Early turnovers doom Kutztown in loss to Lancaster Catholic
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Dave Byrne — LNP/Lancasteronline
LANCASTER — It had been a rough five weeks for the Lancaster Catholic football team, which had won just one of its five games during that stretch.
Thanks to the generosity of Kutztown, the Crusaders rolled to a 49-7 victory Friday in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 game at Crusaders Stadium.
| Final | |
| Lanc. Cath. | 49 |
| Kutztown | 7 |
The Cougars (95, 1-7) fumbled on their first three possessions — turning it over at their 26, 43 and 5 — and the Crusaders (2-3, 4-4) capitalized on each to take a 21-0 lead eight minutes into the game.
Making his first start at home, freshman quarterback Rowan DeMarco completed 9-of-10 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns.
“We had to make sure we capitalized off those big, big, big makes by the defense,” said DeMarco, who opened the scoring with an 11-yard TD run. “I did throw a lot more than I expected. I have a lot of trust in my O-line and all the playmakers on my team.”
The Cougars came in having lost their last three games by a total of 11 points. They also came in rushing for nearly 400 yards a game with Mason Sherry and Ryan Walters each approaching 1,000 yards.
All signs pointed to a long night for the Crusaders’ defense. Lancaster Catholic turned those signs around.
“We stacked the box a lot,” said Colton Hegener, who got the start at middle linebacker. “Our D-line pinched, our linebackers got to the ball, our corners got to the ball. We stripped the ball out. It was great team defense.”
“We just had to tackle everything,” said Crusaders coach Chris Maorino. “They turned the ball over, which certainly helped.”
Trenton Moore had the first fumble recovery, stripping Sherry at the Cougars’ 22. DeMarco passed 11 yards to Ethan Shank and ran it in on the next play.
Hegener recovered Athan Amato’s fumble at the 43. Seven plays later, Brandon Way scored on a 12-yard run.
Roman Clemson pounced on a Cougars fumble at the 5 and Way ran it in on the next play.
Clemson had a key sack of Amato on the next series, Way took the ensuing punt at his 5 and returned it 70 yards to put the Crusaders at the 25.
DeMarco hit Hegener for a TD on the next play.
After Shank dropped Walters for no gain on fourth down, DeMarco and Hegener teamed up again, this time for a 42-yard TD.
| SECTION 5 | League | Overall | PF | PA |
| Ann.-Cleona | 5-0 | 7-1 | 216 | 136 |
| Berks Cath. | 5-0 | 6-2 | 304 | 145 |
| Sch. Valley | 4-1 | 5-3 | 216 | 192 |
| Columbia | 2-3 | 3-5 | 153 | 178 |
| Lanc. Cath. | 2-3 | 4-4 | 214 | 171 |
| Pequea Valley | 1-4 | 3-5 | 101 | 176 |
| Hamburg | 1-4 | 2-6 | 107 | 249 |
| Kutztown | 0-5 | 1-7 | 216 | 286 |
On the next series Walters broke free for a 56-yard gain, Kutztown’s longest of the night, and Sherry capped the possession with a 9-yard TD run.
DeMarco connected with Chris Baumler for a 56-yard catch-and-run TD just before halftime and tossed a two-point conversion pass to ensure the second half would be played under the mercy rule.
Braylin Johnson Poindexter’s 1-yard touchdown run at the start of the second half capped the Crusaders’ scoring
The Crusaders put an exclamation point on the defensive effort on Kutztown’s first possession of the second half.
The Cougars, who finished with 208 yards on the ground, moved smartly down the field, going 59 yards on seven rushes for a first-and-goal at the 6.
They got to the 1 but were denied there twice by the Crusaders, who took over on downs.
“I guess we turned a different switch like we had in the first half,” Hegener said of the goal-line stand.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Kutztown | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Lancaster Catholic | 21 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 49 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Lanc. Catholic | DeMarco, 11 run (Wickenheiser kick) | |
| 1 | Lanc. Catholic | Way, 12 run (Wickenheiser kick) | |
| 1 | Lanc. Catholic | Way, 5 run (Wickenheiser kick) | |
| 2 | Lanc. Catholic | Hegener, 25 pass from DeMarco (Wickenheiser kick) | |
| 2 | Lanc. Catholic | Hegener, 42 pass from DeMarco (Wickenheiser kick) | |
| 2 | Kutztown | Sherry, 9 run (Morarity kick) | |
| 2 | Lanc. Catholic | Baumler, 56 pass from DeMarco (Smith, pass from DeMarco) | |
| 3 | Lanc. Catholic | Poindexter Johnson, 1 run (Wickenheiser kick) |
Team statistics
| KUTZTOWN | LANC. CATHOLIC | |
| First downs | 12 | 12 |
| Rushes-yards | 48-208 | 16-125 |
| Passing yards | 3-19 | 9-166 |
| Total yards | 227 | 391 |
| Passes | 3-3-0 | 9-10-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 4-3 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 1-35 | 1-37 |
| Penalties-yards | 2-6 | 4-25 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Kutztown: Walters 7-81, Sherry 13-63, Bahr 10-38, H. Amato 3-20, Hunsberger 2-15, Schictel 2-4, Renninger 2-(-40, A. Amato 6-(-10).
Lancaster Catholic: Way 8-87, Poindexter 3-28, DeMarco 2-11, De La Rosa 3-(-2).
PASSING
Kutztown: A. Amato 3-3-0–19.
Lancaster Catholic: DeMarco 9-10-0–166.
RECEIVING
Kutztown: Walters 2-7, Arnold 1-15.
Lancaster Catholic: Hegener 5-78, Baumler 2-59, Shank 1-11, Smith 1-8.
