This post will serve as a rolling update of Week 6 Football action from around LebCo. With all six teams in action on Friday night, we will work to compile the best information as we can in a timely fashion. This includes talking to many of the coaches and including post-game summaries. Keep checking back regularly for new information about your favorite teams.
The Northern Lebanon/Twin Valley recap was written primarily by Gavin Sweeney, a local high school student and aspiring sports journalist.
If you like this type of coverage, please let us know by Following us on social media: Twitter/X – @lebcosports1 and Facebook.
For any questions, comments, or discrepancies, please reach out to dan@lebcosports.com.
Friday
Cedar Crest 42, Reading 20
After losing a close game on the road to Wilson in Week 5, the Falcons were back on Friday night, hosting Reading in front of a Homecoming crowd hoping to witness their fourth victory of the season. Despite their record, the one-win Red Knights could not be discounted in this Week 6 clash.
In the 1st quarter, the game felt a lot like the defensive battle in which Cedar Crest was engaged against Wilson. The frame ended with both teams unable to score.
Early in the 2nd quarter, the Falcons were able to break through when quarterback Jackson Custer capped off a scoring drive with a 9-yard run into the endzone. About two minutes later, Landyn Kline picked off a Reading pass attempt and rumbled 45 yards for another Crest score to give them a 14-0 lead. With just over two minutes remaining until halftime, Isaiah Zimmerman showed his ability as a receiving back when he took a screen from Custer and proceeded to run 24 yards to paydirt. At the break, Cedar Crest held a 21-0 advantage.
In the 3rd quarter, Reading began to hit back, scoring on back-to-back drives to make it a 21-14 game.
The Falcons started the 4th quarter with a strong play, a 7-yard run by Cameron Tirado, extending their lead to 28-14. Reading responded quickly, but the Falcons’ determination was evident. With just over ten minutes left, Reading closed the gap to 28-20. However, the Falcons held their ground. With eight minutes left, Jack Waranavage caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Custer. Then, in the closing seconds of the game, Kline recovered a fumble in the endzone for his second defensive touchdown of the night, sealing the victory with a score of 42-20.
Ethan Bowman was once again perfect on PATs, going 6/6.
Cedar Crest (4-2) will not spend much time celebrating this victory, as a showdown with Manheim Township awaits them next Friday night.
ELCO 19, Daniel Boone 14
ELCO may have started the season with a 1-4 record, but keep in mind that their first five opponents this season had a combined record of 22-3 during the first half of the season. On Friday night, the Raiders traveled to Daniel Boone, hoping to add another win to their season total. The Blazers entered the contest with an 0-5 record, a departure from facing Twin Valley and Wyomissing in consecutive weeks. That said, the challenge that Boone could pose would not be easy, especially given the wet conditions on the road.
Halfway through the 1st quarter, ELCO struck first when quarterback Steven Rosado used his legs to find the endzone. The score gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead. Early in the 2nd quarter, ELCO added to their lead when Dalton Pyszka caught a pass from Rosado for a 10-yard touchdown reception. Daniel Boone would respond with a touchdown of their own to make the game 13-7 as the two teams headed to the locker rooms.
There was not any scoring in the 3rd quarter, as ELCO clung to a one-touchdown lead. The Raiders had attempted to add to the lead via a field goal, but the attempt was blocked.
With less than three minutes remaining, the scoreboard still read 13-7. This was until Rosado again broke the goal line with his second rushing touchdown of the evening. Daniel Boone would add a touchdown in the game’s closing moments, but it would not be enough as ELCO earned the critical road victory.
ELCO (2-4) will play Octorara next Friday night in front of an eager Homecoming crowd.
Coach Miller’s Post-Game Thoughts
Shortly following the game, we caught up with Coach Bob Miller for his reaction to his team’s victorious effort. Here’s what the veteran leader had to say:
“I’m really proud of this team. Guys made big plays on both sides of the ball and it resulted in a terrific team victory. Mitchell Frederick is running like he is possessed and the o-line is really gelling. On defensve, we had a great night of pressure, especially from Brady Stoops and Paul Williams from the defensive end position.”
Twin Valley 42, Northern Lebanon 0
The Northern Lebanon Vikings took on the Twin Valley Raiders at home tonight. The Vikings have been trying different quarterbacks throughout the year in an attempt to get their offense going. Quarterback Kael Erdman got the start tonight against the 5-0 Raiders, who are quickly establishing themselves as one of the top teams in the State. No doubt it would be an uphill battle for the Vikings, but their defensive prowess made this matchup somewhat interesting.
