Resilient Tornado tops Mounts
- 07 November 2010
For any McCaskey or Ephrata football fans who didn't get to a game this fall until Friday night, the two teams did you a favor.In one game, they basically summed up their respective seasons.
Showing constant resilience to overcome a slew of penalties, McCaskey got the game-sealing touchdown on Aaron Swinton's 90-yard kickoff return with 4:47 left to play and outlasted Ephrata, 35-21 [boxscore], in their L-L Section One finale Friday night in Lancaster.
"I think we accomplished what we had the potential to accomplish, but we still have the room to get better," said McCaskey coach Rob Monzon, whose team will take a three-game winning streak into Friday's opening round of the District Three Class AAAA playoffs.
"This game exemplifies what we've gone through all year,'' he continued, "and how we still can be better."
Most notably penalties.
By game's end, the Red Tornado (5-2 L-L, 7-3 overall) was flagged 13 times for 122 yards.
Still, thanks to the jets of running back Markeith Williams (23 rushes, 81 yards, 2 TDs) and the arm of quarterback John Hulyo (11-for-18, 146 yards, 2 TDs), McCaskey had the weapons to overcome its shortcomings.
Oh, and there was, of course, that one kickoff return from Swinton that knocked Ephrata out for good.
Locked in a 14-14 tie at halftime, the Tornado finally gave itself some breathing room when Williams backed up a six-yard touchdown run with 6:53 left in the third quarter with a 21-yard TD burst that put McCaskey in front 28-14 with 9:36 left in the contest.
But when Ephrata quarterback Jeremy Franck threw a screen pass that Zach Sandoe took 54 yards for a touchdown three possessions later, Ephrata (0-7, 2-8) was back in business (28-21) with 5:01 remaining.
Enter Swinton.
Receiving the ensuing kickoff at his own 10-yard line, Swinton found a seam up the middle of the field and sprinted 90 yards down the right sideline to put McCaskey back in front 35-21 with 4:47 left to play.
Another example of the resilience Monzon said he's seen in his guys all year.
"That (kickoff return) was huge," Monzon said. "In the past that (last Ephrata TD) might have taken the air out of our motivation. But that (last Ephrata TD) made them mad. They said 'Let's get it back right now.' ''
Meanwhile, Ephrata was back in a familiar position.
Highlighted by the tandem of Franck (10-for-15, 186 yards, 2 TDs) and Sandoe (4 catches, 89 yards, 2 TDs), the Mountaineers -- who earned 16 first downs and punted only once -- moved the ball efficiently, only to be victimized by mistakes at all the wrong times.
Basically, the year in review, according to Mountaineers coach Jim Vieland.
"Where we are right now in Section One is we're able to play with teams, we just can't put them away," said Vieland, whose team was realigned into Section One prior to the season. "We know what we need to do now to compete in Section One and this is something for us to build off of in the future."
We here at www.ephratamounts.com are proud sponsors of the Dodgeball for Diabetes tournament.