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Mounts outslug Solanco
- 28 October 2005
If defense is your cup of tea, the football game at Ephrata's War
Memorial Field on Friday night was a big gulp-sized serving of black
coffee.The Section Two tussle between Ephrata and Solanco was all offense, an eye opening 908 total yards of offense, but it was the Mounts serving up big plays all game long.
"This one was probably fun for people to watch," Ephrata coach Ken Grove said.
Led by sophomore quarterback Blake Crowther, who had a hand in six touchdowns, five passing and one on the ground, Ephrata shellacked Solanco, 56-28 in Section Two play.
The Mounts had six scoring drives (the term being used loosely) that lasted three plays or less, three that required only one play to find the end zone.
"We didn't make too many mistakes tonight," Grove said. "The line did a nice job, we threw the ball well, and kids made some big plays."
Ephrata (2-4 Section Two, 3-6 overall) had six plays from scrimmage that topped 40 yards, five of which were touchdowns, with tight end Chris Hull on the receiving end of three.
"To Blake's credit, our execution with the line, and the overall execution on offense I was really pleased with," Grove said.
Crowther was 8-for-11 for 214 yards in only his second start at QB, while his brother Ryan Crowther, a senior running back, had 98 yards on the ground and caught a 43-yard touchdown pass. Click here for complete boxscore.
"It's really exciting. It was a lot of fun tonight and everyone did well, especially the (offensive) line did well for us," Blake Crowther said.
Fellow RB Mike Burkholder had 57 yards rushing and was Ephrata's leading defensive player with an interception and nine unofficial tackles.
Burkholder played a major role in shutting down Solanco running back Nic Lewis, who rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Mules quarterback Dustin Musselman was 15-for-29 for 164 yards, a touchdown, two interceptions and rushed for a game-high 150 yards.
Fullback Patrick McGettigan found the end zone twice for the Golden Mules.
"On the (defensive) side of the coin, we didn't stop them when we needed to, to get a comfortable lead, but we found a way," Grove said.
The game took on the form of an offensive battle from the get-go, as both teams found the scoreboard on their opening drives, Solanco with a 34-yard TD from Musselman to wide receiver Derek Ewaka and Ephrata with a 53-yard run by Ryan Crowther.
Ephrata only needed another three plays to score again, as an 11-yard TD pass from Crowther to Hull was set up by a 48-yard run by Burkholder.
Solanco tied the game at 14-14 with seven minutes left in the second quarter on a 2-yard run by McGettigan and an offensive dogfight seemed in the making, but Ephrata sprung into action.
After Crowther ran for a 49-yard TD to the left side on a fake-dive that left the defense in the dark, Kyle Schillaci's interception of Musselman's pass and 57-yard return gave Crowther the opportunity to hit Hull for another TD.
"The coaches gave us a really good idea of what they were going to be running on defense," Crowther said.
Ephrata continued to pour it on offensively after halftime, scoring on its next two possessions, the Crowther-to-Crowther connection and a 55-yard pass to Hull to open up a 42-14 lead.
Solanco (0-6, 0-9) continued to answer with scores, one from McGettigan and another by Lewis, but Ephrata replied right back for the entire second half, with a 55-yard TD from Crowther to Kyle Sensenig and a 6-yard run by RB Joel Yoder.
We here at www.ephratamounts.com are proud sponsors of the Dodgeball for Diabetes tournament.