Berks Sports Report Paul Roberts
Cocalico trailed Twin Valley by just five points with twelve minutes remaining on Friday night in Elverson. The Raiders were trying to wrap up their second straight undefeated regular season, but the scrappy Eagles wouldn’t go away. Maverik Foster and the offensive line made sure the Twin Valley fans didn’t go home disappointed on Senior Night. Foster took an inside handoff and raced 52 yards to put the Raiders up 21-9 with 11:48 left. Four and a-half minutes later, Foster went 21 yards up the middle for another touchdown. Twin Valley remained unblemished with a 28-9 victory. The Raiders claimed the Section 3 championship in the Lancaster-Lebanon League with a perfect (10-0, 6-0) record. “It’s a very hard thing to accomplish. I feel like with all our hard work, we definitely earned this,” said Foster. The 6’, 180-pound junior ran for 169 yards and 3 TD on 14 carries. Twin Valley has outscored its opponents 390-to-95 this fall.
After a scoreless first quarter, Grant Moser broke free for a 74-yard TD run. It was negated, however, by a holding penalty. The Raiders committed eight penalties for 80 yards and fumbled the ball twice. Good teams, however, find a way to win. Lucas Myers rumbled 20 yards to Cocalico’s 45-yard line on Twin Valley’s second possession. The Villanova commit provided 111 yards on a dozen carries and seven tackles. Foster bounced an inside run out to the right and cruised 29 yards for a 7-0 lead with 7:04 to go before halftime. “Obviously, gotta give a shout out to my linemen. They were opening up holes all night for me and Lucas. They were paving the way for us,” emphasized Foster.
The Raiders put together another 85-yard drive late in the first half. They faced a third-and-13 from the Eagles’ 17-yard line and called a throwback screen pass. Sophomore Gavan Foster, Maverik’s younger brother, rolled to his right and then dumped the ball off to Jayce Oliver. The 6’2, 215-pound senior tight end followed his blockers down the left sideline for a touchdown with ten seconds to play. Twin Valley went in front 14-0 by covering 85 yards in 83 seconds. Oliver had four catches for 65 yards and made a team-high nine tackles at linebacker. Gavan Foster ended up 7-of-14 for 97 yards. The Raiders ran the rock 31 times for 289 yards behind an offensive line that averages 269 pounds.
Cocalico senior linebacker Rocco Rigney recovered a Twin Valley fumble at midfield at the beginning of the third quarter. The (6-4, 4-2) Eagles converted a fourth-and-2 and a fourth-and-1 on that series. On fourth-and-1 from the 2-yard line, fullback Logan Horning got tripped up at the line of scrimmage. A measurement showed that the 5’5, 170-pound junior was just short of a first down. On the next play, the Raiders fumbled and the ball fell back into the end zone where Myers fell on it. The safety made it 14-2 with 1:34 to play in the third quarter. Cocalico began the ensuing drive at its 40-yard line. Quarterback Jasiah Rios kept the ball on an option play to the left and went 57 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. All of a sudden, the Eagles were within 14-9 with 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Rios, a 130-pound junior, took over at quarterback after Connor Horning was injured in Week 5. Horning has returned, but Rios was playing well and stayed under center in Cocalico’s flexbone offense.
The Eagles reached midfield with nine minutes left and a 21-9 deficit. Senior cornerback Kwesi Banahene broke up a pass on fourth-and-6 to end that possession. Twin Valley senior defensive end Andrew Andrew Cabigas (6’4, 220) recovered a fumble at Cocalico’s 36-yard line to seal the deal with four minutes on the clock. “We definitely have a physical team. Our motto is eleven to the ball. With these option teams, we just gotta do our responsibility,” explained Maverik Foster. The Raiders faced another well-coached option team in Week 7 when they traveled to Solanco. “Playing Solanco, running the same offense, gave us a head start for Cocalico. During practice this week, we had a great scout team helping us prepare for this offense,” noted Foster. The Eagles entered the night averaging 26 points per game, but were limited to one touchdown.
Twin Valley is the #1 seed in the District 3-5A playoffs. The Raiders will have a bye next week. They won their first District 3 championship a season ago at the 4A classification. On Friday, Brett Myers picked up his 50th victory at Twin Valley. This is his fifth year as the Raiders’ head coach. Myers has an impressive (50-11) mark in Elverson.