On a stormy Friday night at ELCO Stadium, the hometown Raiders trounced visiting Columbia 49-6 in a non-league contest sped up by the mercy rule and shortened by lightning.
Once again spearheaded by senior burner Jake Williams and an emerging offensive line, ELCO was never seriously heeded after opening a 21-0 lead early in the second period.
With flashes of lightning filling the southern sky, the contest was called and ELCO declared the winner with one second remaining in the third quarter. Many of the scholastic football contests in the central Pennsylvania area, including those involving three other Lebanon County teams, were either delayed or postponed last night.
For an ELCO program that preaches culture over results, the victory was its third to start the season. And for a Raider program that emphasizes “we over me,” it was the third straight time this year that Williams ran wild.
With the triumph, ELCO matched its 3-0 start in 2022.
The outcome left Columbia 1-2 on the season.
“When you have a large number of kids, it makes it a little worrisome,” said ELCO head coach Bob Miller of his oversized roster. “I’m really impressed with how competitive the kids are and how much they want to get on the field. For the most part, they’ve taken to their roles. I like the culture developing. We’re starting to see a bond and a pride for playing together.
“We’re pleased with the potential and the way the kids are buying in,” he continued. “We’ve got to improve our communication and technique to be prepared for section (Lancaster-Lebanon Four) play. We want to go 1-0 every play.”
“At ELCO, we don’t really care who gets the credit,” said ELCO junior lineman Tupac Vasquez-Disla. “We get to represent ELCO, that’s the best part. When we win, it’s not a Jake (Williams) win, it’s not a linemen win, it’s not a receiver win. It’s a team win.”
With his 15 carries and 369 rushing yards, Williams broke the ELCO record for yards in a single game that he had established last week in a similar win over Annville-Cleona. He also tallied five touchdowns for the third straight outing, giving him 15 on the year.
To this point of the year, Williams has amassed 923 rushing yards – a number that feels historic and a little Tommy Long-like.
“Every run he makes, it’s their (the offensive line’s) yards,” said Miller. “It’s really a testament to their hard work. Jake’s a talented guy, but the line is really coming into its own.”
“He (Williams) is running hard, and I’m impressed with his vision,” added Miller. “I think he’s got a better burst than he had last year.”
“We are very young,” said Vasquez-Disla of his fellow linemen. “We’ve still got a lot of things to learn. We just want to raise our standard by 1 percent every play.
“Jake’s a very humble guy,” Vasquez-Disla added. “Everyone really likes him. He’s got a great personality. We’re all close. It’s like a brotherhood.”
On ELCO’s fifth offensive snap, 5:36 into the game, Williams patiently weaved his way through traffic, broke it off the right sideline and then raced 52 yards to put the Raiders ahead 7-0. Four minutes later, he took a hand-off from junior quarterback Steven Rosado 66 yards to “The House” to give the home side a 14-point advantage.
But his most impressive scoring run of the night came 9:45 before halftime, when he broke a couple of tackles, made a pair of other Columbia defenders miss before zooming 80 yards into the end zone.
“The start didn’t feel as fast to me as it did to you,” said Miller. “It felt like we were a little undisciplined and maybe lacked communication up front early in the game. Defensively, I thought we did a phenomenal job. We gave up one big play, but for the most part we made them earn it.”
“I feel like we could’ve played better,” said Vasquez-Disla. “We could’ve had more communication. But we had each other’s backs and that’s why we won the game.
“I like to communicate,” he added. “We all like to talk to each other and make sure we’re doing the right things. We trust our backs to make plays off of us.”
Before the lightning halted the festivities, the Raiders scored four touchdowns in the third quarter – two more by Williams – on bursts of 58 and 51 yards – and one each from senior Elliott Kreider and junior Austin Yesko.
The ELCO defense held Columbia to a negative 37 yards rushing. The Raiders outgained the Crimson Tide 475 total yards to 60.
Next Friday night, ELCO will open play in rugged L-L Section Four when it hosts Conrad Weiser.
“We’ve got to get better on Monday,” said Miller. “The section’s as good as it was last year. It’s outstanding. I think it’s the best section in the state.”
On this particular play, Elco running back Jake Williams had difficulty locating running room. (Jeff Falk) 
The ELCO defense played much of Friday night’s game on the Columbia side of the ball. (Jeff Falk) 
ELCO has always taken great pride in defending its home turf. (Jeff Falk) 
Raider cornerback Austin Yesko plays tight man-to-man coverage. (Jeff Falk) 
ELCO senior Dante James also performed at halftime. (Jeff Falk) 
ELCO junior Chris Bateman is one of the Raiders’ key contributors up front. (Jeff Falk) 
The Raiders’ defensive scheme is predicated on every member flying to the ball. (Jeff Falk) 
ELCO quarterback Steven Rosado’s work for the evening is done. 
