Season Preview: Wyomissing Spartans
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Classification: Class 3A.
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 4.
Schedule: Click here.
Last season: 7-0 league, 13-1 overall.
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2022.
Head coach: Bob Wolfrum, 37th season, 350-87-1.
Key losses: Berks Offensive Lineman of the Year Jven Williams, Linebacker of the Year Matt Kramer, two-way all-league T Pacen Ziegler, all-league S Drew Eisenhower, all-league CB Charlie McIntyre, all-league G John Gartner, QB Ben Zechman, PK/P Ian Levering.
Top offensive players: QB Logan Hyde, HB Drew Forrey, FB Chase Eisenhower, FB Collin Niedrowski, HB Ryker Jones, TE Evan Blickley, all-league SE Ethan Brower, SE Justice Hardy, SE Jake Neff, C Birkley Ziegler, G Tom Weller, G CJ Eberhart, all-league T Caleb Brewer, T Max Tipton.
Top defensive players: E Max Tipton, E Keaton Piacine, all-league NG Caleb Brewer, T Jordan Gwyn, T Birkley Ziegler, all-league LB Ryker Jones, LB Chase Eisenhower, LB Collin Niedrowski, LB Drew Forrey, S Derek Marcina, S Ethan Brower, CB Jake Neff, CB Marvin Armistead (transfer from Berks Catholic).
Did you know? The Spartans have recorded four consecutive perfect regular seasons and enter the season with a 35-game regular-season winning streak, longest in Berks history. The previous record was 30, by Wilson.
For the record: No player has had 30 carries in a game or attempted 30 passes during Bob Wolfrum’s 36 seasons as head coach. No player has rushed for over 250 yards in a game in over 20 years. And none has scored more than five touchdowns in a game.
Quotable: “When it comes to who gets 1,000 yards and all that, we don’t have much of that because we’re rotating our backs so much; we’re not featuring any one back. Our kids buy into that. I’m sure there’s a mom or dad that would like to see (their kid with) 1,000 yards, but our kids . . . they’re fine (with it). If you’re worried about your yardage you’re in the wrong place.” — Spartans coach Bob Wolfrum.
Outlook: The Spartans graduated seven All-State players from their 2020 state finalist and won 15 games the next season. They graduated six All-State picks from their 2021 state finalist . . . and won their first 13 games last year.
They saw 11 all-league players – four of them All-State picks — walk across the stage at graduation in the spring. Can’t be much left now, can there?
“If people expect us to go downhill,” legendary coach Bob Wolfrum said matter-of-factly, “I don’t think they’re gonna see that.”
Nothing of the sort. What they’ll see is more big linemen, more strong backs, more fundamentally sound defensive play . . . and more wins. A lot more. This team might not be as good as last year’s, or the year before, or the year before that, but they’ll be surprisingly good. Or maybe not so surprisingly, considering the state of the program.
“Our kids look at it (like): Now it’s their turn,” Wolfrum said. “They’re not going to take it easy, because they don’t want to see anything go downhill. They know how much work it takes (to be successful). I can tell you just by how (much) they work, we’ve got a good chance of being very good.”
They’ll likely open the season without their best player, senior RB/LB Ryker Jones, who blew out his knee in the state semifinal loss to Neumann-Goretti, but it won’t matter much because they’re so deep and so talented elsewhere.
They won’t have a gigantic line like last season now that Jven Williams is off at Penn State and Pacen Ziegler is playing at Sacred Heart. But they’ll still be big. Caleb Brewer, yet another Penn State recruit, moves back to T after earning all-league honors at TE; he goes 6-5, 285. The other tackle, Max Tipton, is 6-2, 290. The front five will average 6-3, 232.
The guys they’re blocking for are special, even if none were starters last season. They’ve gotten plenty of game reps because Wolfrum and RB coach Frank Ferrandino rotate their backs so often, and because Wyo had most games wrapped up by halftime last year and pulled its starters.
Chase Eisenhower made a huge impact as a freshman, rare at Wyo. He’s a force on both sides of the ball and will split the FB spot with Collin Niedrowski, another top athlete who got little pub last season. Drew Forrey, who started last year at LB, is another senior ready to break out now that he’ll finally get his hands on the ball.
“People are going to be shocked by him,” Wolfrum said of Forrey, “(as a runner) and as a pass receiver.”
Logan Hyde takes over at QB. He played well as a starting DB last season. He’s another all-around athlete who will give Wyomissing a running dimension at quarterback, something they haven’t had in a while.
The Spartans had the No. 1 defense in the entire 37-team league last year. That could again be the stronger side of the ball for them. They return five starters, among them four of their top five tacklers (Jones, Forrey, Niedrowski and Eisenhower), Brewer and Derek Macrina, a junior and first-time starter expected to make an impact at S.
Justice Hardy, who might be the best athlete on the team, and among the best freshmen in the league, will have to bide his time. It’s unlikely he’ll find his way into the starting lineup, at least not early in the season, but he could make an impact as a defensive back, receiver and/or in special teams.
Wolfrum’s squad is so deep he can afford to ease in Hardy, just as he has with his other top players. Remember, Williams didn’t start until his junior season.
“You’ve gotta wait your turn,” Wolfrum reminded.
That formula has worked to the tune of a 49-4 record over the last four seasons and it’ll work again.
At the wire: Even with just seven starters returning the Spartans are still out in front, ahead of Cocalico, Lampeter-Strasburg and their District 3 competition. A fifth straight district title is in the offing.
