Twin Valley falls short against unbeaten Solanco
(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)
By Matt Hagy — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Solanco kept its unbeaten streak alive and held on to defeat Twin Valley 32-25 in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 game Friday night at Elverson.
The Golden Mules (3-0, 6-0) opened the game by showcasing their high-powered ground attack with a 10-play, 65-yard drive that ended with quarterback Brody Mellinger scoring on a 7-yard run to make it 7-0 at the 7:47 mark of the first quarter.
Twin Valley marched down the field cut the deficit to 7-3 with a 32-yard field goal from Sam Frey.
Solanco attempted a fake punt on fourth-and-long that was snuffed out immediately by the Raiders and set them up with great field position at the Golden Mules 37-yard line.
The Golden Mules (2-0, 6-0) forced a turnover on downs after the Raiders had an Evan Myers 21-yard touchdown run called back due to a hold. Solanco put together another long drive powered by their ground game and Mellinger extended the advantage to 13-3 with 4:14 left in the first half on his second rushing touchdown, from 4 yards out.
Twin Valley drove back into Solanco territory following an onside kick attempt but was once again turned away on downs, this time at the Golden Mules 27-yard line.
Mellinger brilliantly executed a two-minute offense by finding Elijah Cunningham for a touchdown on a 27-yard pass with 10 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 19-3.
The Raiders opened with the ball in the second half and used a 10-play, 51-yard drive to cut their deficit to 19-11 after Myers found Evan Johnson down the near sideline for a 31-yard touchdown.
The TD came one play after the Raiders had a brilliant touchdown pass from Myers, which saw him scramble and find Joshua Zolty in the end zone, called back on an ineligible-man-downfield penalty.
Solanco went straight back to the ground and went up 25-11 after Cunningham scored from 8 yards out. The Golden Mules missed the extra point
Twin Valley responded as Jayden Goebel capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive with a 10-yard run to make it 25-18 with 1:46 left in the third quarter. A pass interference call on fourth-and-5 from just inside its own territory kept the drive going for the Raiders.
Solanco answered the Twin Valley (1-2, 3-3) score by breezing down the field in seven plays after starting from its 20-yard line and extended their lead to 32-18 on a 7-yard Harris touchdown run.
The Raiders battled back to make it a one score game at 32-25 with 8:55 left in the fourth quarter following Goebel’s second rushing touchdown of the game from 2 yards out.
The Raiders stopped Harris inches short of the first down at their own 38-yard line. Twin Valley got as far as the Solanco 37 line before failing to convert on fourth-and-6, which allowed the Golden Mules to run out the clock.
Solanco churned out 376 yards on the ground on 59 carries and held a 416-315 total yards advantage over the Raiders. Harris led the way with 131 yards on 27 carries with one touchdown while Cunningham added 104 on the ground on six carries with one touchdown.
Myers went 11-of-27 for 152 yards through the air for the Raiders and tossed one touchdown pass; he ran for 41 rushing yards. Goebel finished with 50 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns.
It was the second straight week Twin Valley lost a tightly-contested battle with an unbeaten Section 3 team,
The Golden Mules play unbeaten Elizabethtown next week.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Solanco | 7 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 32 |
| Twin Valley | 3 | 0 | 15 | 7 | 25 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Solanco | Mellinger, 7 run (Baber kick) | 7:47 |
| 1 | Twin Valley | Frey, 32 FG | 2:08 |
| 2 | Solanco | Mellinger, 4 run (kck failed) | 4:14 |
| 2 | Solanco | Cunnigham, 27 pass from Mellinger (run failed) | 0:10 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 31 pass from Myers (Myers run) | 8:13 |
| 3 | Solanco | Cunningham, 8 run (kick failed) | 5:06 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Goebel, 10 run (Frey kick) | 1:46 |
| 4 | Solanco | Harris, 7 run (Baber kick) | 10:28 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Goebel, 2 run (Frey kick) | 8:55 |
Team statistics
| Solanco | Twin Valley | |
| First downs | 27 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 59-376 | 27-163 |
| Passing yards | 40 | 152 |
| Total yards | 416 | 315 |
| Passes | 2-6-0 | 11-27-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 0-0 | 1-13.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 3-36 | 7-77 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Solanco: Harris 27-131, Cunningham 6-104, Forren 11-74, Mellinger 12-55, Herr 2-17, Baber 1-(-5)
Twin Valley: Johnson 8-71, Goebel 12-50, Myers 5-41, Engle 1-2, Rose 1-(-1).
PASSING
Solanco: Mellinger 2-6-0-40.
Twin Valley: Myers 11-27-0-152.
RECEIVING
Solanco: Cunningham 2-40.
Twin Valley: Johnson 4-46, Zolty 3-59, Winchester 1-21, Olsen 1-15, Spiri 1-6, Engle 1-5.
