Maverik Foster-Twin Valley

Twin Valley’s offensive line was like a boxer targeting his opponent’s ribs. It was one body blow after another after another. The Raiders turned the District 3-4A Championship into a war of attrition. Drew Engle and Lucas Myers combined for 50 carries in a 41-21 victory over Susquehanna Township on Friday at ELCO. “Coming out of the half, Coach Myers was emphasizing ‘keep cutting the tree down.’ You’re not gonna take one swing and the tree is gonna fall. Our line kept going at them, hitting them, and eventually we broke through,” said quarterback Maverik Foster. Twin Valley finished with 461 total yards including 387 on the ground. The (13-0) Raiders claimed their first District 3 title in program history. They outscored the (12-1) Indians 21-0 in the second half.

Engle piled up 281 yards and 3 TD on 31 carries. The Army lacrosse commit holds school records for single-season rushing yards (1,855) and career rushing yards (3,971). “He’s a great leader. He’s a great guy to be around. [He] holds people accountable and just wants to be better than he was yesterday,” replied Foster. The 5’11, 185-pound senior also owns Twin Valley’s record for career touchdowns with 60. Engle’s 2-yard TD run tied the game at 7-7 after Xavier Rivera broke free for a 61-yard score on the opening series. Engle raced 35 yards on the Raiders’ first play from scrimmage and he was just getting warmed up. He added a 30-yard run on their second possession. Myers capped off that 43-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. Seven minutes into the contest, there were already 21 combined points on the scoreboard. That wasn’t a big surprise. Twin Valley entered the night averaging 53 points and Susquehanna Township was putting up 42 ppg.

Torin Evans, who decommitted from Marist this week, showed off his elusiveness with a nifty 20-yard touchdown scamper that made it 14-14 with 8:33 left in the second quarter. That score was set up by Evans’ 40-yard pass to Steph Malette. Evans only threw five interceptions in the Indians’ first twelve games, but he was picked off by Grant Moser and James Alexy in the first half. The 6’, 175-pound southpaw ended the season with 37 touchdown passes and another 13 rushing scores. Evans launched a 67-yard TD pass to Syracuse commit Zi’khere Leaks with 42 seconds remaining in the first half. The third-seeded Raiders responded 22 seconds later when Engle sprinted down the right sideline for a 52-yard touchdown. The extra point was no good so the top-seeded Indians were in front 21-20 at halftime.

Foster noted that his coaches and the leaders on the team told him to calm down during the break. He acknowledged that he couldn’t get into a rhythm in the first 24 minutes. The 5’11, 175-pound sophomore made some pivotal plays in the second half. Foster connected with Ben Grundy over the middle for a 55-yard touchdown pass less than two minutes into the third quarter. Twin Valley held a 27-21 advantage before embarking on a 16-play, 82-yard drive that lasted eight and a-half minutes. On fourth-and-3, Foster faked an inside handoff to Engle and ran 24 yards down the left sideline to put the Raiders on top 34-21 with 10:34 to go. “Coach Myers trusted me to make reads so we ran the RPO [run-pass option]. Joey Buckley had a great block for me, Drew Engle carried out his fake, and I saw the lane and took off,” explained Foster. On Twin Valley’s next series, Engle went 32 yards off the left side for a touchdown on fourth-and-6. The Raiders were in firm control at 41-21 with 6:22 to play.

Susquehanna Township got inside the 5-yard line with four minutes left, but Foster and Ryan Rementer came up with sacks to turn the Indians away. Myers, a 215-pound junior, racked up a team-high ten tackles. He also ran for 78 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Rementer, who plays next to Myers at linebacker, added nine tackles. Junior defensive end Andrew Cabigas and Keenan Munn chipped in with seven tackles apiece. Susquehanna Township had 391 total yards, but couldn’t score in the second half. The Indians fell to (0-4) all-time in District 3 championship games.

Foster was an efficient 4-of-6 for 74 yards. The first-year starter is completing 72% of his passes this season. He’s thrown for 1,219 yards with 16 TD passes and no interceptions. The Raiders will take on 5-time state champion Aliquippa next week in the PIAA-4A semifinals. “I’m proud of every single person on this team. I love every single one of them. I wouldn’t want to do it with any other people, but we got two more weeks of grinding,” said Foster.