Saints run out of time in comeback bid against Golden Hawks
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Berks Catholic almost made Bethlehem Catholic pay dearly for taking its foot off the gas too early.
| Final | |
| Bethlehem Catholic | 48 |
| Berks Catholic | 41 |
Despite scoring 21 straight points in the fourth quarter, the Saints came up short 48-41 Friday night in a non-league game at the Forino Sports Complex.
The Saints (1-2) trailed 48-20 when Justin Martinez scored his third touchdown for the Golden Hawks (3-0) with 9:52 remaining Becca head coach Joe Bernard must have felt the game was out of reach and pulled his starters.
Johnny Sauppee, who started the second half due to an injury to Cole Harter, scored on a quarterback sneak with 1:22 left to make it 48-41. That forced Bernard to reinsert his superb quarterback Cayden Vassa, Martinez and the rest of the starters for the final series. Martinez ran for 14 of his 160 yards on the drive to allow Becca to run out the clock.
“I think we’re learning that we have to compete from the opening whistle,” Berks Catholic coach Dave Stahler said.
The players in Black and Gold never gave up and got a quick jolt of energy after going down four touchdowns in the fourth quarter as Xaiver Gerald scored a second long touchdown — 96 yards untouched. It was part of a 215-yard night for Gerald on only seven carries.
“I think both of those long runs, he was untouched,” Stahler said. “That’s Eric Bennethum and Palmer Reber and the rest of those guys (on the offensive line) doing a great job. I’m proud of the effort for sure.”
The Golden Knights did not gain a first down on any of their three drives with the backup offense in and Cayden Vassa on the bench. Vassa threw for 224 yards on 10-for-12 passing and ran for 59 yards on eight attempts. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for a pair as well. His main target was younger brother Carter, who had five catches for 119 yards and a touchdown.
“(The Vassa brothers) are both very good football players and they’re well-coached,” Stahler said. “That’s a good football team.”
Aidan Curley scored with 5:08 left to make it a 14-point deficit. Curley was second on the team in rushing with 81 yards as the Saints rolled up an unholy 436 yards.
Sauppee provided a spark for the Saints on the first drive of the second half when he fired a dart to Owen Schalk on fourth-and-goal for an 8-yard touchdown. The senior quarterback and linebacker was full of emotion after the score and gestured towards his sideline.
“I was told (at halftime) I’m going in (at quarterback),” Sauppee said. “That’s when I went to every single lineman and every single skill position player and said: ‘Hey, let’s go we are still in this game.’ So that’s just got to be the mentality for us. We’re not going to go away.”
Berks Catholic kicker Alexander Reali had a huge game for the Saints. He opened the scoring with a 42-yard field goal and finished the half with a 44-yarder. The field goal came right as the buzzer sounded thanks to an incredible fire drill by the Saints. They were able to get the field goal unit on the field and make the kick all with a running clock and in less than 15 seconds.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Bethlehem Catholic | 14 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 48 |
| Berks Catholic | 3 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 41 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Reali, 42 FG | 6:46 |
| 1 | Bethlehem Catholic | Martinez, 8 run (Geiger kick) | 3:46 |
| 1 | Bethlehem Catholic | Cay. Vassa, 1 run (Geiger kick) | 1:30 |
| 2 | Bethlehem Catholic | Brodie, 4 pass from Cay. Vassa (Geiger kick) | 7:48 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Gerald, 74 run (Reali kick) | 6:38 |
| 2 | Bethlehem Catholic | Martinez, 12 run (Geiger kick) | 4:50 |
| 2 | Bethlehem Catholic | Cay. Vassa, 13 run (kick failed) | 2:21 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Reali, 44 FG | 0:00 |
| 3 | Bethlehem Catholic | Car. Vassa, 7 pass from Cay. Vassa (Geiger kick) | 9:36 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Schalk, 8 pass from Sauppee (Reali kick) | 2:50 |
| 4 | Bethlehem Catholic | Martinez, 3 run (Santamaria kick) | 9:52 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Gerald, 96 run (Reali kick) | 9:35 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Curley, 4 run (Reali kick) | 5:08 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Sauppee, 1 run (Reali kick) | 1:22 |
Team statistics
| BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC | BERKS CATHOLIC | |
| First downs | 18 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 39-223 | 48-436 |
| Passing yards | 227 | 19 |
| Total yards | 450 | 455 |
| Passes | 11-13-0 | 2-8-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 2-16.50 | 2-34 |
| Penalties-yards | 5-40 | 6-35 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Bethlehem Catholic: Martinez 20-160, Cay. Vassa 8-59, Rodriguez 1-5, Gomez 1-4, Lewis 2-3, Car. Vassa 2-(-3), Salamoni 2-(-3), Team 3-(-12).
Berks Catholic: Gerald 7-215, Curley 16-81, Schalk 6-66, Koller 10-39, Sauppee 5-21, Burkman 3-13, Harter 1-1.
PASSING
Bethlehem Catholic: Cay. Vassa 10-12-0—224, Lewis 1-1-0—3.
Berks Catholic: Harter 1-3-0—11, Sauppee 1-5-1—8.
RECEIVING
Bethlehem Catholic: Car. Vassa 5-119, Brodie 3-51, Burkhart 1-32, Oberholzer 1-22, Lebron 1-3.
Berks Catholic: Schalk 2-19.
INTERCEPTIONS
Bethlehem Catholic: Lewis.
