Ephrata tests Bears

"I don't think so," E-town's coach deadpanned Friday night. "Our guys haven't been any different from Week Three to Week Eight."

If nothing else, perhaps they're just a little more battle-tested.

Coming off a 42-14 win at Garden Spot last week, when they found themselves clinging to a 14-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, the Bears dodged an even bigger bullet in rain-soaked E-town, where they held on for a 20-19 Section Two victory over upset-minded Ephrata.

The win sets the stage for next Friday, when E-town (5-0 Section Two, 8-0 overall) will host Central (4-1, 5-3) in a key Section Two matchup.

"We've got a lot of things to work on for us to have a chance next week," Polites said. "We're going to have to play at our best to have a chance."

Perhaps Polites was referring to the 353 rushing yards the Bears' defense surrendered on 62 Ephrata carries.

Or the key 15-yard personal foul penalty E-town committed during an Ephrata (1-4, 1-7) drive early in the fourth quarter. Six plays later, that drive ended with an nine-yard touchdown run by Mountaineer quarterback Blake Crowther that cut Ephrata's deficit to 20-19 with 6:40 remaining.

It was one of many highlights for Crowther, who ran for a game-high 189 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries.

But thanks to a fumbled snap that ruined the Mounts' ensuing two-point conversion attempt, E-town escaped with a Homecoming win that was delayed 34 minutes due to lightning early in the second quarter and was played in a downpour in the second half.

"We said 'Hey, we're going for it no matter what at that point," Ephrata coach Ken Grove said of the decision to go for two. "We were moving the ball, and in the mud and in those conditions, you don't know what you're going to get from a kick."

Still, after holding E-town to three-and-out on the Bears' ensuing series, Ephrata's triple threat of Crowther and running backs Woody Miller and Joel Yoder refused to lay down.

Sparked by a 40-yard completion from Crowther to Yoder (10-49 rushing, 2-44 receiving) that got Ephrata to the E-town 45, Crowther and Miller (24-115 rushing) combined for 16 yards on the next four plays before a holding call moved the ball back to the Bears' 39.

After Crowther was sacked for a 10-yard loss by E-town's Travis Leber on the next play, Leber got to Crowther again on fourth-and-22 to kill the threat. E-town expired the clock from there.

"That's just what we saw on film," Polites said of Ephrata's effectiveness in moving the ball. "There was going to be a night when they were going to put it all together and score, and they did that tonight."

So did E-town, despite slippery conditions that limited the Bears' dual quarterback threat of Preston Faith and Kyle McNeil in the air.

In the end, it wasn't a problem thanks to senior halfback Jordan Hallman, who carried 11 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns.

In fact, after breaking four tackles down the right sideline en route to a 63-yard TD run that gave E-town an 18-13 lead with 1:41 left in the third quarter, Hallman also ran in the ensuing two-point conversion, which turned out to be the difference.

"This is our season," said Grove, whose team has now lost four games this season by a combined nine points. "We are snake-bitten like that."