Berks Sports Report Paul Roberts
ELCO left Conrad Weiser with a 21-12 win on September 18th. The Scouts didn’t forget that loss. “The kids had a lot of heart. They had a lot of revenge on their mind. That was the theme all week. It was a lot of motivation. These kids really wanted it,” acknowledged longtime head coach Alan Moyer. Defensive end Lincoln Harting added, “That hurt the most out of all the losses we had. We were unfocused that week and had a bad week of practice. This week, best week of practice we had all season. Came out here and we dominated on both sides of the ball.” Conrad Weiser beat ELCO 20-6 in the first round of the District 3-4A playoffs on Friday in Robesonia. Kole Kupper ran for 139 yards and 2 TD on 20 carries. “He’s a great player. He’s better than any running back in this county, in my opinion,” stated Harting. Kupper has 1,531 rushing yards this season and 24 touchdowns.
The (6-5) Raiders faced a fourth-and-3 at the Scouts’ 28-yard line early in the second quarter. Brinley Donmoyer, a 195-pound senior quarterback, was held to a one yard gain. ELCO struggled to finish drives all night. “It was a team effort. We knew what we had to do. We had to stop their option, we had to stop the run. That’s most of their offense,” explained Harting. The 6’2, 235-pound junior finished with nine tackles and a sack. “He’s a huge factor coming off the edge. He’s got one motor in practice. He’s got one motor in a game and it’s go, go, go,” emphasized Moyer. Senior linebackers Luke Walter (7) and Donte Wilkins (6) combined for 13 tackles. Kupper made an interception on a halfback pass by Gavin Yeiser with 4:18 left. The (7-4) Scouts allowed just 240 total yards.
On third-and-12 at their own 25-yard line, Connor Sellars hit Chase Matthews for a 14-yard pickup in the second quarter. Conrad Weiser then went into its bag of tricks. Sophomore receiver Cam Colon took a toss and threw a pass over the middle to tight end Robbie Giffing for 23 yards. Kupper went 22 yards on a screen pass down the left sideline which set up his 2-yard TD run. The 73-yard drive made it 7-0 with 7:41 remaining before halftime. The Raiders marched into the Scouts’ territory late in the first half and had two chances to even the score. One long pass from Donmoyer was dropped by Griffin Kreider and the other was overthrown. Donmoyer was 7-of-18 for 116 yards, but several of his throws were dropped.
Conrad Weiser opened the third quarter with a 70-yard possession that took seven and a-half minutes. Kupper got it started with an 18-yard run. On fourth-and-4, Sellars connected with Giffing along the right sideline for just enough to move the chains at ELCO’s 29-yard line. Fullback Ethan Reinard rumbled up the middle for 21 yards and Kupper ended the series with a 5-yard TD run. The Scouts went on top 14-0 with 4:23 to go in the quarter.
In the final seconds of the third period, sophomore Cameron Tillison dropped a pass that could’ve been a 35-yard touchdown. On the first play of the fourth quarter, sophomore Noah Williams was limited to a 2-yard run on fourth-and-3 . Conrad Weiser took over at its 30-yard line and put together another 70-yard drive. It looked like the Raiders had bottled up Kupper, but somehow he broke free and raced 53 yards down the right sideline. A 1-yard quarterback sneak by Sellars gave the Scouts a 20-0 cushion with nine minutes on the clock.
Donmoyer responded with a 61-yard pass down the left sideline to Tillison. A 2-yard TD run by Donmoyer pulled ELCO within 20-6 with 7:38 left. The extra point attempt was wide right. Donmoyer provided 59 yards on 14 carries. Sellars was 6-of-12 for 50 yards through the air. The 5’9, 170-pound senior ran the ball eight times for 36 yards and a score. “He’s such a competitor. We’re running him a heck of a lot more than we did early in the season. That really takes some pressure off of Kole,” noted Moyer. Sellars has 139 carries for 708 yards and 12 TD this season. Conrad Weiser racked up 234 yards on the ground against the Raiders.
The Scouts are making their 19th appearance in the District 3 playoffs. They will travel to top-seeded and undefeated West York next Friday in the quarterfinals. “If you want to win a District championship, you gotta beat the best. I heard they have a heck of a squad so we got a lot of work to do,” replied Moyer.