Momentum always plays a big factor in football games and rivalry games tend to amplify the momentum swings.

Brandon Unterkoefler never allowed Daniel Boone to gain any momentum as he accounted for five touchdowns, leading the Eagles to a 45-14 victory in the battle for the Pig Iron trophy Friday night at Birdsboro.

It was the 60th meeting between the two teams.

Daniel Boone (2-4, 3-7) went three-and-out on their opening possession and gave the Eagles (5-1, 8-2) the ball in Blazers territory. Unterkoefler converted a third-and-7 with a pass into tight coverage to Matt Feeney.

Exeter then faced a fourth-and-3 from the 11-yard line and Unterkoefler managed to escape four Daniel Boone defenders deep in his own backfield to convert the first down.

"We want to come out and we always want to get momentum first," Unterkoefler said. "They came out and played their best so we knew whether running or passing, we had to move the ball early."

Braelin Grill, who missed the 2015 season with a knee injury, scored the touchdown on the opening Eagles' drive to put Exeter ahead 7-0.

Jesse Enck led the Daniel Boone defense that played about as well as possible early on as the Blazers only trailed 10-0 in the second quarter.

But Gabe Schappell returned a punt 34 yards and Exeter again found itself in Boone territory to start a drive. On third-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Unterkoefler's number was called, and he broke a tackle in the backfield and scored for a 17-0 Exeter lead.

The Blazers struggled on offense in the first half as they played without starting running back Spencer McIntosh who was injured last week against Conrad Weiser.

If there was any doubt starting the second half, with a score 24-0, Unterkoefler ended it on the first play of the half. He ran up the middle behind his offensive line and then showed some speed on a 60-yard TD run to make it 31-0.

"We controlled the line of scrimmage and that was the key tonight," Exeter coach Matt Bauer said.

To read the rest of Sam Cavalieri's article, please go to the Reading Eagle site: http://www.readingeagle.com/sports/article/high-school-football-unterkoefler-leads-exeter-past-daniel-boone

Exeter at Daniel Boone

Friday, November 4, 2016 @ 7:00 PM