The Garden Spot Spartans will challenge the Ephrata Mountaineers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Garden Spot took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They blew past Lebanon 56-6 at home. Given the Spartans' advantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania football rankings (they are ranked 153rd, while the Cedars are ranked 531st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Andrew Pemberton had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries. Another player making a difference was AJ Hurst, who threw for 129 yards and four touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Ephrata didn't have too much trouble with Manheim Central at home on Friday as they won 31-14. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Mountaineers.
Ephrata can attribute much of their success to Brayden Brown, who rushed for 43 yards and two touchdowns. Brown didn't just play on offense: he also forced a fumble, made 11 total tackles (2.0 for loss), and defended a pass which he returned for a touchdown.
Ephrata wouldn't let Manheim Central keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Ephrata can thank Dominic Pugh and Brown for forcing both of them. Pugh also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, forcing a fumble and making eight total tackles.
The victory got Garden Spot back to even at 1-1. As for Ephrata, their win was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-0.
Garden Spot suffered a grim 31-10 defeat to Ephrata in their previous meeting back in November of 2023. Can Garden Spot avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
