For the first time in more than 20 years, Ephrata’s football team is off to a 3-0 start.
The Mountaineers remained perfect Saturday compliments of a 51-12 nonleague triumph over Lebanon in Ephrata’s War Memorial Stadium. The Cedars, who dipped to 0-3, suffered their 25th setback in a row.
When Kris Miller took over as Ephrata’s football coach in 2016, one of his goals for the program was to close the gap against Warwick in the battle for the George Male Trophy.
Over time, the Mounts have done exactly that. And when they pulled off an emotional 29-21 win last season, Ephrata snapped a 15-game losing streak to its backyard rival.
On Friday night, the Mounts made it two in a row, snapping a scoreless tie in the fourth quarter and bringing the Male Trophy back to Ephrata with a 14-0 nonleague shutout of Warwick at Joseph Grosh Field in Lititz.
A look at the banner hanging in the gym at Hempfield High School is all you need to know about the girls volleyball team. But Tuesday, in a District Three Class 4A semifinal in Landisville, the Black Knights got a scare early from an Ephrata team they rolled over on the same court just a few weeks ago.
The Mounts easily won game one 25-18, and it seemed to stun Hempfield. But in typical Hempfield postseason fashion, while Ephrata played tough the rest of the way, the Black Knights took the next three en route to an 18-25, 25-20, 25-8, 25-17 win.
The atmosphere was festive, with stands packed on both sides and people lining the fences. It was a game that the Ephrata Mounts wanted not only for themselves but also for their community. Just once since 2003 have the Mountaineers won a season opener.
And this one the team really wanted, especially one player. Last year, Quintin Pfautz had a 72-yard score — one that would have beaten Red Lion — negated.
Pfautz got his revenge with an early 20-yard score, but this nonleague football game, ultimately a 34-32 Ephrata win, went down to the wire. It also came down to a play on defense, as Nick Keller made a nice move, turned and intercepted Lions QB Christopher Price with just over two minutes remaining.
Elizabethtown and Ephrata both needed victories Friday night. The Bears were coming off a blowout loss to Garden Spot, while the Mounts had to win to clinch a District Three Class 5A playoff spot for their first postseason appearance in over three decades.
In the end, Elizabethtown sweated out an Ephrata turnaround to come away with a 35-30 win in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Three finale for both teams.
We here at www.ephratamounts.com are proud sponsors of the Dodgeball for Diabetes tournament.