Week 13 glance: Eagles eager to make amends for past playoff losses at Cedar Cliff

Ty Yocum has spent some long, difficult nights at West Shore Stadium. The senior has seen Exeter’s football season end there three times in the past decade. He’s hellbent on making sure it doesn’t happen again.

The Eagles head back to Cedar Cliff Friday night for a District 3 Class 5A semifinal; a win will send them to their first district championship game and possibly a rematch with Gov. Mifflin, which also plays a semifinal Friday.

It would be a crowning achievement for Yocum and the Eagles, and ease some past pain.

“It would mean a lot to us,” said the Berks Football League Section 1 Linebacker of the Year. “We want to keep playing as long as we can. The family that we’ve got here is unbreakable.”

It’s another big weekend for Berks football as five teams try to keep their seasons alive and advance to the PIAA Tournament.

Wilson and Wyomissing play championship games Saturday. The fifth-seeded Bulldogs (9-3) play at No. 2 Harrisburg (11-1) at 1 for the Class 6A title. Wyomissing (12-0) seeks its third straight District 3 Class 3A championship against second-seeded Boiling Springs (11-1) at the A-Field at 1.

Friday, Gov. Mifflin (9-0), the top seed in 5A, hosts No. 4 Spring Grove (10-1) in a semifinal at 7; fourth-seeded Berks Catholic (7-4) plays at top-seeded Bishop McDevitt (9-1) at 7 in a Class 4A semifinal; and seventh-seeded Exeter (8-3) meets sixth-seeded Cedar Cliff (10-2) at 7.

Only the winners advance; there are no playbacks in the PIAA football playoffs.

Yocum wants to extend Exeter’s season and erase some bad memories. He was on the sideline in 2011 as a ball boy when the Eagles returned to the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons. They couldn’t hold an early two-touchdown lead and gave up a late score in a 42-38 defeat. His brother Kyle was the Eagles’ quarterback.

More recently the games haven’t been as close. Cedar Cliff eliminated Exeter 50-6 in 2018. Yocum’s sophomore season in 2019 ended with a 24-0 loss.

“We were battling,” Yocum said. “We just couldn’t put points on the board. It wasn’t our night that night, so I guess we want to get some revenge.”

This is a better, deeper Exeter team — perhaps the best in program history. Such a legacy will be further defined by what happens Friday, and beyond.

The Eagles feature Berks’ top-rated passer, Colin Payne. . . a 1,000-yard rusher in Eric Nangle. . . tight end/wide receiver Joey Schlaffer, a junior committed to Penn State. . . Linebacker J.R. Strauss, a senior committed to Villanova. . . Yocum, who will play H-back at Merrimack College. . . and three all-league offensive linemen: Center Kyle Helm, guard Lucas Palange and tackle Anthony Caccese.

“The players that we’ve got here — we can’t waste the (opportunity) that we’ve got,” Yocum said, “so we’ve got to do everything that we can with what we’ve got on this team.”

Cedar Cliff is in the semifinals for the third time in four years and it’s using the same formula as in the past, riding a dominant back. When the Colts knocked out the Eagles in this round two years ago they did it with plow horse Jaheim Morris; now they’re doing it with his little brother, Jontae.

Morris ran 40 times for 202 yards a week ago as the Colts took out unbeaten Shippensburg 10-7. Morris has rushed for 1,998 yards and scored 22 TDs.

Wilson and Harrisburg renew a playoff rivalry that includes five chapters. The Cougars ended Wilson’s last two trips to the playoffs, in 2019 and 2018; they also eliminated the Bulldogs in 2007.

Wilson seeks its eighth district championship and first since beating Cumberland Valley in 2016.

Wyomissing is looking for its 10th district title and to become just the second Berks team to win three straight championships. Berks Catholic became the first when it won the Class AA title in 2015 (over Wyomissing) and the Class 4A titles in 2016 and 2017.

Wyomissing’s opponent, Boiling Springs, knocked off some good teams on the way to the Mid-Penn Capital title — Big Spring and Middletown — but really got everyone’s attention a few weeks ago when it handed defending PIAA Class 1A champ Steel-High a 29-28 defeat. The Bubblers played error-free football last week in a 35-7 win over Hamburg. The Spartans beat the Hawks 47-7.

Berks Catholic has endured a rugged schedule this season. It took losses to Central Dauphin, Malvern Prep, Exeter and Mifflin. In Bishop McDevitt the Saints face a team with state-championship ambitions.

The Crusaders are absolutely loaded, with 14 Mid-Penn Keystone all-league picks, nine from an offense that’s averaging 54.5 points. They are led by freshman quarterback Stone Saunders, who has thrown for 2,366 yards and 38 touchdowns.

The Saints and Crusaders are no strangers. Berks Catholic defeated McDevitt 45-24 in the 4A championship game in 2017; a year later McDevitt turned the tables in the championship with a 41-41 win.

A win will send Gov. Mifflin to its first championship game. The Mustangs were crowned Class 5A champs last season when Warwick had to forfeit; its program was shut down the week of the championship game due to a COVID outbreak.

Spring Grove has reached the district title game just once, losing to Manheim Central 40-0 in 2001. More recently the Rockets have struggled just to reach the postseason. They won just two games two years ago and one game the season before that. They’re on the upswing and have a lot of seniors who have been on the field for three seasons, including Zyree Brooks, who has rushed for 2,253 yards and 30 TDs.

Exeter recorded one of the biggest wins in program history last week when it knocked off longtime District 3 kingpin Manheim Central 43-26. A win over Cedar Cliff would be added to that short list of Eagles highlights.

Matt Bauer is eager to see it happen; he’s been the Eagles head coach for each of the three previous visits to Cedar Cliff.

“I’ve had a lot of bad nights on that field,” he said. “I might get a chance to have a good one. Every week gets tougher but we’re excited for the opportunity.”