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Pequea Valley spoils Kennard-Dale's big night


It was an historic night in Fawn Grove when the Kennard-Dale Rams took the field on Friday.

It will be the first season that the football team's entire home schedule will feature Friday night games at the Rams' new field, which they used for the final two home games of 2015.

"This is a huge difference," Rams head coach Christopher Grube said. "We actually have real lights and not portable lights. The kids have bought in to what we are doing as a coaching staff. We are trying to make this facility really nice for our fans and our community."

But Pequea Valley played the spoiler Friday night by beating the Rams, 30-14. The Braves scored a touchdown in every quarter and added a fourth-quarter field goal for good measure.

"We never stopped battling," Grube said. "Last year, our kids would've put their heads down going down 7-0. We came back strong."

The Rams (0-1) turned the ball over twice in the first half, with the Braves (2-0) capitalizing on a second quarter interception to score with 3:55 to play in the first half and push their lead to 14-0.

The Rams answered quickly in the third quarter. On the first play of the second half, Rams running back Shawn Ellis busted a run to the outside and scampered down the right side of the field 76 yards for the first Kennard-Dale touchdown of the season.

Ellis wasn't done. With the Rams trailing 27-7, he returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown with 11:09 to play in the game.

Ellis led the Rams offense with 96 yards on just eight carries.

"He's the heart and soul of our team right now," Grube said.

K-D was playing without Ellis' backfield mate, Nick Fritz, who is recovering from an ankle injury suffered in the preseason.

The Braves were led by Connor Horst's 109 yards on 15 carries. Horst scored twice on runs of 25 and 5 yards, respectively.

Jordan Lapp threw for 131 yards and a touchdown for Pequea Valley, which won its fifth straight game dating to last season. The five straight wins are a program record for the Braves.

Pequea Valley_7_7_7_9_—_30
Kennard-Dale_0_0_7_7_—_14

First Quarter
PV -- Connor Horst 25 run (Garrett Elmer kick), 0:39
Second Quarter
PV -- Grant Gaynor 7 pass from Jordan Lapp (Elmer kick), 3:55
Third Quarter
KD -- Shawn Ellis 76 run (Tim Comes kick), 11:39
PV -- Horst 5 run (Elmer kick), 7:06
Fourth Quarter
PV -- Lapp 33 run (kick failed), 11:23
KD -- Ellis 80 kick return (Comes kick), 11:09
PV -- Elmer 28 field goal, 5:49
Team Statistics
_._PV_ KD

First downs_18_5
Rushes-Yards_40-217_26-119
Passing_10-16-1_4-10-2
Passing Yards_131_37
Total Yards_348_156
Punts_2-27.5_5-28.2
Fumbles-Lost_1-0_1-0
Penalties-Yards_3-15_6-40
Individual Statistics
Rushing
— PV, Anthony Devido 2-9, Connor Horst 15-109, Jordan Lapp 9-58, Nate Shantz 4-6, Jrue Gray 4-4, Tim Malloy 1-10, Dylan Jackson 1-5, Ryan Smith 2-16, Albert Hannah 1-(-2), Frankie Mascherino 1-2. KD, Michael Lizzi 4-19, Shawn Ellis 8-96, Mark Hushon 2-0, Dalton Stike 4-(-12), Johnathan Rineholt 7-21, Noah Hulslander 1-(-5). 
Passing — PV, Lapp 10-16. KD, Stike 3-8, Hulslander 1-2. 
Receiving — PV, Davido 5-98, Malloy 2-16, Horst 1-(-1), Gaynor 1-7, Brandon Hooper 1-11. KD, Johnathan Brown 1-10, Ellis 1-17, Lizzi 1-9, Jack Whitt 1-1.