BOYERTOWN >> Exeter had a good talk at halftime, then came out and executed its plays to score three touchdowns in the third quarter while blanking Boyertown, and continued on to a 36-14 non-league win Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
Sophomore quarterback Riley Martinez rallied the Eagles (2-0) from a 14-0 deficit early in the second quarter with 148 passing yards and a touchdown and four different Exeter players carried the ball into the end zone while the defense shut down the Bears.
Ryder Gehris passed for 125 yards, Cole Yesavage ran for 49 yards and Giovanni Daddario intercepted two passes and had three receptions for the Boyertown (1-1).
“We really locked in at halftime,” said Martinez. “(Coach Matt) Bauer gave a good speech. He gave us good motivation. We just drew the plays up on the board, made sure we could execute the plays.”
It took the Eagles only a minute and a half to wipe out a 14-9 halftime deficit as Pharrell Caceres (16 carries, 73 yards) ran for nine yards, Carter Redding ran for 11 and Martinez hit Nathan Pashley with a 39-yard TD toss for a 15-14 lead.
Then the Eagles forced a quick punt and drove 56 yards for a score with Zaymar Paschall (6 carries, 42 yards) running in from seven yards out. Another punt and a 40-yard drive, topped off by a 13-yard run by Pashley, made it 29-14 after three quarters.
“We stopped worrying about things we couldn’t control,” said Bauer. “We played within ourselves and executed.”
Boyertown was held to one first down in the second half. The Eagles wrapped up the win with a 14-yard TD run by Jayden Zandier with 3:51 remaining in the contest.
“The kids worked hard for this,” said Boyertown coach Justin Konnick. “I think we’re a good football team. We have to mature. They have to understand things can go wrong. We can’t give up the big inning and we gave up the big inning.”
The Bears jumped into the lead just two minutes into the contest as Gehris and Jason Oakes connected on a 57-yard pass play and Oakes carried the ball in from the one yard line two plays later. Then an interception by Austin Parker set Boyertown up at the Exeter 30 early in the second quarter. Gehris hit Daddario with a 29-yard pass to the one and Yesavage ran in from there to make it 14-0 with 8:47 to go until the half.
But the momentum began to turn when the Bears took over at their 20 on their next possession and eventually had to punt from the three after two penalties and a 4-yard loss on a running play. The punt was blocked, with the Eagles scoring a safety. Exeter drove 37 yards after the free kick, with a 1-yard run by Martinez pulling the visitors to within 14-9.
Boyertown put together a long drive in the final four minutes of the half, but eventually missed a 48-yard field goal try and the Eagles controlled the rest of the contest.
“We did everything we wanted to do in the first quarter and put pressure on them,” said Konnick. “We showed we have more in the tank than Cole running the football. But they capitalized and we didn’t. We’ve just got to put together four quarters.”
Martinez thought that the versatility of the offense, which produced 162 rushing yards and 148 passing to five different receivers, was a key to the win.
“It helps a lot,” he said. “We have a lot of speed. We use our speed to our advantage. Our six skill positions can run and catch.”
“That is a good problem to have,” said Bauer. “We have a lot of weapons. It’s hard to zero in on one guy. We definitely improved from week one to week two. The second half, they exceeded my expectations.”
Exeter 36, Boyertown 14
Exeter 0 9 20 7 – 36
Boyertown 7 7 0 0 – 14
B-J Oakes 1 run (Morgan kick)
B-Yesavage 1 run (Morgan kick)
E-Safety
E-Martinez 1 run (Franek kick)
E-Pashley 39 pass from Martinez (pass failed)
E-Paschall 7 run (Franek kick)
E-Pashley 13 run (Franek kick)
E-J Zandier 14 run (Franek kick)
Team Stats
E B
First Downs 11 9
Yards Rushing 162 35
Yards Passing 148 125
Total Yards 310 160
Passes C-A-I 7-14-3 10-20-0
Fumbles 1-1 2-1
Penalties-Yds 14-13010-67
Punts-Avg 2-38.5 5-17.6
Individual Stats
Rushing
Exeter: Cacares 16-73; Paschall 6-42, 1 TD; Pashley 3-25,1 TD; J Zandier 1-14, 1 TD; Redding 1-11;
Martonez 5-0, 1 TD; Hafer 1-0; Boston 1-(-3); Totals 34-162, 4 TD’s.
Boyertown: Yesavage 22-49, 1 TD; Sennott 1-10; Reinert 2-3; Foskey 1-(-6); J Oakes 4-(-7), 1 TD,
Gehris 11-(-14); 41-35, 2 TD’s.
Passing
Exeter: Martinez 7-14-148, 1 TD, 3 INT’s.
Boyertown: Gehris 10-19-125; Ristine 0-1; Totals 14-20-125.
Receiving
Exeter: Redding 3-50; Pashley 1-39, 1 TD; Z Zandier 1-31, J Zandier 1-23; Dauble 1-5; Totals 7-148, 1
TD.
Boyertown: J Oakes 5-72; Daddario 3-38; Genovese 1-8; Yesavage 1-7; Totals 10-125.
Interceptions: Boyertown: Daddario 2, Parker.
Sacks: Exeter: Wegman, Flanders, McConnell.
