Great Valley Turns The Table On Octorara

Having defeated Pequea Valley 33-0 just a week ago, Octorara saw the same trick pulled on them by the  Patriots of Great Valley High School.

Final Score: Great valley 40, Octorara 0

Updated at 4:41 on Saturday September 24th:

By Jack(!) Mariano

Before taking the field for Friday's Ches-Mont League American Division opener at Great Valley, quarterback Dan Solomon and Octorara were riding high on a three-game winning streak. Unfortunately for the Braves, even in a driving rainstorm that blanketed the field and hampered Solomon's arm, they had to contend with another force of nature.

Mack Hasz turned in a monster game for the Patriots (1-0, 2-2), powering his way to 296 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries to lead Great Valley to a 40-0 blowout win over the previously undefeated Braves (0-1, 3-1) in the league opener for both teams. The senior rattled off five runs of more than 25 yards in a watershed performance, putting the Patriots on his back and his name into the conversation for the area's best tailback. 

The Braves offense juggernaut sputtered a bit and Great Valley was successful at mounting their run attack against Octorara, something that Big Spring tried to do, two weeks ago but failed as Octorara outscored them. 

There is no doubt the weather played a part in the way the Braves played.  Octorara’s forte is a potent passing attack which depends on good footing and the ability to catch and run.  In fact the Daily Local News article this morning more that says the same as Andy Edwards reports: “Before taking the field for Friday's Ches-Mont League American Division opener at Great Valley, quarterback Dan Solomon and Octorara were riding high on a three-game winning streak. Unfortunately for the Braves, even in a driving rainstorm that blanketed the field and hampered Solomon's arm, they had to contend with another force of nature.”

”Mack Hasz turned in a monster game for the Patriots (1-0, 2-2), powering his way to 296 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries to lead Great Valley to a 40-0 blowout win over the previously undefeated Braves (0-1, 3-1) in the league opener for both teams. The senior rattled off five runs of more than 25 yards in a watershed performance, putting the Patriots on his back and his name into the conversation for the area's best tailback”.

Octorara’s Dan Solomon, earlier named the Daily Local News “Athlete of the Week” finished seven-for-22 for 164 yards and three interceptions, two more than he had thrown in the season's first three game.  

The Braves must quickly regroup as they face Sun Valley on Thursday evening to kick off homecoming weekend at Octorara’s field. 

Read more about the game here.

Soloman Named Athlete Of The Week

The Daily Local News' announced this afternoon that Octorara's senior quarterback Dan Soloman was its Athlete of the Week based on Soloman's performance in two games last week, one on Monday and the second Friday night, when he threw for 8 touchdowns and over 500 yards.

Congrats to Dan and the entire Octorara High School football team!

 

Octorara Faces Great Valley Tonight In Malvern

Team captains meet at mid field prior to the kickoff of last week' Battle of the Braves" game that saw Octorara easily handle Pequea Valley.

Fresh off their 33-0 shellacking of Pequea Valley last week, Octorara's football team comes up against cross-county rival Great Valley tonight.

Even though they come into the game with an impressive 3-0 record, according to the Daily Local News, the Braves still have something to prove when they face the bigger, more experienced Patriots this evening.  Here's how they see the game unfolding:

Octorara at Great Valley: A battle of two pretty good quarterbacks in Octorara’s Dan Solomon and Great Valley’s Chris Geiss.

Pick: Great Valley 24, Octorara 21.

We'll see.  Should be a good one!

The game kicks-off tonight at 7:00 PM at Valley Stadium in Malvern.

Driving directions to Great Valley High School from Parkesburg, per Mr. Google, are as follows:

Follow PA-10 north

Turn right onto U.S. 30 E

Slight right to stay on U.S. 30 E  

Keep right at the fork, follow signs for US-202 N/King of Prussia and merge onto US-202 N

Take the PA-401 W exit

Turn left onto PA-401 W/Conestoga Rd

Take the 2nd right onto Phoenixville Pike

Destination will be on the right

Great Valley High School

225 Phoenixville Pike

Malvern, PA 19355

Octorara Football Cracks DLN's Top 10 List

Octorara football, off to a 3-0 start following a convincing win over neighboring Pequea Valley Friday night, gets some well deserved recognition from the Daily Local News sports desk and for the first time ever, cracks into the paper's County's Top 10 rankings.

