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Ehrenzeller and Kauffman Give Juniata the Spark Needed to Beat DuBois

Tagged under: District 6, District 9, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

| November 11, 2022


Waylon Ehrenzeller #23 and John Kauffman #70.

The Juniata Indians travelled two hours to play DuBois at Mansell Stadium last night in a PIAA District 6-9 subregional game.  That didn’t seem to bother Waylon Ehrenzeller or John Kauffman too much, as they helped orchestrate a solid team effort in defeating the DuBois Beavers 17-7.  The win propels Juniata into the next round where they’ll meet either Meadville out of District 10 or USO (a.k.a. University Prep) out of District 8.

Coming back from an injury where he didn’t play much since week six, all the 5’9” 160-pound Ehrenzeller did was score both of his team’s touchdowns and rush for 133 yards on 20 carries.  “He’s sort of the heart and soul of this team,” commented Juniata’s head coach Kurt Condo, “he came back tonight and gave a great effort running the football.”

Kauffman was part of an offensive line that, in the second half, took charge and opened big holes for Ehrenzeller and his fellow running backs.  When Ehrenzeller was on defense the 6’0” 220-pound lineman wreaked havoc on the Beaver offense by busting up runs, pressuring the quarterback, and eventually sacking the quarterback two times when DuBois was driving.   “John Kauffman only has one speed, it’s fast.  He plays hard, he plays with a lot of heart and a lot of emotion.  He’s a great coachable kid,” stated Condo.

Juniata’s defense (white) poised to make a play. QB Trey Wingard of DuBois #10.

The only scoring in the first half was a 25-yard field goal by Juniata’s Brant Walters at the 7:42 mark of the second quarter.  It was an exciting first half with each team having chances to score.  Juniata had a receiver catch a pass and get caught from behind inside the DuBois five, fumbling the ball into the end zone where DuBois pounced on it.  The Indians also had two other drives end in DuBois territory, one was stopped by an interception, the other time the Beavers decided to play field position and punt.

DuBois had five possessions end in Juniata real estate.  Two times errant passes were picked off, once on downs, once they decided to punt, and the other time the half ended.  “I’m proud of the team.  We battled a couple of injuries but we fought.  It’s football and it’s about heart and it’s about effort.  That’s what these kids gave tonight,” said the DuBois head coach TJ Wingard.

The second half was different as the Beavers’ first two drives fizzled and the Indians’ first two opportunities resulted in touchdowns by Ehrenzeller to give his team a 17-0 lead.  At the 4:15 mark of the third quarter he swept outside and cut back for an 11-yard score.  That capped a 9-play 57-yard drive.  At 10:47 of the fourth he went up the middle to score from 24 yards out.  That ended another 9-play drive, but this time it covered 65 yards.  “We decided to come out in the second half and do what we do well.  We wanted to keep the ball out of their hands.  Let our playmakers make plays.  Let our offensive line try to control the line of scrimmage,” stated Condo.

Ehrenzeller (#23) just gave ball to the referee after gaining yardage by following Kauffman’s (#70) block.

DuBois finally got on the board when Trey Wingard found Garrett Frantz for a 32-yard touchdown strike with 8:18 left in the game.  It was too little too late as the saying goes.  The Beavers had one more opportunity, but they turned the ball over on downs at Juniata’s 37 late in the game.  Condo also stated, “I’m happy with their effort throughout the whole game and throughout the whole season.”

The DuBois defense played admirably holding Juniata to 17 points.

Juniata rushed for 231 yards with Ehrenzeller getting 133.  Seth Laub chipped in 61 yards rushing on 12 carries.  The Indians ended the night with a total of 297 yards of offense.  DuBois had 225 yards of offense.  They were led by Wingard, their freshman quarterback, who threw for 171 yards by completing 17 of 32 passes.  Juniata’s record now stands at 8-3, while DuBois ended their season 5-6.

The Juniata Marching Band made the trip too, played the National Anthem, and did a quality halftime show as the DuBois Band could not be at the game.

An odd occurrence happened at the end of the first half when both teams threw two interceptions on successive possessions.  Yes, it was four picks in four plays.  What is even more bizarre was that Juniata threw another interception four plays before that.  So, in eight plays there were five interceptions.

Follow Phil Myers (Protime) on Twitter: @Protime_PFN

Follow PA Football News on Twitter @PaFootballNews

 
 
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