Twin Valley’s perfect season stopped by relentless Southern Lehigh
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
MECHANICSBURG — Twin Valley finally ran into a team it couldn’t outscore.
| Final | |
| S. Lehigh | 43 |
| Twin Valley | 21 |
The Raiders, who had the top-ranked defense in the Lancaster-Lebanon League, never found a way to stop Southern Lehigh, which scored on its first six possessions en route to a 43-21 victory Thursday in the PIAA Class 4A championship game at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field.
The Raiders (14-1), bidding to be the first Berks County team to bring home a state championship in 13 years, led 14-10 late in the first half but a costly turnover — one of three — early in the third quarter turned the tide against them for good.
Sophomore quarterback Maverik Foster, who led the league in pass efficiency, went 14 1/2 games without throwing an interception before he saw a sideline pass slip off the fingers of tailback Drew Engle and into the hands of Southern Lehigh’s Adam Fritts at the Raiders’ 31.
Five plays later All-State tailback Sean Steckert was in the end zone with his third of four touchdowns of a historic night and the Spartans (15-1) went ahead 30-14 — Twin Valley’s largest deficit of the season.
Twin Valley had turned the ball over just six times in its first 14 games but turned it over three times in the second half, all on interceptioins.
The Raiders never found a way to slow down Steckert, who broke off a 46-yard run on his second touch and went on to rush for 301 yards on 37 carries, the most yards ever in a PIAA Class 4A championship game.
Twin Valley’s Drew Engle had a big start, too, breaking off a 39-yard run on his first carry. He finished with 175 yards on 22 carries.
Engle finished the season with 2,095 yards and his career with 4,212.
Southern Lehigh took its first lead at 10-7 when Declan Walsh converted a 24-yard field to cap a 14-play drive that took the ball to the Twin Valley 8 before Colton Sams’ third-down pass into the end zone hit the turf.
The Raiders stunned the Spartans with a quick strike on the ensuing series, Foster finding Dominic Summers on a short post pattern that the wide receiver took 64 yards for a 14-10 lead with 2:25 left in the half.
The Raiders appeared to have the Spartans stopped on the next series before Steckert hit the line, then bounced outside on a fourth-and-inches that he took 26 yards for a touchdown and 17-14 lead 17 seconds before the half.
Twin Valley took the opening kickoff and went right down the field, Engle opening the game with a 36-yard run and Lucas Myers finishing the drive with a 20-yard TD run for a 7-0 lead.
Southern Lehigh answered with an 80-yard scoring drive, Steckert finishing it with an 11-yard run to tie it 7-0.
Twin Valley put together a 15-play, eight-minute drive that pushed the ball to the 3 but got nothing out of it when a low snap from center led to a missed 21-yard field goal by Nate Shaffer three plays into the second quarter.
The Raiders played error-free football for the ninth time last week in turning back Aliquippa 28-24. They have committed six turnovers in 14 games and are a plus-15 in turnover differential.
Raiders needed to stop last-minute pass into end zone to preserve last week’s victory, the first time this season one of their games was still in doubt in the final minutes.
Twin Valley coach Brett Myers had coached in a PIAA championship game three times before, leading Middletown to the Class 3A finale in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The Blue Raiders lost each: to Beaver Falls, Quaker Valley, and Aliquippa. He’s now 0-4 in championship games.
Southern Lehigh beat Cardinal O’Hara last week on senior running back Sean Steckert’s 4-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds left. It was second straight week they scored in the final minute to win; the Spartans beat Shamokin 30-27 the week before on a Steckert TD run.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Twin Valley | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Southern Lehigh | 7 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 43 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Twin Valley | Myers, 20 run (Shaffer kick) | 10:01 |
| 1 | Southern Lehigh | Steckert, 11 run (Walsh kick) | 7:07 |
| 2 | Southern Lehigh | Walsh, 24 FG | 3:17 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | D. Summers, 64 pass from M. Foster (Shaffer kick) | 2:25 |
| 2 | Southern Lehigh | Steckert, 26 run (Walsh kick) | 0:17 |
| 3 | Southern Lehigh | Young, 40 pass from Sams (Walsh kick) | 9:49 |
| 3 | Southern Lehigh | Steckert, 6 run (kick failed) | 6:10 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Engle, 4 run (Shaffer kick) | 2:44 |
| 4 | Southern Lehigh | Young, 30 pass from Sams (run failed) | 10:21 |
| 4 | Southern Lehigh | Steckert, 2 run (Walsh kick) | 2:06 |
Team statistics
| TWIN VALLEY | S. LEHIGH | |
| First downs | 17 | 23 |
| Rushes-yards | 35-235 | 40-301 |
| Passing yards | 90 | 145 |
| Total yards | 325 | 446 |
| Passes | 4-10-3 | 13-18-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 1-36.0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-59 | 5-50 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Twin Valley: 22-175, Myers 11-52, M. Foster 1-9, Grundy 1-(-1).
Southern Lehigh: Steckert 37-301, Sams 1-2, Team 2-(-2).
PASSING
Twin Valley: M. Foster 4-10-3–90.
Southern Lehigh: Sams 13-18-1–145.
RECEIVING
Twin Valley: Summers 1-64, Shanahan 1-16, Reilly 1-8, Grundy 1-2.
Southern Lehigh: Kawczenski 6-48, Young 3-79, Roman 2-18, Jacobs 2-0.
INTERCEPTIONS
Southern Lehigh: Fritts 2, Pavis.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Twin Valley: Shaffer 21.