The money quote:

Octorara enters Ches-Mont League play at 3-0 after beating Pequea Valley 33-0. Braves senior quarterback Dan Solomon threw for 331 yards on a 21 of 27 passing night. The Braves piled up 455 total yards and they have a legitimate shot at the Class AAA playoffs.  Octorara has come a real long way in its third season of varsity football, a great job by Jed King and his staff who have made Octorara football relevant in a hurry.

And the rankings:

Football Top 10 (Records through Sept. 18)

1. Downingtown East (3-0) Cougars survive big scare at Glen Mills.

2. Malvern Prep (2-1) Friars record big win down in Washington D.C.

3. Coatesville (3-0) Red Raiders outclass Chester.

4. Downingtown West (3-0) The Whippets keep impressing me.

5. Unionville (3-0) Indians remain perfect with win over Avon Grove.

6. W.C. Rustin (2-1) Golden Knights easily take care of W.C. East.

7. Conestoga (2-1) Pioneers keep Central hope alive by beating Ridley.

8. W.C. Henderson (2-1) Where has the Warriors offense gone?

9. Bishop Shanahan (2-0) Scott Allison directs Eagles win over Chichester.

10. Octorara (3-0) The Braves are making Class AAA take notice.

Read the entire review in today's Daily Local News here.

Octorara Slams Pequea Valley in the “Battle Of The Braves”

Final: Octorara 33 (3-0), Pequea Valley 0 (2-1)

	QTR 1	QTR 2	QTR 3	QTR 4	TOTAL
Octorara	6	8	13	6	33
Pequea	0	0	0	0	0

By Jack Mariano

Octorara’s quarterback Dan Solomon has a lot of weapons at his disposal and he knows how to use every one of them.  

Solomon made some nifty plays with his arm and with his scrambling ability, eluding the Pequea Valley rush on a chilly Friday evening in southern Lancaster County that saw his Braves defeat PV Braves 33-0..

The Pequea Valley home game was switched to Solanco High School's field, due to concerns about a light stanchion at Pequea Valley's field. PV school officials didn't want to risk playing on the field.

Both teams entered the contest at 2-0

Once the fan seating directions were sorted out and the teams were selected properly under the Solanco score board, Soloman went to work.  Mitch King quickly received a Solomon pass in the end zone for Octorara’s first touchdown of the evening, one of his three for the night.  

Senior quarterback Dan Soloman, who was 19 of 26 for 286 yards and three TDs, distributed the ball nicely to his receivers including Chuck Cooper who had 3 receptions for 16 yards; Mitch King who ended the game with 4 receptions for 49 yards, 2 receiving TDs, Anthony Dinorscia with 4 receptions for 87 yards and James Brown with 8 receptions for 136 yards.

When Solomon wasn’t passing, he was handing off or pitching out to his backs who racked up yardage on the ground.  In addition to his receiving yardage, Mitch King had 3 carries for 40 yards and finished the night at the quarterback position.  Chuck Cooper chipped in with a 3 reception for 16 yards night along with 3 rushes for a total of 20 yards.

A beauty of a halfback option pass from Cooper to James Brown on a flick from Solomon was neatly caught by Brown and would have been a sure touchdown if not for a Pequea Valley defender knocking the ball out of Brown’s hands. 

Later, in the third quarter, a similar stunt had Mitch King flicking the ball to Solomon who threw a 27 yard TD Pass to Brown.

As reported to the LancasterOnline sports:

"We got caught on big plays," said first-year Pequea coach Evan Breisblatt. "We do a nice job, get them in third-and-long, and then Soloman made plays with his arm.

The game may have turned early in the third quarter. On the first play after the kickoff to open the second half — with Octorara holding a 14-0 lead — PV senior running back Mitch Ball (19 carries, 128 yards) ran the ball off tackle, broke a couple of tackles and gained 57 yards to the Octorara 13. 

But on fourth-and-4 from the 7, Ball picked up only two yards and Pequea turned the ball over on downs.

"We lost momentum there," Breisblatt said. "We didn't run the fourth-down play correctly."

