Vikings pillage and plunder

On Hall of Fame Night at War Memorial Field, the Mountaineers unveiled their freshly laid turf and returned home for the first time this season. It would’ve been perfect timing to notch that stubborn first win of the season.

But Northern Lebanon Vikings (3-1) spoiled Ephrata’s (0-4) homecoming, with a 47-6 victory [box score].

Still here? Good. This is where I typically finish the article, adjusting stats and being a bit of a nit-pick. But this is such a beauty I decided to have some fun with it. "He" will refer to the original author (even if they are a woman)(sorry, no offense implied).

He said: “I’m feeling heartbroken,” Mountaineer coach Steve Sweigart said afterward.

Weas said: “I’m feeling heartbroken,” someone, possibly a fan, said afterward.

He said: Ephrata’s defense gave up a whopping 441 yards to their L-L League Section 3 rival, with 314 of them coming in a rough first half.

Weas said: Ephrata's defense gave up 449 yards to their L-L League Section 3 opponent, with 313 coming in the first half.

He said: Isaac Ray, Northern Lebanon’s quarterback, had just under 200 yards passing on 13 of 22 passing.

Weas said: Isaac Ray, Northern Lebanon’s starting quarterback, had 267 yards passing on 11 of 18 attempts.

He said: Two of his biggest plays were 66-yard and 70-yard touchdown passes in the second quarter.

Weas said: You know what? They were his two biggest plays.

He said: “We couldn’t hit a soul tonight,” Sweigart said of his defense.

Weas said: “It could’ve been sole tonight,” Sweigart might have said of the new "Mountaineer Catch of the Night" fish sandwich sold at the Burger Shack this year at the Ephrata War Memorial Field.

He said: On the season, Ephrata has been outscored 223-6.

Weas said: Yep, we have. But if you break it down as an average, it doesn't sound as bad. Our average score is around 56-2. See? sounds better.

He said: The silver lining, however, is that the Mountaineers got their first points in the scoreboard this week.

Weas said: There are plenty of articles on the web dealing with the warning signs of buying fake silver vs sterling silver.

He said: A 5-yard run from quarterback Jarred Molmer ended the scoring drought.

Weas said: A 6-yard run by Dustin Fisher who was craftily tossed the ball from quarterback Jerrad Malmer ended the scoring drought.

He said: Turning point: With penalties piling up against Northern Lebanon and the offense starting to move the ball, Ephrata had a glimmer of hope to possibly make a comeback. After penalties of their own, as well as the special teams blunders in the latter part of the game, that light at the end of the tunnel was quickly dimmed.

Weas said: Hey, I love similes as much as a fat kid likes chips, although I have to give some credit here, because finding a turning point for every game would be hard. Seriously though ... Northern Lebanon had 18 penalties called against them for 136 yards. I think they were doing it on purpose, just so their total yards would be higher at the end of the game. You can quote me on that.

He said: Star of the game: Ray sliced through the Mountaineer defense, with nearly 200 yards in the air, 49 on the ground and four total touchdowns.

Weas said: Star of the game: Isaac Ray was great, and I fixed his stats earlier in the article. But Mason Yost caught the ball no matter who was throwing it and he caught it 8 times for 178 yards. Let's not forget that Northern Lebanon quarterback's also threw 2 interceptions, both by players named Isaac. The first two picks for the Mounts this year.

He said: Key stat: Led by Ray, the Vikings moved the ball seemingly effortlessly on offensive, specifically the first half. In the first two quarters, they piled on 13 first downs. By the end of the half, it wasn’t looking promising for Ephrata, down 26-0.

Weas said: Key stat: We've seen our share of giving up over a dozen first downs in the first half, and we've been down by more than 26 at the half. But we were moving the ball a bit tonight, and the real key stat was the Mounts were only able to convert 4 of 20 third down attempts.

He said: Quotable: Sweigart was emotional after the loss. Although he understood his team lacks experience and leadership, Sweigart admitted he doesn’t know exactly what needs to be done to turn their season around.

“I don’t know what to do,” he said. “I don’t know what I need to do to get them over this hump.”

Weas said: Quotable: Perhaps it was Scott Shelley who was emotional after the loss. Although he understands his team lacks experience and proven leadership, Shelley might not know exactly what needs to be done to turn their season around.

“I don’t know what to do,” someone, possibly Shelley said. “I don’t know what I need to do to get them over this hump.”

Tune in next week when we host York Suburban. We'll show them we can wind it up and it runs five days just as well.

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