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FOOTBALL: Annville-Cleona handles Ephrata in delayed game, 35-21


A power outage at War Memorial Field postponed Annville-Cleona's Week 6 visit to Ephrata by 18 hours. But nothing could slow the Little Dutchmen down once they returned on Saturday afternoon.

Annville-Cleona invoked the mercy-rule not two minutes into the second half with a five-touchdown lead and went on to post at 35-21 victory over the Mounts. The Little Dutchmen (4-2, 1-2 Section Three) dropped 28 points in the second quarter, led by Cameron Hoch's rushing touchdown and punt return score. Ephrata (0-6, 0-3) rallied late against an Annville-Cleona squad laden with junior varsity players en route lost its 27th straight defeat.

"The big thing I took away is when we focus on execution, when we focus on playing the play and not looking back or forward, we can be a pretty good team," Little Dutchmen coach Matt Gingrich said. "We've got a few things we've got to take care of ... but I think we're going to be a team that will peak at the right time if we keep practicing the way they do."

The importance of moving moment to moment hit early for Annville-Cleona, which lost a fumble in the end zone at the end of its long opening drive. However the Little Dutchmen responded by reeling in three first-half interceptions, giving their offense time to get into high gear. By the time Will Langan scored on a 13-yard scamper, both of Hoch's touchdowns and a 51-yard scoring strike from Noah Myers to Alec Barr soon followed.

The offensive outburst ultimately served as the springboard to a nice bounce back from last week's 40-39 loss to Elco, a recovery Gingrich said began in practice.

"The improvement from the week before to the Elco game was awesome, and the improvement from Elco to Ephrata was even better," Gingrich said. "It's fun to dominate. We've got to enjoy this."

Senior quarterback Adam Fox finished with 128 yards of total offense and one touchdown. Mark Wagner punched in a two-yard rushing score at the outset of the third quarter.

Annville-Cleona 35, Ephrata 21

A-C02870—35Eph00714—21

Second Quarter

A-C — Langan 13-yard run. (Light kick)

A-C — Myers 51-yard pass to Barr. (Light kick)

A-C — Hoch 40-yard punt return. (Light kick)

A-C — Fox 53-yard pass to Hoch. (Light kick)

Third Quarter

A-C — Wagner 2-yard run. (Light kick)

Eph — 13-yard run. (Kick good)

Fourth Quarter

Eph — Holbritter 16-yard pass. (Kick good)

Eph — Holbritter 20-yard pass to Mentzer. (Kick good)

A-CEphFirst downs1517Rushing yards202103Passing yards241165Total yards326268Punts0-0.04-36Fumbles-lost20Penalties-yards3-294-25
Individual statistics

Rushing — A-C: Cameron Hoch 5-63, Adam Fox 13-63, Will Langan 5-34, Noah Myers 4-21, Mark Wagner 2-11, Alec Barr 3-8, Barnhart 1-6, Bomgardner 2-4, MacMillan 1 (-8). Eph: 30-103-1.

Passing — A-C: Fox 2-2-65-1-0, Myers 1-1-51-1-0, Team 2-2-8-0-0. Eph: 11-28-165-2-3.

Receiving — A-C: Barr 2-63, Hoch 2-61, Myers 1-0. Eph: 11-28-165.