Surrendering a 13-point lead with less than four minutes to play and losing to Warwick was hard to take.

 

Losing to Elizabethtown with six seconds to play last week to remain winless on the season, well, that hit a raw nerve.

 

So, to say that Conestoga Valley's football team welcomed its 28-14 [box score] Homecoming victory over Ephrata Friday would not be overstating the relief.

 

"We really needed it,'' said Buckskins quarterback Ryan Brooks, who ran for a pair of TDs in the win. "Obviously, we didn't want that 0-5 start but we have to push forward with four more (games) to play.''

 

CV also got a pair of rushing TDs from running back Anthony Brown, who ran for 197 yards on 35 carries.

 

Buckskins head coach Tom Nichols was not at the game. CV athletic director Zac Kraft did not return a phone call placed to seek comment prior to press time.

 

Conestoga Valley (1-2 Section Two, 1-5 overall) took a 21-0 lead in the game but Ephrata closed the gap with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns, both coming on big plays.

 

Jeremy Kachel hauled in a long pass from Bobby Nye, going 69 yards for Ephrata's first touchdown. On the following possession, Nye threw a lateral pass to Kachel who tossed the ball to Blake Weaver, who went 67 yards down the right sideline for another score.

 

At this point, it would only be natural for doom to creep into the Bucks' minds, based on past experience.

 

When the Mounts (1-2, 1-5) converted a fourth-and-five to the CV 32, those feelings heightened.

 

But Ephrata, which hadn't committed a turnover, fumbled with CV's Chris Orantes falling on it.

 

The Bucks went three and out, giving Ephrata another chance. This time, Brandon Hernandez sacked Nye, who fumbled and Barrett DeForge landed on the loose ball.

 

"(Those thoughts) were in the back of our minds,'' said DeForge, of the come-from-ahead losses to Warwick and E-town. "We just focused on our offensive drives and getting another touchdown.''

 

And that's what CV did, turning DeForge's fumble recovery into Brooks' 10-yard TD run with 4:30 to play. Now, there was a cushion at 28-14.

 

Varying the wildcat with traditional offensive sets, the Bucks, who rolled up 335 yards on the ground, scored on two of their first three drives. Brooks scored on an 12-yard option keeper in the first quarter and Martin burst up the gut for a 25-yard TD run out of the wildcat on the first play of the second quarter.

 

Martin added his second TD early in the third on another 25-yard TD run out of the wildcat.

 

For the Mounts, it was another game to gain experience.

 

"We're revamping everything and to every one of our players, this is new to them,'' Ephrata coach Scott Shelley said. "We made a run at them tonight and each one of these experiences will help them down the road.''