The preseason reviews weren't exactly flattering.

Cocalico, fresh off a un-Cocalico-like 2-8 season, and with a flock of new starters, particularly in the backfield, was picked to finish dead last in the upcoming Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 race.

Apparently, somebody forgot to give the Eagles that memo.

Two games into the football season, and Cocalico is sitting pretty at 2-0, with a pair of white-knuckle victories over Lampeter-Strasburg and Exeter under its belt.

Somehow, some way Cocalico survived L-S's last-ditch, last-second two-point conversion attempt with a key stop and held on 35-34. And against Exeter, Cocalico picked off a pass in the waning seconds, won 20-14 and improved to 2-0.

Up next, Penn Manor (0-2) pays a visit to Denver on Friday, and the Eagles have a legit shot to go to 3-0 heading into the section opener a week from Saturday at Solanco.

If they didn't before, the Eagles certainly have everyone's attention in Section 2.

"The only thing we talked about all summer was getting rid of last year and focusing on this year," Cocalico junior tailback Kyle Fisher said. "It's a new season. We wanted to get off to a fast start, which we've done, and then just go with it.

"I don't think people realize what we have yet. We definitely know what we have. And the guys here have erased everything from last season. We've started over. We want to get this program back on track."

They're off to a good start.

Fisher has played a major roll in the resurgence. He rushed for 126 yards and scored four touchdowns against L-S. And he followed that up with 97 yards and a TD against Exeter.

Fisher's backfield mate, rugged senior fullback Kyle Keller, has spent the first two weeks dragging would-be tacklers into the secondary.

Against L-S, he carried 38 times for 179 yards, and he followed that up with 112 yards on 20 carries and scored two TDs against Exeter.

Keller replaced Devin Orme, last year's league rushing leader with 1,444 yards.

Fisher is starting full-time for the first time. He gained 333 yards as a reserve a year ago.

Through two games this year, it's been the Kyle and Kyle Show for Cocalico, which has put the hammer down with its Veer option offense.

The Eagles have piled up 636 rushing yards — tops in the league by a landslide — and are third in the league in total offense, cranking out 366.5 yards per game.

It's like old times.

Meanwhile, the preseason prognosticators have spent the last two weeks wiping egg of their face.

"We saw that we were picked to finish last in the section, and yeah, that stuff motivated us," Keller said.

"Nobody expected us to be doing this well, that's for sure. We came into this season wanting to play better, especially after what happened last year. Last year did motivate us a lot. The only thing we worried about this summer was getting better."

Cocalico doesn't go through too many 2-8 seasons. The Eagles were 8-3 and went to the District 3 Triple-A playoffs the year before.

So last fall, when the Eagles were picked to finish second in the section but finished six games under .500, 4th-year coach Dave Gingrich was left scratching his head.

"We did a lot of soul-searching as a staff," Gingrich said. "We asked all the coaches and all the players: What did we do well? What didn't we do well? We got a lot out in the open."

When the team reconvened, Gingrich found his answer in the form of the Eagles' new dynamic 1-2 backfield punch of Fisher and Keller, who have followed the lead of right tackles Tyler Rittenhour and Joe Mongiovi, right guard Zeb Rineer, center Blake Bomberger, left guard George Heller, left tackle Pat McMillan and tight end Ethan Quint into many opposing defensive backfields and end zones.

That line was revamped before the L-S game when two-way trench starter Tim Olsen was lost for the season with an ACL tear.

Still …

"Those guys have been awesome," Rineer said about Fisher and Keller's early success.

"They've been hitting the holes well and following our blocks. We're trying to get back to smash-mouth football."

In two weeks, Cocalico has smashed L-S and Exeter squarely in the mouth, serving notice that last year's 2-8 finish is long gone. And that the Eagles, new starters and all, will have a say in who wins the Section 2 title — regardless of what those preseason prognosticators said.

"A lot of people are counting us out, but we know we can have a really good season," Keller said. "We just have to keep believing in each other."

And keep getting the ball into the reliable hands of Fisher and Keller, who have carried the load for two weeks — and hope to carry the Eagles back to the lead pack in the Section 2 hunt.

CONTACT US: jreinhart@LNPnews.com or 291-8777