Exeter's season ends with loss to Cocalico in District 3 Class 5A football title game

Nov. 26—Exeter's quest to repeat as district champions and continue its perfect season came to a halt on Friday night.

Mistakes plagued second-seeded Exeter, which was unable to recover from its miscues and ultimately fell 34-14 to 12th-seeded Cocalico in the District 3 Class 5A title game at Don Thomas Stadium in Reiffton.

"You can't make the mistakes we made in big games and come out on top," Exeter coach Matt Bauer said. "The turnovers hurt us in key moments."

Exeter committed three turnovers, six penalties for 40 yards and finished 1-for-3 on fourth-down conversion attempts. Cocalico scored seven points off the turnovers, and was given advantageous field position on Exeter's failed fourth-down conversions.

"We really couldn't make a lot of advances either way, offensively or defensively," senior Joey Schlaffer said. "They're a really hard-nosed team."

Cocalico's grittiness was on full display from the onset, as it opened the game with a 16-play drive that lasted more than eight minutes and was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run from fullback Sam Steffey. The junior finished with 17 carries for 40 yards.

Cocalico (10-4) extended its lead late in the first quarter when running back Brayden Eppinette broke loose for a 46-yard touchdown to make it 13-0. The ensuing extra point was unsuccessful, as holder Dane Horning mishandled the snap and was unable to run it into the end zone for two points.

Trailing by multiple possessions for just the second time this year, Exeter got on the board midway through the second quarter, as running back Richie Karstien bowled his way into the end zone on 4th-and-1. The senior finished with 83 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries.

Exeter had a chance to take the lead in the final minute of the first half, but quarterback Mason Rotelli threw an interception and Cocalico capitalized on the turnover with an explosive play. Quarterback Josh Myer found running back Aaryn Longenecker for a 42-yard touchdown with 21 seconds remaining, which made it 20-7 following the extra point.

Myer completed 2-of-2 passes for 87 yards, finding Longenecker for the score and on another 45-yard pass later in the game. Longenecker finished with 87 yards receiving, 16 yards rushing and one incomplete pass, which came on a trick play in the second half.

Looking to erase a 13-point deficit, Exeter turned to Schlaffer — the team's starting tight end and the county's leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns — at quarterback at the start of the second half. He threw an interception on Exeter's first possession.

"We just tried to get our feet underneath us and eliminate the mistakes," Bauer said. "We needed a little bit of a change of pace. Joey gave us a spark all year — we were going to try anything at that point."

Schlaffer settled down later in the third quarter, leading Exeter on its lone scoring drive of the second half. After connecting with tight end Zachary Zandier on a 38-yard pass on 3rd-and-10 deep in its own territory, Exeter completed its drive with a 1-yard touchdown run from Karstien to cut Cocalico's lead to 20-14 following the extra point.

"I thought that was probably one of the closest points in the game," Schlaffer said about his team cutting the Cocalico lead to six. "We thought we'd come back."

Cocalico responded early in the fourth quarter, as Myer ran for a 14-yard touchdown. Longenecker scored on the ensuing two-point conversion to make it 28-14 with just over 11 minutes remaining.

Exeter (12-1) struggled to muster much offense in the fourth quarter, as mistakes led to stalled drives. Rotelli, who eventually re-entered the game, completed 5-of-17 passes for 28 yards and two interceptions, while Schlaffer completed 2-of-3 passes for 73 yards and one interception.

On the ground, Rotelli had 8 yards on nine carries, while Schlaffer had 18 yards on five carries. Schlaffer, a Penn State commit who came in with 879 receiving yards on the season, was held without a catch, though he did draw a pass interference penalty.

Cocalico put the finishing touches on its victory late in the fourth quarter when Myer ran for a 5-yard touchdown to make it 34-14. The ensuing extra point was no good.

The district title is Cocalico's first since 2019. Its title game victory as the No. 12 seed marks the lowest seed to ever win a District 3 football title, as no team below the No. 8 seed had ever won a title in any classification prior to Friday night.

"They played basically mistake-free football," Bauer said. "Hats off to them."