Daniel Boone fends off Fleetwood in thriller.
On a night when two tenacious teams definitely gave something extra, extra-point kicks and two-point conversions were big issues for both.
It ended up costing Fleetwood the most. The Tigers’ Mike Wilkinson’s 69-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 37.1 seconds left might have been the classic, SportsCenter-worthy, game-tying or game-winning play, but the Tigers’ futility on two-pointers contributed to them trailing by nine before Wilkinson’s wonder run. Alas, his electrifying TD and a successful two-point conversion still left Fleetwood a point short, but Daniel Boone earned every bit of its eventual 33-32 homecoming victory in a Berks battle royale Friday night.
“Fleetwood played really tough. They’re a big, physical team and one of the top offenses in our league, and I’m really proud of how the kids persevered and played all the way down to the end,” said Blazers coach Bill Parks.
A depth-depleted Daniel Boone’s defense stopped the first four Fleetwood two-point tries. The Blazers missed a point-after kick and then a two-point try, but would nose ahead for good at 19-18 in the third quarter on Dylan Walker’s extra point. Both teams ran the ball well but Daniel Boone had the key difference-makers in running back Spencer McIntosh (20 carries, 125 yards) and quarterback Josh Ehst (12-for18, 194 yards, two TDs).
“Conditioning really helped us tonight,” said McIntosh, who also contributed on defense. “And coach always talks about overcoming adversity and not letting anything get us down. We stuck with it and came out on top.”
With the game knotted at 12 at halftime, Fleetwood made a statement coming out of the locker room. The Tigers went on a 67-yard drive, consuming nearly half of the third quarter and scoring on Wilkinson’s 3-yard run.
The Blazers responded immediately. They went 73 yards in 6 minutes to take the lead. A pass interference on Fleetwood helped keep the drive alive, putting the Blazers in Tiger territory. McIntosh’s TD and Walker’s kick made it 1918 with 26 seconds left in the third.
Right after that, the Blazers succeeded with onside kick, McIntosh recovering. Esch found Ryan Okuniewski for 42 yards to the Tiger 10 on the last play of the third quarter. He hit Anthony Zabala for a 13-yard TDpass, Dylan connected
on another point-after kick, and it was 26-18.
Fleetwood roared back down the field twice, fumbling deep in the red zone, then scoring the second trip on Brendan Jocsak’s 5-yard run. Again the Tigers came up short going for two.
McIntosh provided the clincher on a 7-yard slice into the end zone with 49.4 seconds left in the fourth.
The Blazers got on the board first with an effective run-pass mix drive. Ehst made a nice play, rolling left and fitting a pass into a tight coverage window to Walker for 13 yards on third-and-seven. McIntosh then broke loose for runs of 20 and 17, and from the 23 Ehst made a slick ball fake and kept for the TD.
With 9:04 left in the second quarter the Tigers decided to go for it on fourthand-two from their own 33. Jocsak got it with second effort. He then gained 10 on second-and-13 and Wilkinson made 10 on third-and-3 to the Blazer 46. Two plays later, Wilkinson cut straight up the middle and ran past everybody for a 44-yard score. An unsuccessful two-point run by Wilkinson kept it tied at 6 with 6 minutes left before halftime.
Much would happen in those six minutes. Ehst found Ian Rathgeb in the end zone for a leaping 37yard TD reception with 4:25 left in the half. Zabala’s big block of a pass rusher closing in on Ehst allowed the play to happen. The twopoint pass play failed.
Fleetwood marched 52 yards to the end zone just before the half expired. Trevor Koenig hit Izaiah David for a 21-yard gain and
Jordan Wilmer ran for 16. After a good defensive pursuit play, with McIntosh making the tackle on Jordan Wilmer for a 3-yard loss back to the Daniel Boone 15, a pass interference flag on the Blazers put the Tigers back in business. With 43 seconds to go before halftime, Jocsak slammed in from the 7 to knot the score at 12; the two-pointer was failed.
Fleetwood rushed for 160
the first half, led by Wilkinson’s 62 and Jocsak’s 60. McIntosh had 72 yards (on eight attempts) of the Blazers’ 121 first-half ground yards.
GOVERNOR MIFFLIN 49, WEST YORK20>>
The Mustangs improved to 5-1 overall with a road thrashing of the Bulldogs in a non-league encounter. Host West York took an early 7-0 lead before Mifflin scored 49 un- answered to gallop into the locker room at halftime with a commanding 49-7 advantage. Ajay Szepkowski scored touchdowns rushing, receiving and on an 85-yard kickoff return right after the Bulldogs fired the opening salvo. Quarterback Austin Baker was brutally efficient – he attempted just five passes but completed four of them for 112 yards and three touchdowns. Aaron Grill was on the receiving end of two of those passes, his only catches of the night.
EXETER 49, MUHLENBERG 20 >>
The Eagles (4-2, 1-1) grabbed their first Section 1 win of the season in convincing fashion at Muhlenberg (1-5, 1-2). Nick Sarangoulis scorched the Muhls for four touchdowns, the payoff for his 22-carry, 144yard rushing effort. Quarterback Brandon Unterkoefler was 7 of 10 passing for 181 yards and three scores – to Matt Feeney, Gabe Schappell and Cade Sarlat, respectively. Exeter led 28-13 at the break and stretched the lead to 42-13 after three.
SCHUYLKILL VALLEY 31, KUTZTOWN 13 >>
The Panthers picked up their first win of the season in their first Berks 2 encounter of the campaign. Host Schuylkill Valley (1- 5, 1- 0) pulled away from Kutztown (3-3, 0-2) with a 24-point second quarter to take a 31-7 lead into halftime. Three Panthers – Tyler Worrell, Jackson Brown and Nathan Braucher – scored rushing touchdowns. Worrell’s 76 yards rushing lead the group. The Cougars have cooled, after winning three straight games, with a second consecutive section loss. Kutztown was held to 13 points despite outgaining SV in total yards, 278239. Three SV interceptions thwarted drives.
BERKS CATHOLIC 56, HAMBURG8>>
The host Saints (51, 1-0) took out their frustrations at losing to Exeter a week ago by obliterating the Hawks (4-2, 0-1) on Saturday night in the Section 2 opener for both. BC rolled up 615 total yards and scored three touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to lead 42-0 at the break. Graham Glueck only ran the ball three times but went for 65 yards and two touchdowns. Joel Matos added a score and led the Saints in rushing, with 69 yards on five attempts. Quarterback Terrance Derr attempted only eight passes, but completed six of them for a massive 290 yards and four touchdowns. Hamburg QB Tanner Quigley was 7 of 13 for 113 yards, but was picked off twice.