LEBANON — Lebanon football coach Gerry Yonchiuk isn't alone in experiencing the predicament.
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You work all week to get your guys prepared for what you know is coming.
And then resourceful Conestoga Valley running back Kevin Kelley and the horses in front of him take the field and do exactly what they want anyway.
So it went again Friday night.
The league rushing leader racked up an astounding 331 yards and four touchdowns on 34 carries and helped break open a tight game with a pair of second-quarter scores as Conestoga Valley cruised to a 35-14 victory at Lebanon High School.
With the win, CV improved to 4-1 in Section Two and 6-2 overall.
"You look for answers and you try to have answers for your guys," Yonchiuk said afterward. "(During the practice week) you try to have all of your alignments down because you know what (CV is) going to do, and you prepare your guys by (getting them) in those positions.
"But (Kelley) doesn't make mistakes," Yonchiuk added. "And we got beat tonight by the better team."
In part, perhaps, because the sloppy field conditions and steady rain did little to aid Lebanon's passing attack, which it relies upon heavily.
Entering Friday's contest, the Cedars (3-2, 3-5) had thrown for a Section Two-best 1,351 yards, which was second in the league to Pequea Valley.
Friday Lebanon's offense, captained under center by sophomore quarterback Alex Trautman, went a measly 10-for-28 with one interception in the air, and finished with 84 yards.
Many of those 18 incompletions were drops by Lebanon receivers, who struggled to hold onto the slippery ball.
"Defensively, I guess I prefer (the slippery conditions)," CV coach Tom Nichols said. "But offensively, I'd rather have the footing."
For obvious reasons.
Still, the weather seemed to have little effect on Kelley, who was averaging a league-best 192.8 yards per game coming in. Friday, Kelley had all but 11 of the Buckskins' 342 rushing yards.
Picking up 54 rushing yards on the first three plays of the game, Kelley set up Alex Dienner six-yard touchdown pass to Joel Leicy, which gave CV a 7-0 lead with 9:52 left in the first quarter.
On the Bucks' next possession, Kelley completed a one-play scoring drive with a 72-yard burst to give CV a 14-0 lead.
Lebanon responded with TD runs of one and two yards. The second score tied the game at 14-14 with 58 seconds left in the first quarter.
But when Kelley broke off a 30-yard TD run to cap CV's opening possession of the second quarter, and added a one-yard scoring run with 2:49 left before halftime, the Bucks were off and running with a 28-14 lead.
Kelley added a 60-yard scoring run 3:21 into the second half to account for the final margin.
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