A couple of thoughts . . . from Week 6

By Mike Drago Last updated Oct 9, 2025

The door is now wide open for Berks Catholic to end up as the No. 1 seed for the District 3 Class 4A playoffs. After tearing through Schuylkill Valley 55-19 Friday night the Saints are 4-2, remain unbeaten in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 play, and are ranked No. 3 in the district power ratings. Directly ahead is Annville-Cleona, which BC plays at home in its regular season finale; that will be for the section title. The top-ranked team is Big Spring (5-1) but the Bulldogs – coached by former Hamburg coach Joe Sinkovich – have a rough schedule ahead. They finish with four Class 4A schools: West Perry (5-1), Susquehanna Township (6-0), Middletown (3-3), and East Pennsboro (4-2). Big Spring could lose a couple of those. The Saints, meanwhile, will be favored in each of their remaining games and, in most cases, favored heavily. They’ve clearly got the best lines in Section 5 and a stable of backs capable of making big plays. If they win out they’ll be looking at a first-round bye in districts and a semifinal home game.

Twin Valley’s scoring rampage continues. The Raiders dropped 67 on Northern Lebanon Friday and are averaging 58.3 points through six games, the highest average in the state – by nearly a touchdown. (Clairton is No. 2 at 52.6.) Twin Valley earlier this season became the first Berks team to score 60 or more in three straight games. They’ve reached 60 four times in six games; no other Berks team has hit that figure more than twice in a season. And they’re scoring quickly, too. Twin Valley is averaging 49 points in the first half. It has scored 42 first-half touchdowns and has yielded . . . wait for it . . . one. Fourteen different Raiders have reached the end zone.

Governor Mifflin, with Nick Singleton in the backfield, is the only Berks team to average 50 points for an entire season. Twin Valley could be the second. It gets tougher from here on out, of course, with Wyomissing in Week 7 and Lampeter-Strasburg in Week 8.

Can your most valuable defensive player be a kicker? Not usually, but that was the case for Berks Catholic Friday in its 55-19 win over Schuylkill Valley. Placekicker Alex Reali banged eight consecutive kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks; most went completely through the end zone. Stats show that a high school football team has a low percentage of scoring a touchdown after starting a possession on its own 20. Having a kicker who consistently forces that gives a team a big advantage. Reali has 20 touchbacks in six games. The sophomore may have been a little extra jacked Friday; he played for Schuylkill Valley last season before transferring.

Muhlenberg secured its first 6-0 start in 18 years when it came back to beat Elizabethtown 35-21 Friday, scoring three fourth-quarter TDs. Getting to 7-0 will be tough: The Muhls face Exeter, which is unbeaten and playing at a high level. The teams share first place in Section 2 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, along with Conestoga Valley, which is also unbeaten. Muhlenberg and Exeter haven’t met in a game this big since 1998 when current Muhls head coach Rob Flowers was the quarterback in Muhlenberg’s 28-14 win at Reiffton. Both teams entered that game 7-0. The Muhls last were 7-0 in 2005, when they won their first eight games. They haven’t made a perfect run through the regular season since 1998, when they were 10-0.

There are four winless teams in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. That number will be reduced by at least one this week as Reading and McCaskey renew their century-old rival. Neither the Red Knights nor the Red Tornado have had a lead this season, not even for a minute. Reading’s last victory came against McCaskey, 38-14 last year; it has lost nine straight since. McCaskey has lost 13 straight.

The other winless teams in the L-L: Daniel Boone and Lebanon. The Cedars have lost 47 straight games, a streak very unlikely to end this season. After losing to Elco 44-28 Friday the Blazers’ best hope for a win this season will come in Week 9 against Northern Lebanon. They play Wyomissing Thursday and end the season at Twin Valley. Next week they play at Donegal, which is much improved and figures to give the Blazers fits.

Wyomissing has moved up to No. 1 in the District 3 Class 4A power ratings but the Spartans will have to remain unbeaten to keep that spot. That’ll mean beating Twin Valley (6-0) in Week 8 and Lampeter-Strasburg (5-1) in Week 10. It’s looking like Susquehanna Township, currently No. 3 in the district ratings and No. 9 in the state, will win out. It likely would move up to No. 1 should Wyomissing drop a game and would likely finish ahead of an unbeaten Twin Valley team. The top two finishers earn a first-round bye and second-round home game.

After three straight losses Governor Mifflin’s chances to return to districts are fading. The Mustangs are 2-4 and looking at unbeaten Conestoga Valley this week. They need at least three more wins to be in the picture for one of 10 spots in Class 6A. After the Bucks Mifflin plays Lebanon (0-6), at Elizabethtown (3-3), and vs. Ephrata (4-2).

There are 11 unbeaten teams in District 3 and four call Berks home: Exeter, Muhlenberg, Twin Valley, and Wyomissing. We have never seen four Berks teams start 7-0 in the same season and it won’t happen this year since Exeter and Muhlenberg meet this week. If Twin Valley and Wyomissing win this week it will mark just the fourth time that three Berks teams reached 7-0 in the same season; the last time it happened was 2015.

Wilson wins so often, and often so routinely, that its incredible streak of consecutive winning seasons is taken for granted. The Bulldogs have had a winning record for 49 straight seasons, easily the longest in the state. Things like that don’t happen by chance. Even great programs, such as Manheim Central’s and Cumberland Valley’s, stumble eventually. Ridley put together 54 straight winning seasons, then finished .500 in 2020. A win Friday at Hempfield will clinch Wilson’s 50^th straight winning season, as well as its 62^nd consecutive non-losing season.

Sophomore Ryan Walters tied the Kutztown record for longest score in Friday’s loss to Annville-Cleona when he returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Only one other player in program history can claim a 99-yard scoring play: Calvin Laing. He did it twice, with a kickoff in 2005 against Lower Moreland and a reception in 2004 vs. Bristol.

The five first-year coaches in the Lancaster-Lebanon League are having varying levels of success. Nate Bagley has taken Columbia, which went winless last year, to three wins, including an eye-opening 43-0 knockout of Lancaster Catholic in Week 4. Tom Gallagher has topped last year’s win total at Elizabethtown (two); the Bears are 3-3 and nearly upset unbeaten Muhlenberg Friday. Hamburg is 2-4 under Tyler Hartranft. Penn Manor’s Jordan Clark is 1-5. Todd Mealy is looking for his first win with McCaskey; it could come this week against Reading.