Start fast.

That was Exeter Township’s goal on the road at Pleasant Valley on Friday night.

The Eagles, playing out of the Lancaster/Lebanon League and District 3, scored on the opening kick and never looked back, defeating the Bears 49-0.

Exeter, which came into the game with dominant wins over Daniel Boone (36-0) and Boyertown (49-7) did not wait long to flex its muscles. The Eagles Jayden Zandier took the opening kick 77 yards to the house.

“We’ve been really working on our kickoff return for a while. We have some pretty dynamic players that can make big plays on special teams for us,” said Exeter Township head coach Matt Bauer. “Jayden saw a crease and he took it. I’m proud of the guys for not only getting a return touchdown, but doing it to start the game. We challenged them to get one tonight and they came through.”

After a Pleasant Valley fumble on its opening possession at its own 10, the Eagles went right back to work on the offensive end. It took Exeter just two plays, with Zandier taking it in from five yards out to quickly go up 14-0 at the 10:25 mark.

Exeter would tack on another score in the first quarter to extend its lead to 21-0. On the Eagles third possession they would go 48 yards in seven plays, capped off by a 14-yard hookup between Riley Martinez and Genuine Stutzman.

Two more fumbles in the second quarter would lead to two more Eagles touchdowns. From the PV 23-yard line, Exeter would cash in to start the second with a 23-yard pitch-and-catch from Martinez to Carter Redding to make it 28-0. Then later in the second, running back Justin Prizer came through with a pretty 43-yard run down the left sideline to give Exeter a 35-0 lead at the half.

“Exeter is a very good team. They’re contending for a 5A district championship from their area. Even if we played our best, I don’t know if we would have had enough to come away with the win against this team. We’re a young group,” said Pleasant Valley head coach Blaec Sager. “If you play as poorly as we did tonight, this is the result you’re going to get. But I am proud of the way this team stuck together. They didn’t give up. They kept playing hard.”

A pair of lost fumbles in the third quarter helped Exeter up its lead to 42-0 on a Leo Brown 28-yard rushing score. The Eagles would then add one more touchdown in the fourth to finish out the 49-0 victory.

“It’s a good problem to have to have as many weapons as we do. And all those guys who got opportunities tonight, they answered the call,” said Bauer. “It was a total team win and effort tonight. We played well defensively, tackled well and we were aligned properly. It was a good team win.”

BALANCED … The Eagles were balanced offensively in this one. They rushed for 160 yards and passed for 94 yards, taking advantage of good field position throughout the game.

TURNOVER WOES … The Bears had a bunch of fumbles in the game, losing five of them, which helped setup a lot of Exeter’s scores in the game.

NEXT UP … It doesn’t get any easier for Pleasant Valley as Parkland comes to Brodheadsville on Thursday night.

Exeter 49, Pleasant Vy. 0

Exeter 21 14 7 7 - 49

Pleasant Vy. 0 0 0 0 - 0

Scoring Summary

E - Zandier 77 kickoff return (kick failed)

E - Zandier 5 run (Redding pass from Martinez)

E - Stutzman 14 pass from Martinez (Gaston kick)

E - Redding 23 pass from Martinez (Gaston kick)

E - Prizer 43 run (Gaston kick)

E - Brown 28 run (Gaston kick)

E - Jackson 2 run (Gaston kick)