Octorara scored on its next three possessions to put the game away.

Octorara coach Jed King, certainly at home at Solanco after playing quarterback for the Golden Mules in the late '90s, saw that stop by his team as pivotal.

"Pequea broke that big run and maybe it got our guys on edge, telling them that the game wasn't over," King said. "We made that stop and that was it." Pequea's offense was unable to cash in on several good defensive plays. PV had an 18-yard tackle for a loss on fourth down, an interception in the end zone and forced a fumble that resulted in a touchback but couldn't score points off those plays.

After completing 10 of 17 passes for 231 yards over his first two games, PV quarterback Chad Tyson was limited to two completions on nine passes.

PV also gave Ball the lion's share of the carries in its no-huddle offense, even though Chris Schmid (16-81; 60 on PV's final drive) rushed for 364 in the first two games.

Octorara’s defense came to the rescue at just the right times as Chuck Rossiter (1 sack) and Mike Turner (2 sacks) plus several quarterback “hurries” help stifle the drives that Pequea Valley did try to mount.

Octorara moves to 2-0 in this neighborly battle and retained the trophy awarded to the winner of the "Battle of the Braves."    

Octorara travels to Great Valley next week To take on the Patriots at Morris DeFrank Field at 7 p.m.

Click here to read the Daily Local News' take on the game.

Highlights of the game from WGAL Channel 8 in Harrisburg here.  The reporter needs a lesson on how to pronounce Octorara. 

Daily Local News Picks Octorara Over Pequea Valley

Notice:  Due to emergency repairs being made to Pequea Valley's field, the game has been moved to Solanco High School at 585 Solanco Road in Quarryville.

Game time remains at 7:00 PM

________________

Daily Local News prognosticators picked Octorara to beat Pequea Valley in tonight's high school football game.

Octorara at Pequea Valley: Old county coach friend Evan Bresblatt is the new head man at Pequea. The Braves should take this road game.

Pick: Octorara 20, Peqeua Valley 13.

Both teams are undefeated at 2-0 heading into the game.

The game at Pequea Valley High School (4033 East Newport Road in Kinzer) starts at 7:00 PM. 

Octorara Passes Its Way Big Springs Victory

Big Springs William Wiser (44) takes a hand-off from QB Jordan Houck (6) and looks for running room while Octorara senior Mitch King (19) gets ready to stop him. Wiser finished with 190 yards and three touchdowns for Big Spring. (Submitted photo/Courtesy Shawnee Smith)

From the Shippensburg News-Chronicle as submitted by Jack Mariano

Ten days after Millersburg’s Josh Howard dropped a handful of touchdowns on Big Spring, Dan Soloman threw five of his own and piled up 292 yards to lead Octorara Area to a 40-28 victory over Big Spring in its home-opener Monday night.

All five of Soloman’s scoring strikes came in the second half. Soloman’s first two went to Charles Cooper, who also returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, from 46 and 50 yards out. Mitch King pulled in an 11-yard touchdown before Soloman hooked up with Anthony Dinorscia for his last two 6-pointers in the fourth quarter.

William Wiser rushed 39 times for 190 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs’ offense, which racked up 289 total yards on the ground to Octorara’s 62. Wiser rushed for 203 yards a week ago at Millersburg and now has 393 yards through two games on the ground.

However, the running game was not a high priority to Octorara’s game plan. The Braves ran only 13 times compared to 27 passing plays while Big Spring ran 65 times and passed on just six plays.

Jakes Bales also scored for the Bulldogs, securing a 14-7 advantage at halftime before Soloman found his rhythm through the air.

Wiser’s third touchdown, a 1-yard plunge, gave Big Spring a 28-26 advantage heading into the fourth quarter before Soloman’s pair of touchdowns to Dinorscia gave Octorara (2-0, 0-0 Ches-Mont American) the win.

Cooper finished with 127 yards on five catches to lead all Braves receivers. James Brown caught six passes for 97 yards.

The Braves travel to nearby Pequea Valley High School this Friday night at 7 p.m. for the 2nd annual “Battle Of The Braves” game.

