One week after making a statement across the state of Pennsylvania with a win over state-ranked No. 3 Wyomissing, the Twin Valley Raiders did it again.
Twin Valley rolled past Lampeter-Strasburg with a dominant 42–7 win in a Lancaster-Lebanon Section 4 matchup Friday night in Elverson.
On homecoming night, Drew Engle stole the spotlight with an incredible six-touchdown performance.
The Pioneers had no answer for the senior, who racked up four of his six touchdowns in the first half.
“My offensive line does a fantastic job, and they keep on rolling,” Engle said, crediting his teammates. “It starts with them, and I’m just running behind them, and I’m super happy to be running behind them, too. They’re great at what they do.”
Engle found the end zone on runs of 3, 1, 20, 7, 6, and 1 yards. He finished with 181 yards on 26 carries.
Head coach Brett Myers was a bit surprised after the game when he realized Engle had scored every one of the Raiders’ touchdowns.
“Doesn’t shock me,” Myers said. “He’s a pretty good football player.”
With wins over both Wyomissing and Lampeter-Strasburg, the only other teams at the top of the standings, the Raiders (6-0, 9-0) now hold at least a share of the Section 4 title.
A win over Daniel Boone (1-8) in Week 10 would secure the Section 4 title outright for the Raiders.
However, Myers’ mindset of not being satisfied with just a section title has rubbed off on his team.
“Doesn’t mean too much,” Engle said of potentially winning the section. “We just keep looking into the future, one game at a time, and we’re super excited for the playoffs to keep this thing going.”
“I’d say right now that it’s at least a tie in our hands,” Myers said. “We’ve got stuff to do, and we’ve got to improve. There’s a standard these kids set, and I expect them to live up to that standard starting tomorrow.”
The football mindset of still wanting to achieve more is a trait every great football team shares.
The Raiders are putting up an impressive 52 points per game while holding their opponents to just 8 points on average.
The Raiders’ varsity defense gave up its first touchdown of the season this week, against the Pioneers.
“We have a pretty good defense, but I’m willing to bet, though, that those 11 guys are upset because they gave up their first touchdown season. Our varsity hasn’t given up a touchdown until tonight,” Myers said. “So give Lampeter a lot of credit, because they came out and fought really hard. The strength of their team is the offensive line, and they came out and worked really hard. They battled, but our kids played pretty well.”
That touchdown came with 5:43 left in the second quarter.
After sophomore quarterback Carter Hess, who started while Asher Jones was sidelined with a concussion, was replaced by wide receiver Cole Lopez, the offense finally started to click.
After a great kickoff return by the Pioneers, the Raiders put together a 7-play, 40-yard drive.
It was capped off when Lopez ran a QB-power play, bouncing outside to the left, picking up a key block from running back Colby DeJessa, before jogging into the end zone.
Jones’ absence was a big blow for the Pioneers (5-1, 7-2), who lost their identity on offense.
The junior had accounted for 1,318 total yards and 17 touchdowns this season.
“We expected him to play,” Myers said. “Their offense is so dynamic and diverse that the stuff they run with their Wildcat would be what they run with him anyway, because he’s such a good athlete.”
The Raiders have given up just 13 points combined to Wyomissing and Lampeter-Strasburg over the past two weeks, teams that were averaging over 34 points per game on offense before running into the Raiders’ suffocating defense.
Just a season ago, things looked very different. Twin Valley went 0-3 against those two powerhouses and were outscored 127-51.
This season, the Raiders have become the team to look up to.
“We come out and we’re firing off the ball,” Engle said. “Our defense works together as a team really well.”
Twin Valley’s defense allowed just 91 total yards while forcing five punts and a turnover on downs.
On offense, the Raiders scored on all four of their first-half possessions, building a surprising 28-7 lead that stunned the visiting Pioneers’ crowd.
In the second half, after punting on their opening possession, Lucas Myers, who finished with 118 yards on 12 carries, broke free for a 50-yard run, on what looked like a stop at the line of scrimmage.
Two plays later, Engle punched in his fifth touchdown of the day. Then, to cap it all off in the fourth quarter, he dove over the offensive line for his final score.
“We definitely have emphasized pounding the ball,” Engle said. “That’s something we’ve done for quite some time. Now, my offensive line does a great job at what they do, so I just keep running behind them.”
With just one week left in the regular season, the Raiders have positioned themselves for a deep playoff run, not just in District 3 Class 4A, but with their sights set on a state championship.
“We practice well every week, every day, and we have a good group of leaders who are doing a great job,” Myers said of his team.
