No. 5 Twin Valley found its way back into the semifinals.

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The Raiders were one of the best teams in District 3 in 2023. Twin Valley finished the regular season with just one loss and entered the Class 4A tournament as the second seed. The Raiders eventually fell to Manheim Township in the semifinals 65-28.

This season, Twin Valley has a chance to shake off its 2023 semifinal loss after dismantling No. 4 Susquehanna Township 47-19 in the District 3 4A quarterfinals.

Twin Valley’s MO runs the ball, with a mix of zone reads, counters and misdirection, leaving opponents guessing at times. On Friday night, it worked perfectly, but it took a while.

Hanna got off to a quick start, scoring on its first possessions on a 32-yard catch-and-run by South Carolina’s Lex Cyrus. Susquehanna Twp. then forced Twin Valley to punt on its first possession.

Things didn’t go too well for Hanna after that.

The Indians could not capitalize on the facemask penalty by the Raiders on the ensuing possession, punting the ball back to Twin Valley. The Raiders went on to score 30 unanswered points to put the game away at halftime.

Once Hanna fell behind, the Indians seemed to give up what worked for them early offensively. By the time they got back to her, it was too little, too late.

Twin Valley controlled the ball and the clock in the third quarter, allowing Hanna just four offensive snaps the entire quarter. Their running game and defense dominated, leading to a win.

The stars

After a 10-game absence due to injury, Twin Valley quarterback Drew Engle played his game. The junior quarterback posted a hat trick, scoring two rushing touchdowns and one receiving. Engle recorded 151 scrimmage yards (123 rushing and 28 receiving) to go along with his three touchdowns.

Twin Valley WR/DB Ben Grundy had a day himself. He made a 66-yard free kick to open the game. Grundy also grabbed the game-tying interception with less than two minutes left in the game.

Hanna didn’t play at the level they’re used to, but quarterback Torin Evans did his best. Evans finished with 174 passing yards and three touchdown passes. He made some magical plays to keep Hanna in the game.

Winning moments

Twin Valley won the game in 28 seconds. As unbelievable as it sounds, the Raiders made it happen.

Late in the first quarter, the Raiders took the lead after a two-play drive was capped by a 32-yard touchdown reception by quarterback Drew Engle. Engle’s touchdown gave Twin Valley a 14-7 lead with 1:08 left in the first quarter.

Then things got worse for Hanna.

Twin Valley scored 16 points in a 28-second span. The momentum shift ended the game as Hanna could not recover from her misfortunes.

They said it

“Our defense held them to 19 points. (Torin Evans) was very, very good. But to hold him and those receivers to 19 points says something about our staff and defensive players. It’s easy to talk about Engle, (Evan) Johnson and Grundy on offense, but our defense played really well.” – Twin Valley head coach Brett Myers on his team’s defensive performance.

“It really boosted our momentum. Everyone was hype on the sidelines, all the nerves were gone for everyone. We were ready to come back and keep hitting, everyone was fighting.” – Twin Valley WR/DB on momentum swing after scoring 16 points in 28 seconds.

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