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Mules Run Past Mounts

21 October 2017
Written by John Finger — LNP

Solanco’s vaunted running game ran all over the winless Ephrata High defense on Friday night at Solanco High School as the Golden Mules improved to 4-4 (3-2 in Section Two) with the 62-21 victory [boxscore].

The league’s leading rusher, Solanco sophomore Nick Yannutz, carried the ball 12 times for 79 yards and three touchdowns, while Alex McDonald gained 112 yards on seven carries with a touchdown.

All of those yards came during the first half of the game.

The loss is Ephrata’s 49th in a row, a streak dating back to October of 2012.

Turning point: For a brief moment, Ephrata was in the mix. After Yannutz scored his second touchdown of the first half, Ephrata senior Adam Maser returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to get to with six points at 20-14.

But Solanco took control from there. An seven-play drive ended with another touchdown for Yannutz, with Nafis Moore and quarterback Joel McGuire added a touchdown apiece during the next two possessions.

Ephrata never got closer.

Star of the game: With 79 yards and three touchdowns before halftime on Friday night, Yannutz helped put this one to bed early.

The sophomore also pushed his league-leading rushing yards total to 1,085.

Under the radar: Quarterback Joel Mc-Guire doesn’t throw it much (just 37 attempts for the season), but the junior knows how to lead the Mules’ offense. McGuire ran for 70 yards on ten scrambles and found the end zone once. He also attempted three passes, connecting on two of them for 17 yards.

We would be remiss not to mention the gutty and gritty Ephrata quarterback Caden Keefer. The sophomore connected on 14 of 28 passes for 176 yards and ran for 118 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.

Key statistic: Quite simply, it was the 443 yards on 47 carries for Solanco. Seven different players gained at least 33 yards and nearly every player who rushed the ball hit pay dirt. That includes Solanco freshman Shaneef Carter, who got some work in the third quarter, gaining 62 yards on nine carries with a touchdown.