Mounts Dominate on Senior Night

Ephrata’s Senior Night at War Memorial Field proved to be memorable in more than one way on Friday night.

Playing his last game at home, Andre Weidman (148 yards, four touchdowns) eclipsed the 3,000 yard mark in rushing, a standard that could be around the program for a long time.

“We knew what we had to do, to come out and dominate, and that is what we did,” Weidman said.

More important, the Mounts (6-3) assured themselves of a winning season for the first time since 2019 in a 42-14 nonleague win over Muhlenberg (2-7).

The Mounts wasted no time getting on the board, taking just 42 seconds on their first series to put points on the board as Weidman rambled in from 3 yards out.

Sam McCracken’s arm provided the next score with a 11-yard strike to Evan Boley just minutes later, and Weidman plunged into the end zone from a yard out with 28 seconds left until halftime to make it 21-0.

Muhlenberg finally got on the board with 3:11 left in the third after a 68-yard scoring drive culminated in Gio Cavanna’s 8-yard run. Cavanna added another score for the Mules with 7:22 left in the fourth when he plowed through from 1 yard out, but the two-point conversion was no good.

After the 21st penalty flag of the night was thrown by officials, the Mounts got the final points of the contest on a perfectly executed play by McCracken. He found Nate Conover for a 75-yard score down the sideline, and the Mounts’ lead was 42-14 with just under six minutes remaining.

Play of the game

Jeremiah Knowles’ 65-yard return late in the second quarter set up a short scoring series for the Mounts, culminating in a 1-yard plunge by Weidman that made it 21-0 Mounts.

Quotable

“Any time you have a chance to play meaningful games in October, that’s what you want,” Ephrata coach Kris Miller said. “All you have to do is give yourself a shot. We control our own destiny. We don’t have to worry and hope about anyone else does. If we take care of business, we can earn that right to play another week.”

Notable

McCracken, Ephrata’s junior QB, set a single-season record for touchdown passes with his 19th of the season, the 4-yarder to Boley in the first quarter. He added his 20th in the fourth quarter with the 75-yard bomb.

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