Sophomore Paul Williams is the fourth Williams brother to play football at ELCO. (Jeff Falk) 
On a humid night like Friday, rehydrating is essential to ELCO senior Jackson Conners’ performance. (Jeff Falk)
ELCO Raiders
Read all our coverage of the Raiders here.
Roster
Head Coach: Robert Miller
Assistant Coaches: John Carley, Robert Williams, Wyatt Hall, Earl Thomas, John Wetzel
| Jersey Number | Name | Grade | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jordan Hartz | Jr. | WR/DB |
| 2 | Justin Smucker | Jr. | WR/DB |
| 3 | Steven Rosado | Jr. | QB/DB |
| 4 | Shane Boyer | Jr. | WR/LB |
| 5 | Jackson Conners | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 6 | Gavin Bicher | Jr. | QB/LB |
| 7 | Phillip Horst | Jr. | TE/DE |
| 8 | Austin Yesko | Jr. | RB/DB |
| 9 | Ira Gensamer | Sr. | RB/DB |
| 10 | Elliott Kreider | Sr. | RB/LB |
| 11 | Dom Herzog | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 14 | Ethan Busser | Jr. | WR/LB |
| 15 | Dante James | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 16 | Sara Miller | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 17 | Josh Blair | Jr. | QB/LB |
| 19 | James Prosser | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 20 | Jude Weaver | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 21 | Jonathan Fisher | Jr. | WR/DB |
| 22 | Jake Williams | Sr. | RB/LB |
| 23 | Zane Trostle | Jr. | RB/DB |
| 24 | Mitchell Frederick | Jr. | RB/LB |
| 25 | Lee Tobias | Sr. | RB/DB |
| 26 | Landon Goodison | Jr. | K/P |
| 28 | Butch Savich | So. | WR/DB |
| 29 | Issac Harms | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 30 | Griffin Kreider | Fr. | QB/DB |
| 32 | Ellis Gensamer | So. | RB/LB |
| 33 | Brady Stoops | Jr. | RB/DL |
| 34 | Victor Feliciano | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 35 | Dom Shaak | Jr. | RB/DB |
| 38 | Isaiah Angley | Sr. | RB/DL |
| 40 | Rhyce Faust | Jr. | WR/DB |
| 41 | Hunter Mehaffey | So. | WR/DB |
| 42 | Elejandro Weister | So. | WR/DB |
| 44 | Connor Showalter | So. | WR/DB |
| 45 | J.C. Dejesus | Jr. | RB/DL |
| 50 | Luke Bailey | So. | OL/DL |
| 51 | Paul Williams | So. | OL/DL |
| 52 | Avery Kurtz | Jr. | OL/DL |
| 53 | Alex Muniz Cruz | Sr. | OL/DL |
| 54 | Robert Lubin | Jr. | OL/DL |
| 55 | Brayden Malloy | Jr. | OL/DL |
| 57 | Mason Sipe | So. | OL/DL |
| 58 | Carter Kemper | Sr. | OL/LB |
| 59 | Tupac Vasquez-Disla | Jr. | OL/DL |
| 60 | Lukas Morasco | Jr. | OL/DL |
| 62 | Griffin Fisher | Sr. | OL/DL |
| 63 | Asher Grier | So. | OL/DL |
| 64 | Dominick Lattarulo | Jr. | OL/DL |
| 65 | Riley McDonald | So. | RB/LB |
| 66 | Chris Bateman | Jr. | OL/DL |
| 67 | Ty Landis | So. | RB/LB |
| 68 | Jason Arnold | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 71 | James Kuhne | So. | WR/DB |
| 72 | Dawson Ocker | Sr. | OL/DL |
| 74 | Cole Haag | So. | OL/DL |
| 75 | Bryce Maize | Jr. | OL/DL |
| 76 | Josie Lebron-Matos | So. | WR/DB |
| 77 | Tyler Shaak | So. | OL/DL |
| 78 | Dylan Reddinger | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 79 | Ethan Bretzius | So. | OL/DL |
| 80 | Tyce Fiddner | Jr. | TE/DE |
| 81 | Michael Books | Jr. | WR/DB |
| 82 | Bryant Auker | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 84 | Noah Burgess | Jr. | WR/DB |
| 85 | Landon Leonard | Jr. | TE/DE |
| 87 | Chase Hess | Jr. | TE/DE |
| 88 | Bryce Haislip | Sr. | WR/DB |
| 89 | Dalton Pyzka | So. | TE/DE |
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Editor’s note: This article was updated after publication to correct Jake Williams’ rushing statistics.
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