That was a long time coming. The last time the Elizabethtown football team started a season 3-0 was in 2017, until now. With a 41-28 triumph over Lower Dauphin on September 9th the Bears remain undefeated.

As you might expect with a 41-point outburst, the offense was humming, totaling 545 yards with a near perfect split of 277 rushing yards and 268 passing yards. Josh Rudy posted a stellar outing, completing 21-of-24 passes with two scores. Braden Cummings snagged 10 passes for 208 yards and both scores while Logan Lentz and Hayden Haver combined for 204 yards and four TDs on the ground.

Despite the two-score final margin, things started tight with both sides scoring twice in the opening frame. E-town started to pull away in the second with Cummings hauling in his second 23-yard TD of the game coupled with Haver's one yard plunge that made it 28-21 at the break. Lentz iced the game with his final two touchdowns that pushed Elizabethtown's lead to 41-21 before LD tacked on a late score to set the 41-28 final.

GIRLS' SOCCER

The girls' soccer team hit their first bump of the 2022 season on September 7th, falling to Ephrata, 2-1, thanks to two second half Mountaineer goals. Lily Heistand, with help from Jena Witters, had given E-town an early lead but Ephrata was able to flip things in the second half. Keegan Miller absorbed the loss with five saves.

Elizabethtown got right back to winning, topping Red Lion by a 5-1 final one day later. This time Miller's five saves were enough to secure the win. That was thanks in large part to Heistand who scored twice while setting up Danielle Bruno and Kylie Hein. Witters got things started in the second minute, taking a Hailey Sheetz pass, and redirecting it into the net before setting up Heistand's first score.

E-town made it two in a row by topping Northeastern 2-0 on the 10th. Miller needed just one save to post the shutout. Witters netted the first score again, this time it was Hein with the assist. Meiley Shuck added a second half insurance goal.

The Bears used a 4-1 win over Manheim Central on the 13th for their second three game winning streak of the young season. Witters kept her run of scoring first intact, using a Heistand pass for this score. Shuck made it 2-0 in the 26th minute with Heistand finding Witters for another score in the 27th minute. Heistand, with help from Bruno, finished the scoring. Miller finished with four saves.

BOYS' SOCCER

The boys' soccer team followed the same script, a loss to Ephrata followed by wins over Red Lion, Northeastern and Manheim Central. The Bears suffered the same 2-1 final opposite Ephrata on the 7th with Hayden Flory's goal in the 3rd minute not enough to withstand two Mountaineer goals in the second half. Tyler Bell finished with two saves.

Bell picked up another two saves, this time leading his squad to a 4-1 win over Red Lion on the 8th. Flory posted a hat trick of the assist variety, setting up Jason Stark, Dax Kelly, and Zach Verghese to push E-town to a 3-0 lead. Tavan Schoenberger tacked on the final score with Owen Mowrer providing the setup.

Two more Bell saves came on the 10th, this time allowing Elizabethtown to collect a 3-0 win over Northeastern. Flory continued his impressive run, setting up Caleb Garcia for the game's initial score while converting Xavier Giron's pass for the final score. In between it was Schoenberger finding Kelly for a 2-0 lead.

Bell continued his two save run, this time in a 6-1 win over Manheim Central on the 13th. Five different Bears scored with only Stark lighting the lamp twice. Giron, Garcia, Kai Laszakovits and Noah Locke picked up the remaining goals while Flory finished with four assists with Schoenberger adding two more.

FIELD HOCKEY

You can't win them all may be an old movie, but it fits when talking sports as evidenced by the field hockey team's 8-1 loss to Penn Manor on September 8th breaking up E-town's 3-0 start. Mikaela Condran picked up the lone goal in the opening frame, but the Comets pulled away for the win from there.

The Lady Bears wasted no time getting back on track, topping Hempfield 4-1 on the 13th. Pope picked up the win despite no saves. Condran picked up two scores, one with help from Reagan Flory with Kendra Griffie and Lyla Fair accounting for the remaining two goals.

In between E-town made the short trip to Milton Hershey for their annual field hockey tournament. E-town opened with a 5-0 win over the host Lady Spartans but dropped the championship game to Newport 2-1.

TENNIS

The tennis team ran its winning streak to four matches with a 7-0 victory over Cocalico on Sept 8th and a 6-1 win over Donegal on the 13th. The Lady Bears used straight set wins to earn all 13 team points on their way to the wins.

VOLLEYBALL

After five straight regular match wins coupled with a title run at the Big Spring tourney the Lady Bear volleyball team suffered their first loss on September 13th. It was a five-set marathon that went to Ephrata 3-2.

"This was a tough loss but as a coach I am super proud of how the girls fought and rallied to come back from a 2-0 lead that Ephrata had," said head coach Katrina Shelly.

The 2-0 deficit Kelly mentioned were 25-23 and 25-16 Mountaineer wins but as Kelly pointed out, her squad bounced back with wins of 25-17 and 25-23 to even the match. Despite the decisive fifth set going to Ephrata, 17-15, Kelly said, "These types of games are what makes coaching and playing so much fun. To see the passion and love for the sport on both sides of the net knowing it could go either way was very exciting to see. They fought hard for each other and that is all I can ask for as a coach."

Chloe Merkt finished with 23 kills and 23 digs while Paige Horst and Hailey Oller (48 assists) combined for 43 digs.

E-town's fifth win of the season came on the 8th with a 3-0 sweep over Lampeter-Strasburg. Oller posted 29 assists and 11 digs while Merkt had nine kills and nine digs. Horst chipped in on the 25-13, 25-15 and 25-16 win with 10 digs and five assists.

GOLF

The golf team posted a 1-3 day at Meadia Heights on September 12th and sits at 6-10 on the season. Aiden Blyler finished in a tie for first in the rain shortened event, shooting a 38 through nine holes.

CROSS COUNTRY

The cross-country team hosted Ephrata and Donegal on September 12th leading to a 4-0 day for the Bears. Ethan Cronin, Bradley Kreider and Dante Checco claimed the top three spots while Gavin Wertman and Nathan Merlo were close behind in fifth and sixth place.

On the girls side it was Jordan DiRisio leading the way with a second-place finish. Ali Fink (5th), Lilah Drager (7th) and Rowan Hess (10th) gave E-town four runners in the top 10.