Mounts drop Muhlenberg Win Season Opener

Most of today’s Ephrata players had not yet been born the last time Mountaineers won the opening game of a football season.

Kris Miller said it’s been 18 years since his team started 1-0, and although it wasn’t pretty and there are areas to clean up, the head coach will take the 41-20 nonleague triumph over Muhlenberg on Saturday morning at Ephrata’s War Memorial Field.

“We won the game, that’s the most important thing,” Miller said. “I told the kids any time you do something that hasn’t been done in 18 years is a big step. It is a huge thing. We had to find a way to start 1-0.”

That winning formula resulted in heavy doses of Andre Weidman and Hunter Mortimer.

Weidman ran for three touchdowns and Mortimer passed for two more as the Mounts (1-0) built a 41-13 lead through three quarters before taking their foot off the gas pedal, just a bit.

Weidman, a junior running back, capped a sevenplay, 69-yard opening drive with a 9-yard touchdown, sliding off the left guard to bulldoze his way into the end zone.

On Ephrata’s next possession, Mortimer faked a handoff and rolled to his right, floating a pass in the flat to a wide-open Jeremiah Knowles. The receiver race down the sideline for an 83-yard score, putting the Mounts on top 14-0.

The celebration didn’t last long, as Aaron Shuker ran the kickoff back for a TD for Muhlenberg, which hasn’t won a game in three years. The Mounts’ defense held sophomore first-time starting quarterback Kyle Archie (9-for-11 passing, 90 yards) in check and yielded only 110 yards to Muhls rushers.

Ephrata responded to the Muhls’ score with an eightplay, 65-yard drive that was capped by Weidman’s 4-yard TD run up the middle.

Senior defensive tackle Deric Hoover pounced on a fumble in the end zone for Ephrata’s final points of the first half and a 27-7 halftime lead.

On the first possession of the third quarter, Ephrata marched 71 yards down the field and scored on a 13play drive by Weidman, his third score on the day, this one as he slid to his left and brushed off three tacklers on his way to the end zone. He finished with 149 yards on 16 carries.

“We’ve had a lot of good running backs since I’ve been here,” Miller said. “(Weidman) has that breakaway speed that we haven’t had. He’ll get that tough three or four yards, butwhen there is a crease there, he’s going to break it. He had a couple huge runs and finished his runs, whether it was with a stiff-arm or running over people.”

Mortimer (6-of-8 passing for 116 yards) lofted a pass into the left corner of the end zone to receiver Clay Ringler for a 4-yard score and Ephrata’s final points.

Up next, the Muhls host Conrad Weiser on Friday and the Mounts travel to Palmyra.