Mounts Keep Building

The building blocks have reached yet another high mark for the Ephrata Mountaineers.

The Mounts overwhelmed host Pequea Valley 45-0 [box score] on Friday night in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Three football action to reach four wins on the season. They would reach the .500 mark with a win next Friday against Octorara, a feat that amid a 52-game losing streak which ended earlier this season was considered unthinkable.

It would mark the first time since 2003 that the Mounts (4-4 L-L, 4-5 overall) would go .500 or better for a season.

“Yep, absolutely that’s big,” Ephrata coach Kris Miller said. “We’re going to enjoy this and then go back to work and go for back to back wins, which hasn’t been done since 2010 I think.”

“I’m so happy for our kids. To get to this point from where we were?”

Pequea Valley, which got as far as the Mounts’ 22 in the second half before an interception halted the drive, fell to 0-8 in the section, 0-9 overall.

Five different Mounts scored in the first half as they rolled to a 35-0 lead. During the first half, QB Caden Keefer’s 34-yard completion to Castor Shuman put him over 1,000 yards passing for the season.

“Really, that’s awesome,” Keefer said when told of his milestone.

The Mounts had firsthalf scoring drives of 39, 49, 65, 67 and 7 yards, and averaged 10.7 yards per play.

“This is huge for our program,” Keefer said of the growing win total. “You never want to go into the season wanting to settle for .500, but the way the program has been, it’d be awesome.”

Turning point: The Braves received an emotional lift when they held on Ephrata’s first possession, then rattled off a first-down run on their first play. But the drive stalled and a 25-yard punt return by Miracle Wratto led to the Mounts’ 39yard drive for a 7-0 lead.

Star of the game: Lot of players got involved and certainly the Mounts’ defense came up big, but give it to Keefer with his 95 yards rushing and 104 passing, to surpass 1,000 yards passing for the season.

Up next: Next Friday night, Ephrata hopes to reach the .500 mark when it takes on Octorara at home. Pequea Valley is at home to take on Lancaster Catholic.

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