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Octorara (W)	7	0	33	0	40
Big Spring (L)	7	7	14	0	28

Rushing	Attempts	YDS
Charles Cooper	2	37
Dan Soloman	2	14
Passing	Attempts	Completed	YDS	TD	INT
Dan Soloman	27	15	127	5	0
Receiving	Receptions	YDS	TD
Charles Cooper	5	127	2
James Brown	6	97	0
Anthony Dinorscia	2	40	2
Mitch King	2	28	1

Click to enlarge

DLN Picks Octorara Over Big Sky

Note from Jack Mariano on Saturday 9.10.2011: According to Coach Jed King, because of the intense rains this week, especially in the mid-state region, the game will be played Monday (9/12) at 5:00 PM at Big Springs.
Note from Jack Mariano: According to Coach Jed King, because of the intense rains this week, especially in the mid-state region, Friday's game has been delayed one day.  The game will be played Saturday (9/10) at 7:00 PM at Big Springs.

The Daily Local News picks Octorara to beat Big Springs under the lights Friday night:

The Braves won their opener last week while Big Spring lost to Millersburg. The Braves’ offense, led by Charles Cooper, should score enough for the win.

Pick: Octorara 27, Big Spring 21.

The game Starts at 7:00 PM.

Here are directions to the game:

Directions from Harrisburg - Proceed South on Interstate 81 to the Newville Exit (Exit 37). Go right on Route 233 and drive approximately 4 miles to the traffic light in Newville. Turn right onto Route 641. Go mile and turn right onto Mount Rock Road. Proceed approximately 1/2 mile to the top of the hill. The Administration Office and the Middle School is on top of the hill on your left. If you continue to the bottom of the hill, the High School is on your right.

Updated - Octorara Football Braves Notch First Football Win Of The Season

By Jack Mariano

Updated 7:47 PM on 9/6/2011

Ready, Set, Go!  High School football season is underway as Octorara earned a win in their first game of the season defeating home team Fleetwood 38-15 Friday night.

Octorara’s Braves tamed the Tigers by forcing them to commit four turnovers. 

Braves quarterback Danny Solomon passed for 205 yard having 3 passing TDs. He also scored 1 rushing TD. 

Running back Chucky Cooper rushed for over 100 yard on eight carry with 2 TD.

Receivers Mitch King had 7 receptions for 70 yards and a receiving TD and James Brown had 3 receptions for 65 yards and a receiving TD.  

Octorara’s defense caused 3 interceptions (King, Brown and Chad Ferguson) and forced the Fleetwood’s offense into a scramble format.

Coach King said, “ It was a good win showing off the many weapons we have, but we also made a lot of mistake missing tackles and failing to run the ball between the tackles”. 

We got our work cut out for us facing a power running attack this week against Big Spring.   Octorara was out-gained by Fleetwood 400 to 383 in Total Yardage yards according to the Reading Eagle.

The Braves remain on the road next week with a visit to Big Spring High School and their power running attack in Newville, PA, just outside of Carlisle.

