Nothing says fall like the 'phwwwwwhht' of a whistle screeching while pads crack under the Friday night lights. Those familiar sounds are still taking place but only with most spectators watching the action via live streams due to COVID-19 limiting in person attendance.
For the football faithful in Elizabethtown, that meant a date with YouTube on the 25th to watch the Bears tangle with Solanco. E-town entered the week two affair in Quarryville looking to build on their early season momentum that came via a 42-6 shellacking over McCaskey in the September 18th season opener.
Despite the best efforts of their junior QB, Patrick Gilhool, the Bears fell to 1-1 on the year after a 29-22 setback to the Golden Mules. Gilhool accounted for 238 of Elizabethtown's 327 yards and played a part of two of their three touchdowns. The first of which was a 36 yard strike to Elijah Reitmeyer that put the Bears up early. Solanco enjoyed the next three scores, building a 21-7 lead as the game headed towards intermission.
Gilhool, who finished with 194 yards in the air, picked up his second TD of the game on a 17-yard scamper that was capped by a successful two-point try that made it 21-15. The game remained a six-point affair until Riley Drager's four-yard scamper (nine carries, 28 yards) early in the fourth. Caiden Herr's second PAT conversion gave the Bears a slim 22-21 lead that held until the Golden Mules completed their lone pass of the contest, a rainbow from Mason St. Clair to Ronnie Fulton up the middle that covered 45 yards and moved the home team on top 27-22. Fulton capped the scoring with a two-point conversion while teammate Elijah Cunningham sealed things with an interception on E-town's ensuing possession.
Brandonn Frey was Gilhool's favorite target with four receptions totaling 53 yards while Logan Lentz added 53 yards on the ground to his 28 receiving yards. Braxton Cicero added 61 yards on two catches with Reitmeyer's lone snag being the game opening score.
CROSS COUNTRY
Elizabethtown's cross-country teams kicked off their season on September 24th taking a trip to Neffsville to battle McCaskey and the host Blue Streaks. The Bears returned home winless on the day with both sides going 0-2. The Lady Bears posted nearly identical losses, falling to McCaskey 21-37 and Township 22-38 while the boy's dropped a 17-41 final to the Red Tornado and a 15-48 final to the Blue Streaks.
Madeline Quinn collected the top spot for E-town, finishing second where her 18:55 was just 10 seconds off the winning pace on the girl's side. Jordan DiRisio's time of 20:22 was good enough to slip inside the top 10, putting the sophomore ninth on the day. Nathan Johnson gave the boy's their best hope for a top 10 finish but his 18:04 put the junior just outside that mark in 11th place. Teammate Garrick English was the next runner to finish, taking 12th with a time of 18:12.
GOLF
Despite the late start to the season the golf team has nearly completed their 2020 season. The Bears worked their way through the regular season posting an 18-5 mark, good enough for second place in Section Two behind only Garden Spot and their 22-1 record.
Five Bears kicked off the postseason on September 21st with a trip to Meadia Heights for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship. Of those five only one, Alex Williams, played well enough to advance to the District 3 Championship on October 9th. Williams needed 81 strokes to work his way around the par 71 course which was right on his season average and good enough to place the senior in a seven-way tie for fifth on the day. Weston Kolaric posted a round of 94 to finish 10 shots outside the district cut while Jolene Markley missed the girl's cut by six strokes after posting a round of 105.
VOLLEYBALL
Looking to build off last year's district qualifying run, the girls' volleyball team kicked off their 2020 season with a 3-0 win over Solanco on the 24th. Sydney Stewart and Kallee Locker led the way in the 25-7, 25-11 and 25-10 win, splitting 16 kills down the middle. Stewart added one block and Locker four digs. Liz Kern matched Stewart's single block while Angela Costa-Quimet led the team with three aces.
FIELD HOCKEY
The 2020 season has not started the way the field hockey team would prefer. The Lady Bears find themselves 0-2 after season opening losses to Ephrata and Cocalico. The Lady Mounts accounted for the bulk of E-town's 8-1 scoring deficit thanks to their 6-1 season opening win on Sept 24th. Sophie Brinkman setup Mikaela Condran for Elizabethtown's lone score while Alaina Telenko recorded 21 saves in goal for the Lady Bears. E-town also had five defensive saves with Evynn Reider tallying two of those. Elizabethtown's trip to Denver on September 26th resulted in a 2-0 Cocalico win.
TENNIS
With just one regular season match remaining, the Lady Bears' tennis team is sporting a 5-2 mark with both losses coming to the two squads above them in the Section Two standings, Manheim Central and Lampeter-Strasburg. E-town dropped their September 14th showdown with L-S by a 5-2 final with Central handing the Lady Bears a 6-1 setback on the 18th. In between the two losses was a 7-0 victory over Garden Spot and, when combined with a 5-2 season opening win over Solanco, had Elizabethtown 2-2 at the midway point of the season. The Lady Bears responded to the Central loss by ripping off three straight wins starting with a 4-3 win over Cocalico on the 21st. Elizabethtown followed by topping Warwick 6-1 on September 23rd and sweeping Donegal 7-0 on the 25th. The Lady Bears finish up their regular season on September 28th when they host Lebanon.
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