In the 1st quarter, the Raiders got the ball and took full advantage, scoring right away with a rushing touchdown from running back Evan Johnson. The scoreboard read 7-0 after Nate Shaffer made the extra point. Early on, the Vikings couldn’t get anything substantial going except as they were limited to minimal yardage from Erdman using his legs and a couple of receptions to wide receiver Karter Adams. However, the Vikings shined on the defensive side of the ball as they stopped the Raiders from marching down the field again. The defensive effort was aided by the tackles made by linebackers Bryce Yocum, Jack Kleisath, and Jake Emborsky, along with defensive back Brady Ryan. After one quarter of play, the mighty Twin Valley offense had only scored once.
In the 2nd quarter, Twin Valley found a way past the Viking defense as Johnson found the endzone for his second touchdown of the game. After another change of possession, Twin Valley quarterback Evan Myers scored a rushing touchdown to make it 21-0. Even then, Northern Lebanon didn’t fold, but a fumble ended a promising drive. Johnson would again score to make it 28-0 at the half.
In the 3rd quarter, the Vikings turned to freshman quarterback Blake Burdick. Northern Lebanon continued to make small gains but could not get the yardage necessary to sustain drives. Twin Valley continued to be aggressive, as running back Chase Reilly scored to make it 35-0. Even with the game out of reach, the Viking defense continued to play hard and even got an interception from Ryan Clemer.
In the 4th, Myers scored another rushing touchdown to make it 42-0. Northern Lebanon would stop the Raiders from scoring again, as the offense seemed to begin clicking more effectively, with Burdick finding Bryan Mitzel for a big strike. As the drive stalled, the Vikings called on Riley Messinger, but his kick was blocked to keep them scoreless on the evening.
Of note in the game, Twin Valley’s Myers surpassed 5,000 career passing yards. Congratulations Evan!
The Vikings (2-4) will have to quickly get past this loss and begin preparing for a Thursday night road game against a quality Lampeter-Strasburg squad.
Coach Rice’s Post-Game Thoughts
On Saturday, we caught up with Coach Jason Rice following his team’s loss to Twin Valley.
He began his remarks by talking about Twin Valley’s strength and how his guys didn’t back down: “It was a tough one last night. The Twin Valley showed up. They’re one of the top teams in the District, if not on the State level. They are so well-coached and are a well-put-together team. That being said, we came out strong. I’m proud of us that we literally held them to a single score there in the first quarter.”
He went on to talk about how the defense has become his team’s biggest asset: “Unfortunately, we don’t have an offense right now, and I’m not going to sugarcoat it. We were just playing defense. We’re going to have to continue to lean on our defense. We have a strong group of young men, and they know how to play that side of the ball very well. We will rely on our defense to keep us in these football games coming up, especially on a short week against a top-tier opponent like Lampeter-Strasburg”
Rice finished by talking about the need for the offense to find something: “We have to figure out ways that we can move the ball. We had young Blake Burdick step in there and drive in the end, showing the ability to move the ball in some capacity. We’ll just need to build on that and continue to play all four quarters in each of our upcoming games.”
Annville-Cleona 35, Kutztown 28
Annville-Cleona traveled to Kutztown on Friday night. For the Dutchmen, it would come down to eliminating the mistakes that had plagued them in the early part of the season. This is something they looked to have back on track after last week’s blowout win over Columbia. This week’s game against the Cougars would prove to be a close contest throughout, but ulitmately, capitilizing in key moments would make the difference.
It was an early touchdown by Devon Englehart that gave them an early lead. After Kutztown scored to make it 7-6, Jonathan Moran took a pass from Bryce Keller for a 70-yard touchdown reception. This gave Annville the 14-6 lead after the 1st quarter.
In the 2nd quarter, Kutztown scored their second touchdown. However, their two-point conversion attempt was stopped by the Annville defense. The score would remain 14-12 at halftime.
Kutztown started the 2nd half with a scoring drive, making the game 20-14. Annville responded with Englehart‘s second rushing touchdown of the game. A third successful PAT by Levi Kreider made it 21-20 to put the Dutchmen back in front.
