Preview: E-town vs. Ephrata

Hello out there in cyberspace. Since we didn't have space for our normal football preview in the Chronicle this week, I'm bringing it to you online. Here goes:

Game Details:
Ephrata Mounts (1-6 overall, 1-3 section) at Elizabethtown Bears (7-0 overall, 4-0 section), 7 p.m. tonight, Elizabethtown Area High School.

Seasons at a glance:
Ephrata: It's been a tough go so far for the Mounts, as they are off to a 1-6 start. But their record is a little bit misleading. Ephrata is a solid football team and has been on the short end of some very, very tough losses this year. Don't let that 1-6 mark fool you.

E-town: By now, you all know about the Bears. 7-0 overall. 4-0 section. Top-ranked team in District Three. Yeah, they're pretty good. Here's something I noticed the other day that I thought was odd. Red Land is ranked No. 2 in the District 3 and 6 Rankings (behind the Bears), but are the No. 3 team in the PIAA Class AAA state rankings, while E-town isn't even in the top 10. How does that make sense? The Bears have more power points and have beaten some darn good teams (Township, Solanco, LD, etc). Just seems to me that the Bears should be up there if Red Land is the number 3 team in the state. Some fun numbers on the Bears: They've scored 252 points in 7 games (36 ppg avg.) and have allowed just 60 (8.5 ppg). They're scoring differential is a ridiculous +192. Wow.

E-town on offense:
Ephrata likes to stack the line on defense and take away the running game. Well, best of luck, because few teams run the ball as efficiently as the Bears. Look at their top three backs' yards per carry average: Jordan Hallman – 8.9, Andrew Weller – 8.4, Conrad Heisey – 6.9. Those are extremely efficient numbers that prove just how potent the Bears' backfield is. It's going to take a heck of an effort from Ephrata to keep the E-town offense from holding onto the ball for long drives and moving the chains. They're tough to tackle as well. Meanwhile, the Bears really couldn't get any better play from the quarterback position. Starter Preston Faith has yet to throw an interception this year (61 attempts), and junior Kyle McNeil is getting better every single week. Both have QB ratings well over 100.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: The three headed monster of Hallman, Heisey, and Weller. The more yards they can pick up on the ground, the more the Bears can chew up the clock on offense. And the longer E-town can keep Ephrata's potent offense on the sideline the better.

E-town on defense:
The Mounts are the second-best offense in the section (behind guess who) and quarterback Blake Crowther is one of the most dynamic, exciting players in the league. He is third in the section in rushing (777 yards) and has also thrown for more than 600 yards. He's accounted for 12 touchdowns and has kicked six PATs, so he pretty much does it all for the Mounts. Against a team that has a running quarterback, it's important for the opposing linebackers to be able to cover sideline-to-sideling quickly to limit running room (at least that's how I do it when I'm playing Madden against the Tennessee Titans). So Sean McMullen, Shane Rosenberry, Andrew Weller and Oliver Thayer will need to be on Crowther like C.C. Sabathia on a tub of butter pecan ice cream. There's your difference to the game, boys and girls, contain Crowther and beat Ephrata. Sounds easy enough from behind a keyboard.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: The linebackers, or as I have dubbed them, The Hit Squad.

E-town on special teams:
Looks like it's going to be wet out there tonight, so E-town will need Peter Davis to do his best to get kickoffs deep despite what might be slippery footing. There could be some shanked punts and kickoffs tonight with the weather. We'll see how which team makes a big mistake and if the other will be able to capitalize on it.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: E-town's kick coverage unit. They must keep the Ephrata offense pinned back in their own zone as far as possible.

Prediction:
C'mon, you guys know me by now. I picked these Bears to beat Manheim Township, do you really think I'm going to pick them to lose to a 1-6 team, at home, on Homecoming? Nah. E-town will win. I don't know much, but I do know this – Ephrata is much better than their record. They're not 1-6 bad. No way.

Crowther is a heck of a player, but he can't do it all himself and I think E-town has too much talent and too good of a scheme defensively and will limit him. I just don't see how Ephrata can beat E-town unless the Bears beat themselves. If they completely self destruct and everything goes wrong for them, the Mounts have a chance.

With the wet weather, it's all about running the football and, while Ephrata's Crowther, Woody Miller and Joel Yoder can certainly run it, I'm taking Weller, Heisey, Hallman and Rosenberry.

E-town 35 - Solanco 14