‘Border’ war has sweet ending for Red Knights
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Reading High and Muhlenberg entered the “Battle of the Border” with different tastes in their mouths.
The Red Knights were sour after a 25-point defeat to Phoenixville; the Muhls were sweet after picking up an upset win over Schuylkill Valley in head coach Rob Flowers’ debut.
The teams traded places Friday night after the Red Knights topped the Muhls 34-20 in a non-league game at Shirk Stadium to keep the rivalry trophy at the Castle on the Hill for the third straight year.
“We weren’t worried about what they did with Schuylkill Valley and about our loss with Phoenixville,” Reading High quarterback Kayson Fritz said. “We just knew what we could do. It feels great, especially for my last year being here. It’s wonderful to have that trophy for one more year.”
Fritz passed for 128 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown to lead the Red Knights (1-1), who accumulated over 400 yards.
“Our mindset coming into the game was that it was just the next game on the schedule,” Fritz said. “We try not to let anybody outside of our circle affect us and just go ahead and ball up.”
Fritz, Alexis Alvarado (69 rushing yards, one touchdown), and Gabe Laws (68 rushing yards, two touchdowns) formed a three-headed monster in the backfield that piled up 275 yards on the ground behind an offensive line led by college prospect Keyshawn Efese.
“These guys have prided themselves all offseason on being able to run the ball,” Reading High head coach Troy Godinet said. “This is the first Division I offensive lineman we’ve had in a really long time. Then you add that with a first-team All-Berks guard (Romello Fuentes), who has started for us for four years, that experience helps a lot.”
Fritz, Alvarado, Laws, Efese, and Fuentes are all key, experienced returning seniors and leaders trying to prove this is a different Reading team than the ones that won five games over the past three seasons.
There were signs of change Friday as the Red Knights were able to forget about their mistakes (three fumbles lost, 12 penalties) and move on to the next play.
Alvarado lost one of those fumbles in the second quarter and then got an interception five plays later that led to a 24-yard touchdown pass from Fritz to Jared Santos with 23 seconds left in the first half, putting Reading ahead 21-14.
Alvarado started the second half with a 31-yard run and scored on a 1-yard TD plunge four plays later.
Laws lost a fumble inside the Muhlenberg 10-yard-line with 4:48 left in the third quarter with the Red Knights clinging to a 27-20 lead. The defense then forced a three-and-out and Laws pounded in a 2-yard touchdown seven plays later.
Alvarado fumbled again in the fourth quarter, but teammate Jeremiah Camara picked off a pass with 5:49 left to seal the win.
“We’re coming together as a team,” Godinet said. “We know that when something negative happens, we have to carry each other. We can’t get our feet stuck in the quicksand. We got to dig ourselves out and we talked about that pregame.”
Muhlenberg running back and Reading transfer Cam Small was certainly not stuck in quicksand as he rushed for 165 and three touchdowns.
Most people were picking the Red Knights to lose the trophy after last week’s poor performance.
“Our kids did take that as a chip on their shoulder,” Godinet said. “But most importantly, they just want to play for each other. They want to leave a legacy here.”
Reading defensive tackle Julio Castro recovered a fumble on Muhlenberg’s first offensive possession and the Red Knights drove 55 yards in six plays before Laws’ 12-yard TD run with 8:57 left in the first quarter.
Small scored a 1-yard TD for the Muhls to finish a 15-play, 86-yard drive with 9:12 to go in the second quarter.
Fritz answered with a 7-yard touchdown run on Reading’s next drive and Small scored another 1-yard TD on the Muhls’ to tie the game at 14-14 with 3:49 before halftime.
Alvarado atoned for his fumble on Reading’s next possession by intercepting Christian Coley five plays later.
The Red Knights capitalized with Fritz’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Jared Santos with 23 seconds left before the break.
Reading rushed for 64 yards in five plays to start the third quarter and Alvarado pounded it in the end zone from the 1 to give the Red Knights a 27-14 advantage just 1:34 into the quarter.
Small’s third touchdown — this one from 16 yards out — cut Reading’s lead to 27-20 with 7:38 left in the third.
Laws scored touchdown No. 2 with a 2-yarder just 38 seconds into the fourth quarter to give the Red Knights a two-score lead and Camara intercepted a pass with 5:49 left.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Muhlenberg | 0 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| Reading High | 7 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 34 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Reading High | Laws, 12 run (Guzman kick) | 8:57 |
| 2 | Muhlenberg | Small, 1 run (Coley run failed) | 9:12 |
| 2 | Reading High | Fritz, 7 run (Guzman kick) | 7:17 |
| 2 | Muhlenberg | Small, 1 run (Small run) | 3:49 |
| 2 | Reading High | Santos, 24 pass from Fritz (Guzman kick) | 0:23 |
| 3 | Reading High | Alvarado, 1 run (Guzman kick missed) | 10:26 |
| 3 | Muhlenberg | Small, 16 run (Ortiz run failed) | 7:38 |
| 4 | Reading High | Laws, 2 run (Guzman kick) | 11:22 |
Team statistics
| MUHLENBERG | READING HIGH | |
| First downs | 18 | 15 |
| Rushes-yards | 46-218 | 45-275 |
| Passing yards | 85 | 128 |
| Total yards | 303 | 403 |
| Passes | 11-23-2 | 10-11-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 5-3 |
| Punts-average | 2-26.5 | 1-30 |
| Penalties-yards | 11-92 | 12-120 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Muhlenberg: Small 28-165, Baez 8-43, Miller 5-10, Grullon 2-8, Ortiz 1-(-1), Lacey 1-(-1), Coley 1-(-6).
Reading High: Fritz 16-116, Alvarado 12-69, 10-68, Boston 3-19, Beatty 1-6, Team 3-(-3).
PASSING
Muhlenberg: Coley 8-15-1—62, Baez 3-8-1—23.
Reading High: Fritz 10-11-0—128.
RECEIVING
Muhlenberg: Miller 9-80, Buzydlowski 1-3, Burr 1-2.
Reading High: Beatty 7-60, Santos 2-57, Samuel 1-11.
INTERCEPTIONS
Reading High: Alvarado, Camara.