Once the 4th quarter began, Keller would then find Hudson Sellers for a 44-yard touchdown reception. The two-point conversion by Jonathon Shay made it 29-20 in favor of the visitors. Kutztown then scored to make it 29-28. The Dutchmen responded by putting together a scoring drive that iced the game, ending with a 26-yard touchdown run by Shay.
As always, a strong night in the rush game paced Annville, as they racked up 270 yards on the ground. That said, the Dutchmen showed that they could be just as dangerous through the air, as Keller ended the night with two touchdown passes.
Of note, there were several key injuries in this game, including a seemingly serious injury to Jaxon Speece. We wish Speece and all of his injured teammates the speediest of recoveries.
Annville-Cleona (3-3) will now gear up for next week’s clash with Lancaster Catholic.
Coach Gingrich’s Post-Game Thoughts
On Saturday, Coach Matt Gingrich reflected on Friday night’s game.
He began by addressing the injuries sustained to his players: “This was one of the strangest games I’ve ever coached in my 24 years at any level. We are very happy and lucky that all of our injuries, which were a lot, and the kids will be OK in the long run, no clue about football-wise, but everything will be good.”
He talked about what games are usually like against Kutztown, something that played out in this close contest: “Whenever we play Kutztown with Coach Chester, it’s going to be a fight. These guys are the mirror image of us, school-size-wise, athlete-wise, gameplay-wise, and it always comes down to a point here, point there.”
He talked about his team’s ability to block and how the improved blocking affected the game: “We did not do a great job on our offensive line running the ball and pass protecting, and amazingly, somehow, we scored 35 and didn’t punt. That says a lot about the toughness of our backs and receivers. Our receivers started blocking better than they had earlier in the season. They did a really good job blocking on the outside and when our athletes were able to get the ball in space. With us running the ball effectively now, our receivers were able to take advantage of some soft coverage, and we scored a couple of really long past plays.”
Gingrich talked about the defense and their character: “Defensively, we struggled in the beginning, as typical with these guys, but we did start pulling things together. After giving up the touchdown on the first drive in the third quarter, we only gave up one more. I was very proud of the grit that these kids showed through all the injuries and other issues going on in the game. That’s one thing we’ve been trying to develop.”
He finished up by talking about how several younger, inexperienced players stepped up to help the team: “I’m very proud of our young kids. We had most of our offensive line out for the third and fourth quarters and had some younger kids jump in, and the only way you could tell that it was a young kid was that his uniform was cleaner than the other kids when they entered the game. It didn’t take long for them to blend in.”
Conestoga Valley 54, Lebanon 14
Conestoga Valley has emerged as a team that could make a deep postseason run. On Friday night, the 0-5 Cedars traveled to take on the Buckskins.
Conestoga Valley wasted little time in scoring. By the end of the 1st quarter, the scoreboard read 27-0 in favor of the home team.
The Cedars didn’t back down. After a massive 70-yard pass completion from Brandyn Castro to Malachi Briddell, the two hooked up once again, this time for a 28-yard touchdown. That would be it from Lebanon in terms of scoring in the 1st half, as Conestoga Valley built a 47-6 by the break.
In the 4th quarter, Conestoga Valley scored again to make it 54-6. However, Lebanon continued to fight and was able to respond on their next possession, with Nelson Richardson scoring on a touchdown reception.
While the final score did not look pretty, the Cedars continued to punch back despite not being able to keep pace. This grittiness will be something to watch going forward.
Lebanon (0-6) will get another opportunity when they host E-Town for Homecoming next Friday night.
Mifflin County 20, Palmyra 0
On Friday night, Palmyra hosted Mifflin County for their Homecoming game. On paper, this game was going to be a close match-up in what would be the first start for Palmyra’s sophomore quarterback Roman Russek. While this game was tightly played throughout, there were several big plays that went in the direction of the visiting team.
In the 2nd quarter, Mifflin County was able to score on a short passing play in the red zone. Entering halftime, the score was 7-0.
Halfway through the 3rd quarter, Mifflin County would find the end zone again, this time with a long pass play to make the game 14-0.
As Palmyra looked to respond, a muffed punt in their own end zone resulted in a Mifflin County recovery for their third touchdown of the evening.
Palmyra (1-5) will look for more growth opportunities as they prepare for a road game against Lower Dauphin next Friday night.
Previous Results
Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
2024 LebCo Football Team-by-Team Season Outlooks
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