Rough fourth quarter dooms Kutztown in loss to Columbia
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Andrew Clauser — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
It was supposed to be a season-defining win and potential record-breaking night for Kutztown. Instead, a nightmarish fourth quarter led to a heartbreaking 40-35 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 loss to visiting Columbia on Senior Night.
| Final | |
| Columbia | 40 |
| Kutztown | 35 |
Kutztown (0-6, 1-8) owned the first half, rushing for 369 yards and amassing 16 first downs. Columbia’s offense was rarely on the field. It was a recipe for a victory.
Sophomore running back Ryan Walters, who began the night 309 yards away from 1,000 yards, made his case in the first quarter with 95 yards rushing and two touchdowns, one of which a 74-yard scamper to tie the game.
On the next possession he put the Cougars in the lead with an 11-yard score. Walters rushed for 140 yards in the first half alone but only 14 in the second half.
While keeping tabs on Ian Bahr and Walters, senior running back Mason Sherry, who eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark last week, racked up 145 yards rushing and scored on two hard-nosed touchdown runs of his own in the first half.
It was starting to look like more of the same in the second half when Bahr gave the Cougars a 15-point lead, taking a pitch in from 11 yards out.
Then things went south for the Cougars.
Bahr fumbled the ball away after a 16-yard first-down run. On Columbia’s ensuing drive Kutztown got hit with a roughing the passer penalty on a third down, which led to a 24-yard touchdown run by do-it-all quarterback Cameron McClair, cutting the Cougars lead to 9 early in the fourth quarter.
A subsequent four-and-out on Kutztown’s next possession and a personal foul and ejection on a Cougars player during the punt gave the Crimson Tide the ball at midfield with 8:43 left. On the next play McClair delivered a 48-yard touchdown pass to running back Kareem Nichols, cutting the lead to one with 8:30 remaining.
All of a sudden the ground game stopped working for the Cougars until Sherry ripped off a 23-yard run on a third-and-long. However, two more penalties backed them up, again forcing a turnover on downs.
With Columbia on its own 44 and 3:11 left, the Tide once again went to its star, Nichols. This time it was the dagger — a 25-yard TD reception from McClair giving the Tide a 40-35 lead.
Columbia’s defense rose to the occasion after that to shut down the comeback attempt with a strip sack on quarterback Wyatt Stoess.
Game overview
Kutztown’s running backs combined for 504 yards. Bahr needed 142 yards to reach 1,000 for the season but fell short by 7 yards. He should eclipse that next week against Pequea Valley. Ryan Walters will need 155 yards next week to reach 1,000.
Along with Mason Sherry (1,215 yards), Kutztown is likely to have two running backs reach 1,000 yards for the first time in school history. Kutztown has produced eight 1,000-yard rushers in its history but never two in the same season. That’s somewhat of a rare feat. If Walters reaches 1,000 next week Kutztown will be the first Berks County school to have three 1,000-yard rushers in a season.
Key statistic
Kutztown had nearly twice the time of possession, rushing yards, and first downs as Columbia.
Key play
With 1:47 left in the game and down 35-34, Columbia quarterback Cameron McClair connected with Kareem Nichols on a 25-yard TD reception.
Stars of the game
Kutztown senior running back Mason Sherry led all rushers with 215 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns. Columbia running back Kareem Nichols had 213 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns.
Quotable
“This past week in practice we worked hard on communication and it showed in the first half. However, in the second half I felt that we got tired and started to get scared of letting it slip away and we lost focus as a result.” — Kutztown running back Mason Sherry
Quotable
“The yardage and records don’t matter if you can’t protect the football. It doesn’t matter how good you rush the ball. If you can’t protect the football you won’t win games. Bottom line.” — Kutztown coach Larry Chester
Up next
Kutztown wraps up its season Friday at Pequea Valley. Columbia finishes its season at home against Hamburg.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Columbia | 14 | 6 | 0 | 20 | 40 |
| Kutztown | 14 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Columbia | Nichols, 52 run (McClair kick) | 11:42 |
| 1 | Kutztown | Walters, 74 run (Moriarty kick) | 10:42 |
| 1 | Kutztown | Walters, 11 run (Moriarty kick) | 2:21 |
| 1 | Columbia | McClair, 6 run (McClair kick) | 0:42 |
| 2 | Kutztown | Sherry, 9 run (Moriarty kick) | 8:16 |
| 2 | Columbia | Brommer, 3 run (kick failed) | 3:54 |
| 2 | Kutztown | Sherry, 14 run (Moriarty kick) | 0:0.7 |
| 3 | Kutztown | Bahr, 10 run (Moriarty kick) | 6:03 |
| 4 | Columbia | McClair, 24 run (kick blocked) | 11:03 |
| 4 | Columbia | Nichols, 48 pass from McClair (McClair run) | 8:37 |
| 4 | Columbia | Nichols, 25 pass from McClair (run failed) | 1:47 |
Team statistics
| COLUMBIA | KUTZTOWN | |
| First downs | 10 | 21 |
| Rushes-yards | 22-233 | 61-511 |
| Passing yards | 168 | 0 |
| Total yards | 401 | 511 |
| Passes | 7-11-0 | 0-1-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 3-2 |
| Punts-average | 0-0 | 2-22 |
| Penalties-yards | 4-35 | 6-60 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Columbia: Nichols 5-103, McClair 7-85, Marley 2-35, Brommer 6-15, Ocasio 2-(-5).
Kutztown: Sherry 17-215, Walters 19-154, Bahr 20-135, Stoess 5-7.
PASSING
Columbia: McClair 7-11-0–168.
Kutztown: Stoess 0-1-0—0.
RECEIVING
Columbia: Nichols 3-110, Morris 1-30, Marley 1-14, Stallworth 1-10, Ocasio 1-4.
