Warwick runs past Ephrata
- 14 September 2008
The long-running Warwick-Ephrata rivalry was put on a hold for a day by Friday's rain but the delay did nothing to change the recent history of the series as Warwick continued to dominate their backyard rivals with a 28-12 win at Ephrata's War Memorial Field Saturday.The Warriors' claimed the George Male trophy, awarded annually to the winner, for the third straight year after dropping three straight from 2003-05 to the Mountaineers.
After the game as Warwick coach Bob Locker talked to his team, he talked about how Saturday's game was the type of game Warwick (2-1) would have found a way to lose a couple of years ago. The fact that they won Saturday and took their third straight from Ephrata (0-3), speaks to where the Warwick program stands.
"[Winning three straight George Male trophies] is a reflection of the fact that the kids that are seniors got here the year we started to turn things around a little bit," Locker said of Eric Resch, Randy Yost and the other 11 seniors on the roster. "It's a tribute to what they've done here for three years."
Warwick fought off a flat start, including a fumble on a first-quarter punt return that set up an early Ephrata touchdown. Starting on the Warwick 49, a couple of runs moved the Mounts down to the Warwick 39. Junior quarterback Lance Kopp hooked up with senior receiver Greg Forstater for a 24-yard pass play to put Ephrata inside the red zone. Two plays later, the two connected again on a 12-yard screen pass for a touchdown and an early 6-0 lead.
"I'm not sure that we were very sharp mentally to come out today to begin with but we tried to tell the kids, 'We're both here on a Saturday. Yeah it's not what we had in mind but we're both here, you got to go play ball,' '' Locker said. "I thought we looked flat. I didn't think we played with the amount of enthusiasm we demonstrated last week, and even the first week we had better enthusiasm than this."
Down six, Warwick started to ride their workhorse, senior running back Resch. Starting at their own 42, a couple of runs by Resch and junior Chris Schaffer, moved Warwick into Ephrata territory. Quarterback Yost picked up six yards on a completion to Steve Niemkiewicz. That completion set up a 38-yard touchdown run by Resch and Warwick had a 7-6 lead.
After an Ephrata three-and-out on their next possession and a short 20-yard punt gave Warwick the ball at the Ephrata 42. Yost wasted no time adding onto the lead, finding wide receiver Matt Rissinger in the end zone on the first play from scrimmage for a 42-yard touchdown and 14-6 lead.
Warwick tacked on a touchdown in the closing seconds of the first half when Yost dumped off a short screen pass to Resch. Resch got a couple key blocks and streaked down the right sideline for a 46-yard touchdown to give the Warriors a 21-6 halftime lead. Yost finished with two touchdowns on 7-of-9 passing and 190 yards.
Resch, the league's leading rusher, finished with 22 carries and 115 yards and two rushing touchdowns in addition to the 46-yard reception. Resch capped the Warwick scoring just 50 seconds into the fourth quarter, taking a three-yard toss into the end zone to give Warwick a 28-6 lead.
Ephrata made things interesting in the fourth, responding to the Resch touchdown with a lightning fast, four-play, 70-yard drive. The big play was a 58-yard strike from Kopp to Forstater for a touchdown. The ensuing two-point conversion run failed and Warwick still held a comfortable 28-12 lead.
Kopp finished the game going 20-for-37 for 247 yards and two touchdowns. Both of those scoring players were lengthy completions to Forstater, who hauled in six catches for 116 yards.
"We actually talked about the fact that we thought they'd try to throw the ball on us," Locker said. "They had some success doing that. They picked us a part for a while, but [late in the game] the idea was to run the clock out."
We here at www.ephratamounts.com are proud sponsors of the Dodgeball for Diabetes tournament.