Pequea handles Octorara in Braves Bowl

West Fallowfield >> Entering the 2015 Brave Bowl the Octorara Braves had defeated the Pequea Valley Braves four of the previous five meetings. It was evident Pequea had a chip on its shoulder as they grounded and pounded to a 22-6 nonleague victory at Octorara High School on Friday night.

“They ran it down our throats tonight,” Octorara’s coach Jed King said. “This wasn’t our best performance and we need to work harder and get better each week and learn from our mistakes.”

Pequea Valley (2-1) jumped out to a 7-0 lead after running back Gabriel Allgyer went untouched for a 15-yard score.

After Octorara (0-3) went three-and-out, Pequea added to its lead on a Weston Doutrich 21-yard field goal. In all the home team’s offense only recorded three plays in the first quarter.

“We didn’t play good enough throughout the game,” Octorara’s running back Scott Burridge said. “It’s about having momentum and we had it at times but we gave it right back to them.”

They did respond in the second quarter. Burridge scored on a one-yard run up the middle that capped off an eight minute, 61-yard drive, which included two fourth-down conversions. After the Braves missed the extra point, the score was locked at 10-6 at halftime.

“We did some things well tonight,” King said. “We won some individual battles and that was a positive.”

Both teams played between the 20s for most of the second half. With the score unchanged in the fourth quarter, Octorara had a chance to take the lead with nine-minutes left. However they weren’t able to move the ball and were forced to punt it back to Pequea. The exchange of possession translated to another visitor-scoring drive. Once again it was Allgyer finding the end zone, his second touchdown came on a 31-yard run from the left side.

“We had a chance at the end,” King said. “Tonight our team learned that you have to play to win and not to not lose. We made a lot of mistakes tonight but it was a good learning experience especially for the young guys. I know they’re going to bounce back and respond from this.”

Pequea’s quarterback Jordan Lapp added a 15-yard keeper in the closing minute to solidify the final.

“Last game doesn’t matter, we have to forget about this,” Burridge said. “It’s over and now it’s time to focus on the week ahead.”