Twin Valley flexes late muscle, pulls away for huge opening-night victory
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
Looking at that final score, it’s hard to believe that in the final minute of the third quarter Schuylkill Valley could’ve tied the game with a successful PAT.
Watching the game play out, and the way Twin Valley’s huge offensive line opened holes for Evan Johnson and Drew Engle, it’s hard to believe the game was ever close.
The Raiders ran at will, Johnson and Engle combining for nearly 500 rushing yards, yet it wasn’t until early in the fourth quarter, when it strung together three straight touchdowns, that Twin Valley finally wrested control of its season opener, which it went on to win 44-13.
“Sometimes in high school games it takes a while,” said Raiders coach Brett Myers, who watched his team fumble the ball away four times, keeping the Panthers in the game.
“They’re 16-year-olds and they make mistakes . . . first game. . . they’re excited . . . black out, new (black) uniforms,” Myers went on. “Everybody’s been building for six months for this game. In the end they settled down and they did what we expect them to do.”
Indeed. The Raiders, with a powerful, experienced O-line that averages 6-3, 281 pounds, expected to be able to dominate teams in the trenches, and they did. They gained 358 yards in the first half yet led just 14-7.
“(We knew at halftime) we needed to turn things on a little bit,” said 6-4, 294-pound senior guard Paul McClune, “just keep going at it 100 percent every play. We really kicked it into gear in the second half . . . the whole game, pretty much.”
Johnson, a junior, and Engle, a sophomore, had a field day against the undersized Panthers. They ran free and easy, were rarely touched in the backfield and took full advantage of their opportunities.
Johnson, a sprinter with shifty moves, went for a career-high 278 yards on just 14 carries and broke off scoring runs of 26 and 58 yards in the final quarter, greasing the skids for what became a rout.
“It’s just great to see, when you open a hole and see him run through it,” said McClune, “it’s incredible.”
Engle, an all-division lacrosse player with real burst, showed the same kind of moves and cuts on his way to 192 yards on 18 carries.
That duo will make the Raiders a tough team to stop.
Johnson and Engle were the biggest contributors in what became a whopper of an offensive night, one that saw Twin Valley finished with 479 rushing yards and 619 total yards.
“We’re really big, and we’ve got two really good running backs, we’ve got an H-back (Ean Winchester) who’s as big as most linemen,” said Myers. “We’re gonna have some ability to do some things there.”
It was a minor miracle that the Panthers made a game of it.
They were able to do so because of the Raiders turned it over four times and were called for eight penalties, one of which cost Johnson a 56-yard TD on a punt return.
They also stayed close because of quarterback Logan Nawrocki, who made the most of coach Bruce Harbach’s short passing game. Nawrocki connected on 17-of-27 throws and threw a beauty of a pass early in the second quarter when wide receiver Kowen Gerner beat his defender off the line.
Nawrocki laid it out perfectly and Gerner made a tremendous fingertip grab, leading to a 76-yard catch-and-run that helped Schuylkill Valley tie it 7-7.
Nawrocki, who saw a lot of playing time last season, connected on five passes during a 14-play third-quarter drive that ended with a 6-yard toss to all-league running back Dominic Giuffre. That made it 14-13 with 50 seconds to go in the third period.
The Raiders blocked the potential tying point, and that seemed to ignite a wild rush to the finish. Twin Valley scored in three plays, two plays and then six plays, their 21-point blitz coming in under four minutes.
The Raiders even got on the board with a safety, part of a big second-half defensive effort that held Schuylkill Valley scoreless and limited it to 54 total yards.
Giuffre broke off a 21-yard run late in the first quarter but was otherwise bottled up. He finished with 79 rushing yards on 17 carries; not many teams will keep him under 100 this year.
“Our kids have been working really hard on defense all (off) season,” said Myers, who wasn’t happy with the way his team tackled last season. “Take nothing away from (Giuffre); he’s a really good back. I don’t know if we shut him down; you might think (we did). I think we gave up a lot of yards to him.
“Our kids run to the ball and they’re determined to be a good defensive team. I think their effort showed that.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Schuylkill Valley | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 13 |
| Twin Valley | 0 | 14 | 0 | 30 | 44 |
Scoring summary
| 2 | Twin Valley | Winchester, 3 run (Frey kick) | 11:56 |
| 2 | Sch. Valley | Gerner, 76 pass from Nawrocki (Wamsher kick) | 11:17 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Grundy 58 run (Frey kick) | 4:43 |
| 3 | Sch. Valley | Giuffre, 6 pass from Nawrocki (kick failed) | 0:50 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Engle, 18 run (Frey kick) | 11:52 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 26 run (Frey kick) | 11:03 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Winchester, 4 run (Frey kick) | 8:12 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Johnson, 58 run (Frey kick) | 5:25 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Safety, Ortiz tackled in end zone | 3:53 |
Team statistics
| Schuylkill Valley | Twin Valley | |
| First downs | 13 | 20 |
| Rushes-yards | 31-80 | 46-479 |
| Passing yards | 201 | 140 |
| Total yards | 281 | 619 |
| Passes | 17-30-2 | 6-9-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 4-2 | 7-4 |
| Punts-average | 5-33.0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 9-60 | 8-79 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Schuylkill Valley: Giuffre 17-79, Cammauf 41-7, Hohenadel 2-6, Ortiz 2-(-1), Team 1-(-10), Nawrocki 5-(-11).
Twin Valley: Johnson 14-278, Engle 18-192, Rementer 5-14, Winchester 2-7, E. Myers 7-(-12).
PASSING
Schuylkill Valley: Nawrocki 17-27-1–201, Giuffre 0-1-1–0, A. Aletras 0-2-0–0.
Twin Valley: E. Myers 6-9-0–140.
RECEIVING
Schuylkill Valley: Gerner 4-88, Giuffre 4-28, Lackner 4-23, Hohenadel 3-36, D. Aletras 1-18, Spotts 1-8.
Twin Valley: Winchester 3-43, Grundy 1-58, Johnson 1-35, Rose 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS
Twin Valley: Bailey, Grundy.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Twin Valley: Hafer 46, Frey 38.
