A couple of thoughts . . . about Week 9

By Mike Drago Last updated Oct 20, 2025

Raise your hand if you had Muhlenberg playing for a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 title in the final week of the season. . . not many hands raised, are there? But here they are: The Muhls are home to play Conestoga Valley in the final week of the season. No doubt, the Muhls will be a serious underdog against the unbeaten Buckskins but if they win they’ll earn a share of the title with the Bucks and possibly Exeter, which finishes at home against Elizabethtown. In case you were wondering, the Muhls haven’t won or shared a league championship since 2005. Before this season they were 3-15 in league play since joining the L-L.

Only James Franklin and Orion Kerkering have had a worse October stretch than the Exeter Eagles. Just two weeks ago Exeter was unbeaten, ranked No. 5 in the state, and coming off a dominant win over an unbeaten Muhlenberg team. In the space of eight days the Eagles were blindsided by Hempfield 30-28 when their late two-point conversion bid was stopped, then beaten by Conestoga Valley 21-17 when the Bucks recovered an onside kick and went in for the go-ahead touchdown with 51 seconds left. Conestoga Valley scored two touchdowns in the final 2:49.

Exeter scored a 42-12 win over Muhlenberg in Week 7. That seems like so long ago. Right now the Eagles are looking up at the Muhls in the District 3 Class 5A power ratings, where Muhlenberg is ranked No. 7 and Exeter is No. 8. The Eagles (7-2) can secure a first-round home game by beating Elizabethtown (5-4) Friday at Don Thomas Stadium. The Muhls (8-1) will mostly likely need a win over Conestoga Valley (9-0) to get a home opener in districts. Even with a win its unlikely they’ll move up high enough to get a first-round bye.

Defensive players don’t score often. To do it twice in the same game? Extremely rare. Wilson sophomore Matt Wyatt pulled it off Friday against McCaskey. The inside linebacker returned an interception 25 yards for a TD in the first quarter and took a fumble 36 yards to the house in the second quarter. The Bulldogs had a third defensive score: Junior end Michael Glover returned a fumble 26 yards. Ball protection is not a strength for the Red Tornado.

The Bulldogs had another rarity in that 56-0 win over McCaskey: Four different quarterbacks completed a pass. When’s the last time you saw that? Senior Mason Young, junior Cole Peterson, sophomore Johnny Challenger, and sophomore Sammy Dianna combined to complete 9-of-11 throws.

Another rarity: A player running for three two-point conversions in the same game. Cameron Small did that Friday in Muhlenberg’s 42-37 comeback over Academy Park. When the Muhls saw their first PAT blocked, then found themselves trailing they started going for two; Small converted 3-of-5 chances. He’s run for five conversions this season.

Exeter’s Leo Brown is on the way to a 2,000-yard season – and maybe a lot more. Maybe a Berks single-season record season. After going for 332 yards Friday against unbeaten Conestoga Valley he’s rushed for a league-leading 1,747 yards. He’s had three straight games of 250 or more yards, with 858 yards in that stretch. He’s had four games of 200-plus yards. If the Eagles get on a roll in districts and Brown gets enough chances he could challenge David Gilmore’s Berks County record of 2,403 yards. That mark has been on the books for 42 years.

The much-anticipated match-up between Twin Valley and Lampeter-Strasburg was a major letdown. The Pioneers were missing several key players, including quarterback Asher Jones and defensive lineman Nolan McQueen, and were no match for the Raiders. How much that mattered, and what might happen should these teams meet again in districts, is hard to say. Still, just like the week before, against Wyomissing, it was clear that the Raiders were the more powerful team. Twin Valley had the best of it up front, which is the strength of this Lampeter-Strasburg team.

A nod to the Lancaster-Lebanon League schedule-maker from some all-important Week 10 match-ups. In Section 1, Manheim Township and Wilson are unbeaten in league play and ranked 3-4, respectively, in the District 3 Class 6A power rankings; they play Friday at Gurski Stadium. In Section 5, Annville-Cleona (1) and Berks Catholic (2) are the top-ranked teams in Class 3A and unbeaten in league play; they meet Friday at Forino Sports Complex.

Twin Valley (9-0) needs only a win over Daniel Boone (1-8) Friday to lock down the Section 4 title. It’ll be the Raiders’ second section title since joining the Lancaster-Lebanon League in 2022 and the third in their history. They also won a Berks League Section 2 title in 2007. Two years ago they shared the Section 3 title with Garden Spot and Ephrata.

Say one thing about Muhlenberg’s Cameron Small: He’s consistent. Through nine games as a junior Small had 1,552 yards on 195 carries. As a senior he’s had 1,547 yards on 198 carries. Remarkable.

A win Friday will give Twin Valley its first perfect regular season. Its best finish to date came in 2023 when it won its first seven games and finished 9-1 in the regular season, and 10-2 overall.

Kutztown is on the verge of Berks football history. If Ryan Walters rushes for 155 or more yards Friday against Pequea Valley the Cougars could end up with three 1,000-yard rushers. No Berks team has ever done that. Mason Sherry has 1,215 yards. Ian Bahr is at 993. Those three combined for 504 yards Friday – and the Cougars still lost to Columbia, 40-35. Kutztown averages 358 rushing yards per game, second-most in the league.

Governor Mifflin vs. Conrad Weiser in the postseason? Could happen. If the Mustangs don’t beat Ephrata Friday and miss the district playoffs they’ll have a good shot at an Eastern Conference berth. If Conrad Weiser (4-5) can win at Unionville (5-4) it could claim an EC Class 6A/5A championship-game spot opposite the Mustangs.

Hamburg remains alive for an Eastern Conference berth but will need a win at Columbia and some other things to fall into place.

No matter what happens this week Hamburg (2-7) will finish with a losing record for the first time in five seasons. The Hawks have enjoyed an unprecedented run of success, stringing together four straight winning seasons from 2021-24 for the first time in program history. It never had more than two in a row before this run.

Schuylkill Valley’s streak of three straight winning seasons – second-longest in program history – is in jeopardy. The Panthers (5-4) can clinch a winning season with a victory Friday at Lancaster Catholic. They’ll likely make the District 3 Class 3A field win or loss but if they go into districts at 5-5 they would need to reach the championship game to clinch a winning record.