Berks/Lebanon stars rise to the occasion in Tri-County shootout
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
MANHEIM – With three different quarterbacks firing passes to him, Carter Redding had to make adjustments on the fly in Friday’s Tri-County All-Star Game.
It didn’t faze the Exeter wide receiver.
“Honestly, if the ball’s in the air, I just try to go catch it,” he said.
Redding did plenty of that. He made a leaping grab early in the game, later broke free for a long touchdown catch that gave the Berks/Lebanon stars a third-quarter lead, and ended up with a game-high six receptions for 170 yards and his team’s MVP honors.
“He’s not the biggest guy on the field – probably not the fastest,” said Berks/Lebanon coach Brett Myers of Twin Valley. “But somehow when he gets the ball in his hands he’s faster than everyone else.”
Redding was one of several Berks/Lebanon stars who had big games, along with quarterbacks Evan Myers of Twin Valley and Donovan Gingrich of Conrad Weiser, and tight end Genuine Stutzman of Exeter.
The power-packed Lancaster squad had even more standouts, including team MVP Dominic Brown and quarterback Caileb Howse, both of Lampeter-Strasburg. Brown and Howse each scored twice as Lancaster piled up over 500 total yards to hold off Berks/Lebanon 49-39 at Rettew Field.
It was the third straight win for Lancaster over Berks/Lebanon but this one, at least, was competitive.
The Berks/Lebanon stars failed to score in the first two games of the series; this time they went out fast, scoring on their first three possessions to go up 17-0.
“Everybody came together and said we’re not gonna let this be another year where Berks County comes up and put up zero and we roll over,” Redding said. “I’m not that kind of person, and the guys on our team are not that type of person.”
Evan Myers led his team down the field on the first two possessions with his pinpoint passing. He completed his first seven attempts for 156 yards, including a 40-yarder to Berks Catholic’s Bryce Gumby on the opening play of the game.
He hooked up with Redding for 27 yards on the first play of the second possession and with Stutzman, who finished with five catches for 81 yards, for 21 more on the next play.
(Logan Gehman/Whitespot Photography)
Gingrich took over for the third series and completed passes to Redding, Stutzman and – on a formation that saw Brett Myers use all three of his quarterbacks in the backfield at the same time – one to Schuylkill Valley quarterback Logan Nawrocki.
The early touchdown drives ended with an unlikely hero: Wilson guard Derek Reiniger. The offensive lineman was utilized as a fullback twice in goal-line situations and came away with TD runs of 1 and 2 yards, the second making it 17-0 midway through the second quarter. They were his first touches since Midget football.
“One of the coaches (saw me at practice) and said, ‘Man, I would make him a fullback,’ ” Reiniger explained. “(Coach) Myers asked me if would want to run the ball. I said, hell yeah.”
The Lancaster stars used big plays to get back in the game quickly. Brown broke off a 57-yard run to the 14, and four plays later Howse went the final 6 yards to make it 17-7 with 2:02 left in the half.
When Warwick’s Quinn Care picked off Nawrocki’s deep ball, Lancaster struck quickly, getting a 79-yard touchdown on a deep post from Howse to Brown with 1:28 left.
An 80-yard touchdown pass from Manheim Township’s Carson Weisser to McCaskey’s DeAndre Jones on the opening play of the second half gave Lancaster its first lead.
Berks/Lebanon regained the lead a minute later when Redding hauled in a deep post from Gingrich.
That turned out to be the highwater mark for the Berks/Lebanon stars. They couldn’t stop the dominant Lancaster offense, which found the end zone on six straight possessions, building a 35-24 lead early in the fourth quarter on Jones’ 31-yard touchdown catch.
Lancaster piled up 337 second-half yards.
Brown rushed for 98 yards on eight carries and Manheim Township’s Declan Clancy put the game away with his bruising runs inside the tackles; he finished with 87 yards on 13 carries.
Berks/Lebanon pulled within 42-39 with 1:37 left when Gingrich gunned a 6-yard TD pass to Daniel Boone’s Max Heffner.
The Berks/Lebanon stars failed to recover the ensuring onside kick. They had one last chance to get a third-down stop in the final minute but Howse, the magic man who took the Pioneers all the way to the PIAA Class 5A championship game, ended it with a 44-yard touchdown run on third-and-1 with 36 seconds left.
