Mounts Blast Braves

Led by senior quarterback Caden Keefer, Ephrata’s spread offense racked up 284 yards on the ground Friday night. Consequently, the Mounts rang up a third straight victory, 56-0 [boxscore] over visiting Pequea Valley in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Three action.

X’s and O’s: During a tight Week Eight win over Lebanon, Keefer surpassed Jeremy Franck as Ephrata’s all-time leading passer, and entered Week Nine just 17 yards shy of 3,000 career passing yards.

In perhaps his final home game as a Mountaineer, Keefer completed 8 of 11 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns — an 8-yarder to Kyle Raudenbush and a 16-yarder to Tucker Parmer — with one interception. He also ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries.

Key statistics: Whenever the Braves zeroed in on Keefer’s arm, Ephrata (5-3 L-L, 5-4 overall) found success with its ground game, able to rack up 144 rushing yards and four touchdowns by halftime — a 3-yarder from Keefer, a 50-yarder from Miracle Wratto, and two scores from Richard Greer of 1 and 13 yards.

Pequea Valley’s offense, which had averaged 120.5 yards per game (ranked last in the L-L League), stalled early and often, amassing just 64 total yards.

HB Antonio Lazar (14 carries for 70 yards) and QB Nate Fisher (2 of 12 passes for 21 yards with three interceptions) led the Braves ( 0-8, 0-9) offensively.

Turning point: With just under 10 minutes left in the first quarter, Keefer accounted for the only score the Mounts needed with a 3-yard scamper.

Stars of the game: Greer (62 yards, two TDs) and Wratto (58 yards, two TDs) combined for 120 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Up next: Pequea Valley will visit Lancaster Catholic in Week 10, while Ephrata will travel to Octorara.

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