Conrad Weiser football wins a thriller as the Scouts defeat Elco on two-point conversion

Sep. 18—When it works, it works, and taking a chance worked for Conrad Weiser as it defeated Elco 22-21 on a successful two-point conversion attempt in a Lancaster-Lebanon Section 4 opener Saturday night at Robesonia.

With the Scouts trailing 21-14 with 1:49 remaining and the ball at their own 42, sophomore quarterback Donovan Gingrich needed just one play to get to the Raiders' 14 before floating a pass to senior Trey Dianna in the corner of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown pass.

Trailing 21-20 with 1:04 left, Conrad Weiser coach Alan Moyer found himself with a decision to make.

"Yeah, (we were) very confident," Moyer said on his decision to go for two. "I talked to my coaches and the major consensus was to just go for it. I don't know what the philosophy is; some people say when you're at home you go for the tie.

"(Elco) Coach (Rob) Miller said, 'It was a great call.' It's a great call when it works."

After having the ball for less than a minute in the fourth quarter, and with an electric homecoming crowd cheering the Scouts (1-0, 2-2) on, Gingrich found Dianna once again on the two-point attempt, this time on a flat route, to convert and give the Scouts the lead for good at 22-21.

"That's Weiser, that's just how we do it," Gingrich said. "We had to hype up the whole sideline, hype up the people (to show) that we're not giving up. We had to bring the dog out, and we went out there and did that."

And let the dogs out they did; perhaps at just the right time, too.

The Scouts failed to pick up a first down in the third quarter and punted the ball away on the first play of the fourth quarter with the game tied at 14-14.

A strong punt by Adam Noll from Conrad Weiser's 42 gave the Raiders (0-1, 3-1) the ball at their 5 with practically the whole quarter to play.

In suffocating fashion, Elco took 10 minutes off the clock during a 95-yard drive that was capped by running back Jake Williams' 12-yard touchdown run. The score was his second of the night as Williams scored his first rushing touchdown from 45 yards out with 1:49 left in the third.

He finished with 199 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, and also ran for a two-point conversion, and was a dominant presence for the Raiders all night.

"My concern with an offense like that was that that's what their offense is designed to do," Moyer said of Elco's ability to drain the clock by running the football with Williams. "You can't stop 'em, and Williams is a heck of a player. He's going to get his yards this year and his legs never stop. He breaks two or three tackles on every play. So lesson learned for us, but still, we come out of it with a win and that's a positive for us."

On the first play of the final Weiser drive, which started at the Scouts' 42, Gingrich connected with Ousmane Conde on a 44-yard pass to get into the red zone and set up the final TD, and ultimately Moyer's decision to go for two. Gingrich finished 13-of-23 for 223 yards and three touchdowns.

For the season, Gingrich has thrown 775 yards and six touchdowns.

"You see, each game, him (Gingrich) growing, and that's what you want to see out of a young quarterback," Moyer said. "He's gonna make some mistakes, he's gonna do some things mechanically wrong at times, but he's a competitor, you know, and we love what we see with him. He's just young in the game yet, but he's gonna be okay though."

Gingrich threw his first touchdown pass of the night on a 51-yarder to Josh Miller late in the first quarter while trailing 3-0. A back-and-forth second quarter saw Elco kicker Ira Gensamer make his second field goal of the night with 7:11 remaining to cut the Raiders' deficit to 7-6.

Weiser extended its lead to 14-6 when Gingrich found Miller for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 1:59 to go in the second.

Elco drove down the field and threatened to score before the half, but an interception by Evan Rittle stopped the Raiders' momentum with 16 seconds left.

According to Moyer, the win gives Conrad Weiser the confidence that it can compete within the tough Section 4 that features three-time defending District 3 Class 3A champion Wyomissing, as well as six other district playoff teams from 2021: Weiser (4A), Berks Catholic (4A), Cocalico (4A), Donegal (4A), Lampeter-Strasburg (4A) and Octorara (4A).

The other team in the section, Elco, was the 4A runner-up in 2020.

"It's very important," Moyer said of starting 1-0 in Section 4 play. "Any time you can grasp a win in Section 4 right now, you gotta be happy. It's a tough section. We got a long road ahead of us, but yeah, I'm very happy to get a Section 4 win."

Gingrich shared his coach's sentiments and said he believes a win like this can take his team in the right direction.

"It gives us a lot (of confidence)," Gingrich said. "If we carry on from this win, a big win, throughout the weeks, we'll be fine."