“Everybody did a great job, and they played hard,” Brett Myers said of his squad. “You can tell they like to compete. I guess we weren’t as out-manned as everybody thought.”
The Berks/Lebanon players left the field with heads held high after a strong effort against a Lancaster roster that boasted eight All-State players.
“You want to play against the best; you always want good competition,” said Redding, who’s committed to play at East Stroudsburg. “To play here with Gingrich and Myers, everybody on our team, some guys I’m gonna end up playing against in the next couple years, that’s really exciting for me. Obviously the other team came out and performed really well.”
Reiniger, who will attend East Carolina to major in exercise physiology, enjoyed his final football game.
“It was amazing,” he said. “I played at Wilson my whole life. Playing with new kids it’s a dream come true. Genuine, I loved playing with him. Aris Drake from Twin Valley: loved playing with him. They’re great dudes and great athletes.
“It was a great game. Sadly we came out on the bottom but I had a great time. It was great playing football one more time.”
(Logan Gehman/Whitespot Photography)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks/Lebanon | 10 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 39 |
| Lancaster | 0 | 14 | 14 | 21 | 49 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Berks/Lebanon | Derek Reiniger, 1 run (Alex Malone kick) | 8:37 |
| 1 | Berks/Lebanon | FG, Alex Malone 20 | 0:26 |
| 2 | Berks/Lebanon | Derek Reiniger, 1 run (Alex Malone kick) | 6:23 |
| 2 | Lancaster | Caileb Howse, 6 run (John Morales kick) | 2:02 |
| 2 | Lancaster | Dominic Brown, 79 pass from Caileb Howse (John Morales kick) | 1:28 |
| 3 | Lancaster | DeAndre Jones, 80 pass from Carson Weisser (John Morales kick) | 11:27 |
| 3 | Berks/Lebanon | Carter Redding, 64 pass from Donovan Gingrich (Alex Malone kick) | 10:30 |
| 3 | Lancaster | Dominic Brown, 9 run (John Morales kick) | 6:21 |
| 4 | Lancaster | DeAndre Jones, 31 pass from Carson Weisser (John Morales kick) | 9:16 |
| 4 | Berks/Lebanon | Genuine Stutzman, 16 pass from Donovan Gingrich (Max Heffner pass from Donovan Gingrich) | 7:40 |
| 4 | Lancaster | Brayden Charles, 21 pass from Caileb Howse (John Morales kick) | 7:16 |
| 4 | Berks/Lebanon | Max Heffner, 6 pass from Donovan Gingrich (Alex Malone kick) | 1:37 |
| 4 | Lancaster | Caileb Howse, 44 run (John Morales kick) | 0:36 |
Team statistics
| Berks/Lebanon | Lancaster | |
| First downs | 19 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 18-86 | 26-244 |
| Passing yards | 361 | 285 |
| Total yards | 447 | 529 |
| Passes | 18-31-1 | 10-17-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 1-42.0 | 1-35.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 6-30 | 8-85 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Berks/Lebanon: Evan Johnson 3-26, Justin Kaplan 5-22, Bryce Gumby 1-16, Logan Nawrocki 1-7, Donovan Gingrich 1-6, Kai Rivera 3-5, Derek Reiniger 4-4.
Lancaster: Dominic Brown 8-98, Declan Clancy 13-87, Caileb Howse 5-59.
PASSING
Berks/Lebanon: Evan Myers 7-8-0–156, Donovan Gingrich 10-16-0–208, Logan Nawrocki 1-6-1–(-3), Team 0-1-0–0.
Lancaster: Carson Weisser 6-10-0–145, Caileb Howse 4-7-1–140.
RECEIVING
Berks/Lebanon: Carter Redding 6-170, Genuine Stutzman 5-81, Bryce Gumby 3-61, Evan Rittle 1-27, Kai Rivera 1-12, Max Heffner 1-6, Logan Nawrocki 1-4.
Lancaster: DeAndre Jones 5-146, Lex Haberbosch 3-39, Dominic Brown 1-79, Brayden Charles 1-12.
INTERCEPTIONS
Berks/Lebanon: Cooper Hohenadel.
Lancaster: Quinn Care.
