Groff leads Barons past Ephrata
- 14 October 2006
In desperate need of a spark, Manheim Central finally found one late in the third quarter.It came -- as it has many times before -- in the form of Nate Groff.
The senior running back ran for three second-half touchdowns, two in a span of 1:42, as the Barons broke open a close game and pulled away for a 36-7 win (boxscore ) over Ephrata Friday night in Manheim.
"All you need is one big play to get the momentum going," said Groff.
That big play was a 67-yard TD run with 3:03 left in the third that allowed a seemingly lifeless Baron squad to stretch their lead to 22-0.
"That's what we needed," Groff added. "Everybody did their assignment and the hole was there."
With the win, the Barons moved to 7-0 overall and their 4-0 league mark keeps them tied with Conestoga Valley atop Section Two.
Despite that, head Baron Mike Williams was left scratching his head after this one.
"We're fortunate to be 7-0, really," Williams said. "We're 7-0 and we do a lot of good things, but then we also do a lot of awful things."
Topping the good list would have to be Groff's latest performance. The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder rushed for 150 yards, including 113 in the second half and also hauled in two Tyler Stauffer passes for 73 yards.
Groff now has a league-high 21 touchdowns.
"Nate's a tough competitor," said Williams. "Nate's one of our top players of all time. He does a lot of things well. He's tough, he's fast and hard-nosed."
Among the awful things Williams touched on were four fumbles (one lost), an interception in the end zone and five penalties for 40 yards.
"We can't explain it," said Williams. "I guess you're used to trying to be a perfectionist and sometimes you can't quite accomplish that with certain groups."
The Mounts, meanwhile, dropped to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the section with the loss.
"If we had some speed to do some things where we could have opened up and had some fun," said Mounts coach Ken Grove. "We just don't have it. Their X's are bigger than our O's. They kinda said 'we're going to lace it up and pound you.' "
Despite racking up 278 yards in the opening half to Ephrata's 78, the Barons only held a 14-0 lead at the break.
Those scores came courtesy of a pair of seven-yard TD runs, one from Stuaffer in the first and another from Travis Nissley in the second.
Stauffer rushed for 92 yards on seven carries, while completing 5-of-8 passes for 115 yards.
The Barons squandered another golden opportunity in the first. On first down from his own 6, Stauffer escaped and ran 87 yards to the Ephrata 7.
Two plays later, his deflected pass was picked off in the end zone.
"We realized stupid mistakes were hurting us," said Groff of the first half and his mindset for the second. "We came out, tried to minimize mistakes and we just played Baron football."
It took a little while, but they did. The Barons turned it over on their first possession when Stauffer, in shotgun formation, wasn't ready for the snap (for the second time in the game) and the ball sailed past him.
Ephrata's Jordan Becker recovered the loose ball at the Manheim 29, but the Mounts could not capitalize and the drive stalled at the 23.
"I just don't think we're playing all that well," said Williams. "We're not an elite team. We're just not there yet."
On the ensuing drive, Groff exploded for his 67 yard score. Shortly thereafter, Kyle Anderson blocked a Mount punt, giving Manheim first-and-goal at the 5.
Groff took it in from there and the Barons were up 29-0 with 1:21 left in the third.
Groff then made it 36-0 when he added a six-yard touchdown run on the Barons' opening drive of the fourth quarter.
The Barons finished with 472 total yards, while holding Ephrata to 180. The Mounts finally got on the board, thanks to a 23-yard TD pass from Blake Crowther to Curtis Kolp late in the fourth quarter.
"We were looking for somebody to step up and do something," said Williams.
That someone just happened to be Groff.
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