Octorara's 2011 Football Roster

Thanks to Jack Marino

#	Name	Year	Position
5	Jacks, Tyron	12	FB/LB
6	Gooden, Alex	9	QB/DB
7	Massey, Ray	12	WR/DB
10	Brown, James	12	WR/DB
12	Cooper, Charles	12	RB/DB
15	Soloman, Dan	12	QB/DB
18	Reynolds, Nathan	9	WR/DB
19	King, Mitch	12	RB/DB
20	Lochman, Dareis	9	RB/DB
21	Ruger, Dann	9	WR/DB
22	Ferguson, Chad	11	WR/DB
23	Cooper, Corey	9	RB/DB
24	Lloyd, Jarred	12	WR/DB
25	Traini, Nick	12	WR/DL
26	Lombardo, Mike	11	RB/DB
27	Robinson, Nick	10	RB/DB
28	Hill, Jorey	10	RB/LB
30	Pitts, Anthony	12	RB/DB
31	Thompson, Terrel	10	WR/DB
33	Clark, Anthony	12	RB/DB
34	Ford, Kadeem	12	FB/LB
35	Norris, Malik	10	RB/LB
36	Nunez, Miguel	9	RB/LB
38	Navaro, Mike	12	RB/LB
39	Rossiter, Chuck	11	RB/LB
41	McHenry, Derrick	9	TE/DL
42	Murray, Bernie	10	RB/LB
43	Hoover, Mark	11	RB/DB
44	Dinorscia, Anthony	11	TE/DL
46	Hart, Bret	12	WR/DB
47	McKenna, Drew	11	WR/DB
48	Weathers, Jared	12	RB/DB
50	Conforti, Nick	10	OL/LB
52	Hayes, Isaiah	12	OL/DL
54	Knox, Nathan	9	OL/DL
58	Alonzo, Luis	11	OL/DL
59	Howe, Dan	11	OL/LB
60	Zavala, Jesse	12	OL/DL
64	Walls, Vincent	10	OL/DL
65	Schmeltzer, Matt	9	OL/DL
66	Dipedro, Michael	10	OL/DL
68	Stiles, Ray	11	TE/DL
70	McHenry, Patrick	11	OL/DL
71	Sperber, Dylan	12	OL/DL
72	Young, Ryan	10	OL/DL
73	Talamont, Matt	9	OL/DL
75	Gregor, Brandon	9	OL/DL
76	Walls, Patrick	9	OL/DL
77	Nunez, Eric	11	OL/DL
78	Warburton, James	11	OL/DL
80	White, Devante	10	RB/DB
83	Mason, Darion	12	WR/DB
87	Sellitto, Luke	9	WR/DB
88	Turner, Mike	12	TE/DL
51/49	Walton, Tyler	12	RB/LB

This Just In

FINAL: Octorara 38, Fleetwood 15

Octorara Preseason Football Update

SOUNDS FROM A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY LATE-SUMMER MORNING

By Jack Mariano

What a beautiful, late summer, Saturday morning in the country.   

Recent rains have made the grass and meadows turn green again.  The sunshine raising the corn to their highest heights sporting the tassels on each stalk.  The smell of farms and the sound of a rooster crowing in the morning!  What a wonderful day!  

So, picture this scene and add these sounds to it:  The yell of “hut-hut”!, the grunting of athletes and the pop of the shoulder pads as players make contact!  It is pre-season football at Octorara.

The Octorara Braves scrimmaged the Bishop Shanahan Eagles on Saturday morning.  Scrimmages are probably just as exciting as the second half of NFL pre-season exhibitions (I really don’t call them games).

Scrimmages have no punts or kick-offs and so there was no chance in watching any exciting Chucky Cooper run backs but from my vantage point, there were some nice catches from Anthony DiNorscia and Mitch King.  Kadheem Ford and Tyler Walton chipped in nicely on defense with some substantial plays. 

Anchoring the program, as always were the dedicated staff of the Octorara Football Boosters Club. Nestled in their refreshment trailer,  Jewell Shivery and Barry and Janet Kretchmer were hard at work providing drinks, hot dogs, french fries to all customers.   

Beside the trailer were tables full of Octorara Football tee shirts, sweatshirts and other accessories.   

The Booster Club has been in existence since 2004 and the club has been furnishing refreshments at the games since the inception.   

However, games are not all they do!  In fact, this coming Friday night August 26 at 6:30  p.m. the club will be hosting their annual spaghetti supper at the Octorara Primary Learning Center – the cost for a dinner is $7.00. Come meet all the players and their families.   

The club has also been busy furnishing food at the Twin Brook Winery on Friday evenings for their summer concerts.  The football boosters club catering is also available to cater your event…please call them!

Although Jewell and her husband Steve’s son Blake graduated earlier this year, they continue to be very active in the program.  The dedication of this small band of residents runs deep….they even supply their own electricity.  As there is no electrical hook up for them at the practice field, there was a generator whirring from the back of a pick up truck for the entire morning.

According to Jewell, the club started out as the sole financial resource for the football team (when they were a club).  The Octorara School District began to help fund the program when it became a varsity sport a few years ago.  As it is with many of the activities in the OASD, the school board has cut back on a lot of the funding.   

The club seeks help from anyone interested in helping them provide this sport for the kids of the school district.  Officers for the Booster Club: President - Paul Solomon; Vice President - Bernie DeLellis; Secretary - Deb Mattis; Treasurer - Jewell Shivery.  More information about the Octorara Football Booster Club can be attained on their web site www.octorarafootball.org