Trailing 49-0 at halftime, Donegal forfeited at intermission in its Lancaster-Lebanon League football game with Twin Valley at Elverson on Thursday night.
The Raiders opened up a 35-point lead before the midway point of the second quarter enroute to a 49-0 halftime lead. The Indians opted not to return after halftime ending the game. They had four injuries during the first half and entered the game missing several players.
Twin Valley is 7-0, 4-0 in LL Section 4; Donegal is 1-6, 0-4 in LL Section 4.
Celebrating Homecoming along with his fellow Raiders, running back Evan Johnson had a night to remember, as the senior eclipsed 3,000 career rushing yards in the first half, scored a rushing touchdown and was named Homecoming King at halftime.
“I feel very grateful that my community thinks of me like this,” Johnson said. “I appreciate everything and its very humbling.”
Twin Valley opened the game with a fumble a few plays in, but then the Raiders forced Donegal into a turnover on downs on its first possession and proceeded to march down the field.
Johnson started the scoring and picked up a 1-yard touchdown run to cap off a 7-play, 49-yard drive for the Raiders’ opening touchdown. Johnson finished the first half with nine carries for 73 rushing yards and one catch for five yards.
A multi-sport athlete who plays basketball and track and field, as well as participates in the theater and other activities, Johnson said he was grateful to be involved in so much within the Raiders’ community.
“At a young age my mom really signed me up for a lot and I liked it all a lot so I stuck with it,” Johnson said. “Twin Valley offers a lot and I wasn’t going to take any of it for granted. It’s amazing.”
“He’s pretty special, right?” Twin Valley coach Brett Myers said of Johnson. “We could write a story on him being a basketball player, running track, being the lead in the play, National Honor Society, Homecoming king; talk about a renaissance man. He’s it. Everybody loves him.”
After the Raiders’ first touchdown, Donegal and Twin Valley exchanged interceptions on their next drives, but a fumble by the Indians deep in their own territory proved to be more costly. With 49 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Greyson Miller recovered a fumble near the Donegal 10-yard line and returned it seven yards for a touchdown, making it 14-0.
Two plays into Donegal’s next possession, Lucas Myers forced Donegal quarterback Brady Reck into a fumble with a hard hit.
Joey Buckley recovered the ball at the Donegal 11-yard line and gave his team another chance to capitalize off the turnover. While some early penalties and turnovers occurred in the first quarter, Brett Myers said he was proud of his team’s efforts and response.
“We still got too many penalties, but I think we cleaned that up,” Brett Myers said. “I think they were aggressive penalties tonight, not dead balls or stuff that we can’t fix.”
This time, senior quarterback Evan Myers completed the 3-play scoring drive with a 6-yard option keeper for the score.
Another fumble on a punt that was recovered by the Indians forced a turnover on downs, and the Raiders made quick work in scoring position once again.
A 7-yard touchdown shuffle pass from Evan Myers to Ben Grundy made it 28-0 with 10:18 left in the first half.
Moments later, Myers got the job done on the ground as he completed a 39-yard run on first down from the Indians’ 40 to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Chase Reilly.
Johnson hit his career 3,000 mark on Twin Valley’s next drive on a 21-yard run that set up a 10-yard touchdown run for Evan Myers.
“I got chemistry with some of the players like Evan (Myers) with basketball and Matt Knight as well as Aris (Drake),” Johnson said. “I just get that gel with everybody and that chemistry comes together really well. And its senior year, you can’t take it for granted. I feel like its the last time you’re getting to hang out with your friends and I’m making the most of it.”
With the score 42-0, Evan Myers completed a 3-play drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Grundy with 4:04 remaining in the first half. Myers completed the first half with a team-high 112 rushing yards and 91 passing yards. He was 7-for-14 passing with 1 interception.
Grundy had six catches for 86 yards and one receiving touchdown. Tristan Bailey had a team-high four unassisted tackles for the Raiders.
Donegal’s only win this season was when the Indians opened the season with a 43-12 non-league win over Columbia.
Twin Valley is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A in the state football rankings compiled by Eric Epler and PennLive.com.
Source: Berkshire mont
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