Two football powerhouses will collide Friday night as eighth-seeded Exeter will take on sixth-seeded Bishop McDevitt for the District 3 Class 5A title at ELCO at 7 p.m.
The Eagles (12-1) are playing in the district championship for the third time in four years. Exeter’s only District 3 title came in 2021 when the Eagles beat rival Gov. Mifflin 30-27.
The Crusaders (11-2) have won the last three District 3 Class 4A titles, 17 district titles overalland are 68-9 overall in the district playoffs.
While history may be on Bishop McDevitt’s side, Eagles coach Matt Bauer has made one thing perfectly clear: Exeter is not satisfied with just another championship appearance.
“It (the season) has been great,” Bauer said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very proud of all of our accomplishments, but we don’t want to just be happy to be in the championship. We want to try to give our best chance to be successful in the championship.”
Both the Eagles and Crusaders come into the game on impressive runs in the 5A tournament to reach the final.
Bishop McDevitt has outscored its opponents 110-28 in the district playoffs and 522-222 overall on the season.
Exeter is coming off a commanding 48-14 semifinal win over fourth-seeded Conestoga Valley in which the Eagles got their revenge for a controversial 28-27 regular season loss to the Buckskins.
In the quarterfinal round, Jacob Franek kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired to give Exeter a dramatic 24-21 victory over top-seeded and unbeaten New Oxford. And the Eagles bested ninth-seeded South Western 56-3 to start the tournament.
Exeter has outscored its opponents 584-123 this season. Against Conestoga Valley, a keen focus was one of the keys to overcoming the earlier loss that cost the Eagles a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 title.
“We knew there was going to be a tremendous amount of emotion getting off the bus,” Bauer said after last Friday’s win. “I knew I was going to get a great effort tonight, but it had to be a clean game and we had to not shoot ourselves in the foot in key moments.”
Limiting turnovers and maintaining poise will be pivotal for Exeter against the Crusaders, who are stacked with offensive talent.
University of Kentucky commit and senior Stone Saunders is the current state record holder for touchdown passes with 197 and needs 435 yards to break Alex Erby’s state record for career passing yards of 13,567.
In addition to Saunders 2,991 passing yards and 41 touchdowns this season, junior Nazir Jones-Davis has rushed for 1,187 yards and 14 touchdowns. Fellow junior Maurice Barnes has rushed for 816 yards and seven touchdowns.
Saunders’ favorite targets are sophomore Jontai Quick who has recorded 999 receiving yards and 14 touchdown receptions, while senior Dominic Diaz-Ellis has 1,169 receiving yards and 13 touchdown receptions.
Looking to combat that offensive power is an Exeter defense that has forced just under three turnovers per game. The Eagles have 12 interceptions and have recovered 17 fumbles.
Senior Carter Redding and junior Jayden Ware each have three interceptions. Upfront, Navy commit and senior Logan Wegman has recorded 74 tackles and 13.5 tackles for losses on the defensive line, and senior Genuine Stutzman is strong at linebacker with 15 tackles for losses and 3.5 sacks.
On the offensive side for Exeter, the running game of all-time leading rusher Jayden Zandier could be a difference maker as the senior has put up 2,082 rushing yards and 30 rushing touchdowns this season.
“The team that is going to make the least amount of mistakes with the football is going to have the best chance of winning,” Bauer said. “And for us, it always starts up front. If we can try to control the line of scrimmage, we always have a chance to be successful.”
Source: Berkshire mont