’22 Preview: Berks Catholic Saints
Classification: Class 3A
League: Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4
Schedule: Click here
Last season: 3-2 Berks 1, 7-5 overall
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2021
Head coach: Rick Keeley, 12th season, 108-29 (270-148-3 overall, in 36 seasons).
Key losses: All-League RB & second-team all-league DB Christian Cacchione, all-league LB & second-team all-league FB Luke Hughes, second-team all-league T Jackson Huddleson, second-team all-league DB Trace Brown, DE & second-team all-league P Tyler Givens.
| LL4 | Projected finish |
| 1 | Wyomissing |
| 2 | Lampeter-Strasburg |
| 3 | Berks Catholic |
| 4 | Cocalico |
| 5 | Donegal |
| 6 | Conrad Weiser |
| 7 | Octorara |
| 8 | Elco |
Top offensive players: QB Will Hess, QB Aidan Curley, all-league RB Josiah Jordan, RB Marvin Armistead, RB Bryce Gumby, FB Devin Garcia, TE Joey Polinsky, SE Bryce Gumby, WR Jaxon Geddio, C Ty Barreto, second-team all-league G Owen Reber, G Jackson Haas, T Jacob Collazo, T Luke Bennethum.
Top defensive players: Second-team all-league T Jacob Collazo, T Ty Barreto, DL Jackson Haas, LB Devin Garcia, LB Nafis Blythe, LB/S Aidan Curley, LB Luke Impellizzeri, LB Connor Pennington, all-league CB Josiah Jordan, CB Marvin Armistead, S Jaxon Geddio, S Michael Bradley, S Kevin Olivier, S Max Mace.
Did you know? Berks Catholic has never had a losing record in its 11 seasons and finished with the second-best winning percentage (.864) in Berks Football League (Inter-County League) history.
For the record: Issac Lutz and Trey Dabney each recorded 100-yard interception returns. Lutz’s came in 2013 against Kutzztown. Dabney’s came in 2016 in a district playoff against Lampeter-Strasburg.
On schedule: Berks Catholic and Wyomissing play for the first time since 2019. They’ll meet in Week 4 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League debut for each, Sept. 16 at Forino Sports Complex.
Quotable: “I’m looking forward to competing against other good teams that are our size and not other good teams that are 6A. I was happy with how we played against (those bigger schools) but we just couldn’t get over the hump with those guys. Now we have teams that we match up physically with, so I’m excited to see how we do against them. Playing that really good competition the last two years has made us ready to play the competition we’re gonna see this year.” — Saints coach Rick Keeley
Outlook: The Saints moved to Section 1 of the Berks League a couple years too late. Their powerhouse teams of the mid-2010’s — packed with Division I talent such as Brandon George and Isaac and Cooper Lutz — would’ve contended with Gov. Mifflin’s and Exeter’s best teams of the last few years.
Recent BC teams haven’t been able to get past them, nor other strong programs on their schedule such as Central Dauphin, Malern Prep and McDonough of Baltimore.
With the move to Section 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League the Saints will at least be competing against schools closer to their size (Berks Catholic and Wyomissing are 3A; the other six schools in the section are 4A).
That doesn’t mean things get a whole lot easier, what with past district champs such as Lampeter-Strasburg and Cocalico to deal with, as well as with Wyomissing once again.
The Saints won’t have a Lutz in the backfield but they’ll have Josiah Jordan, a triple-threat who can run and catch with the best of them. He got less than a quarter of the running game touches a year ago but still managed to accumulate more than 1,100 yards from scrimmage and score a team-leading 20 touchdowns. He averaged 8.5 yards per carry and 25.4 yards on a dozen catches out of the backfield; he was a terror on kick returns, too.
Jordan will be the go-to back this season and, with an experienced O-line in front of him, could challenge Cooper Lutz’s program record of 1,525 rushing yards in a season.
The Saints return four of five starters on the offensive line, and new TE Joey Polinsky is getting high marks for his early play. G Owen Reber was slowed early in camp with a hand injury but he’ll be one of the best linemen in the league and will get help from 280-pound Jacob Collazo, who will go both ways after showing the potential to dominate on defense a year ago.
“We’re not the heaviest (line around), but we can move people around,” promised Collazo.
Other than Jordan the rest of the backfield is untested. Junior Will Hess and freshman Aidan Curley were locked in a summer-long battle for the QB job. Devin Garcia had just two carries last year but will get first crack at the coveted FB spot. Marvin Armistead brings speed to the HB position opposite Jordan.
Keep an eye out for FB/LB Nafis Blythe, a transfer from Philadelphia West Catholic who has power/speed potential.
The defense was hit hard by graduation — just three starters return, including Jordan, a ballhawking corner who can score just as quickly from that side of the ball as on offense. Saints coach Rick Keeley says Jordan and Armistead might be the best pair of corners in the league.
The Saints could get a boost from placekicker Andrew Kurtas, a soccer goalie who joined the team for summer drills and has shown a big leg.
At the wire: Like everyone else in Section 4 the Saints will be chasing Wyomissing, which opens the season ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 3A. BC might get two shots at the Spartans this year, the second possibly in a District 3 Class 3A final.
Lancaster-Lebanon League
| Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 | Section 5 |
| Cedar Crest | Conestoga Valley | Daniel Boone | Berks Catholic | Annville-Cleona |
| Hempfield | Exeter | Elizabethtown | Cocalico | Columbia |
| Manheim Twp. | Gov. Mifflin | Ephrata | Conrad Weiser | Hamburg |
| McCaskey | Lebanon | Fleetwood | Donegal | Kutztown |
| Penn Manor | Manheim Central | Garden Spot | Elco | Lancaster Catholic |
| Reading High | Muhlenberg | Solanco | Lampeter-Strasburg | Northern Lebanon |
| Wilson | Warwick | Twin Valley | Octorara | Pequea Valley |
| | | | Wyomissing | Schuylkill Valley |
