |
| 3 | Ephrata | Keller, 38 pass from McCracken, (Jones kick) | 0:39 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Goebel, 11 run (Frey kick blocked) | 2:24 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Safety | 0:00 |
Team statistics
| Ephrata | Twin Valley | |
| First downs | 16 | 9 |
| Rushes-yards | 54-219 | 27-154 |
| Passing yards | 124 | 79 |
| Total yards | 343 | 233 |
| Passes | 8-12-0 | 7-15-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 2-1 |
| Punts-average | 4-38.2 | 4-30.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-30 | 8-85 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Ephrata: Weidman 43-187, Knowles 6-59, Brown 1-20, McCracken 4(-47).
Twin Valley: Johnson 13-65, Goebel 6-49, Myers 8-40.
PASSING
Ephrata: McCracken 8-12-0–124.
Twin Valley: Myers 7-15-0–79.
RECEIVING
Ephrata: Keller 2-50, Knowles 2-34, Weidman 2-21, Conover 1-12, Boley 1-7.Twin Valley: Rose 2-15, Olsen 1-30, Johnson 1-16, Winchester 1-10, Marks 1-5, Harris 1-3.