Berks Catholic ends disappointing season with championship performance
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Matt Gaffney — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
After watching Hamburg quarterback Tyler Shuey throw the ball all over the field in the first half Berks Catholic coach Rick Keeley knew his defense needed to make an adjustment to slow down the Hawks.
The Saints moved senior middle linebacker Luke Impellizzeri to defensive end in order to increase pressure on the Lancaster-Lebanon League’s leading passer. It worked.
Berks Catholic limited Shuey to 26 second-half passing yards as it pulled away for a 40-21 win in the Eastern Conference Class 3A championship game at Forino Sports Complex Friday night.
“That quarterback was putting the ball on the money in the first half,” Keeley said of Shuey, who threw for 172 yards and three touchdowns before intermission. “We moved our middle linebacker to defensive end and let him rush.
“(Shuey) didn’t quite have the time in the second half that he had in the first half and Luke did a great job putting pressure on him.”
Hamburg led 21-17 at the half.
“We were hoping to put pressure on the quarterback and Coach thought I was the best player to do that,” said Impellizzeri, a 6-1, 220-pound senior. “We went that way and it worked. That was the clear turning point of the game.”
It’s the second consecutive Eastern Conference crown for the Saints (5-6).
While they are accustomed to playing for district championships, Keeley and his team relished the opportunity to play for a title.
“Whenever you have an opportunity to play for a championship, that’s special,” said Keeley, in his 38th season as a head coach and 12th with the Saints.
“A lot of teams handed in their uniforms last week,” he said, “but we had an opportunity to play for a championship.
“We had a good week of practice. We had everybody healthy. And at the end of the year, to have everybody healthy, that’s big. We came in and we played very well tonight. And so did Hamburg.”
“I’m super-proud of our team,” said Hamburg coach Matt Hoffert. “We started four freshmen tonight because we’ve got guys beat up, so for us to be in a (close) game with these guys, I’m super-proud. We came out here firing and then we kind of died off.”
Despite playing without numerous starters and losing freshman running back Blaise Ernst for the game after one carry, the undermanned Hawks took it to the Saints in the first half with a lethal passing attack as Shuey threw darts all over the field.
The junior quarterback, without his top receiver, injured Ty Werley, connected twice with senior wideout Alex Bentz on scoring throws of 12 and 57 yards and with senior tight end Mason Semmel on a 36-yard strike as the Hawks took a 21-14 second quarter lead.
Shuey ended his junior season with 2,764 yards, second-highest in Berks history, and 25 touchdown passes.
Once the Saints were able to get their vaunted Wing-T running game firing on all cylinders it turned into a completely different ballgame.
Three different Saints backs ran for 100 yards: Connor Pennington (142 yards), Michael Bradley (140 yards) and Devin Garcia (105).
“That’s what the Wing-T does, you spread it around,” Keeley said. “Fullback, wingback, halfback. That’s how this offense works. It’s an old offense and a lot of people don’t like it, but we win with it.”
“They did a great job,” offered Hoffert. “They had their guys prepared. We gave them the best we could, and it didn’t turn our way this week. ”
The senior backfield trio helped the Saints control time of possession as they scored 26 unanswered points.
Pennington and Bradley each scored two touchdowns as they were able to gash the Hamburg defense for multiple big plays while Garcia’s inside power running wore down the Hawks’ interior.
Berks Catholic burned the Hamburg defense multiple times on an inside reverse to Pennington, who had touchdown runs of 31 and 57 yards.
“All you have to do is keep moving your feet and have that end zone in your eyes and run to it,” said Pennington. “I just turn the corner and see a big hole, put the jets on and think let’s get this touchdown.”
The Saints backs were quick to point to their offensive line play and fundamentals for their success.
“Our blocks were really good up front, and we were physical at the line of scrimmage and creating holes almost every play, getting positive yards and it benefitted all of us,” said Bradley.
Berks Catholic got on the board first as it took the opening kickoff and marched 57 yards in eight plays for a 7-0 lead when Pennington took an inside reverse 31 yards for a touchdown on fourth-and-8.
After the teams traded punts, the Hawks got a scoring strike from Shuey to Semmel. The Saints’ defensive backs didn’t stand a chance in bringing down the 6-3, 220-pound Semmel once he got rolling in the open field.
On the Saints next drive, quarterback Will Hess fumbled the snap and the Hawks recovered. Moments later Shuey hit Bentz on a 12-yard scoring pass for a 14-7 lead.
The Hawks were aided by two untimely penalties by the Saints: a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct and then an offsides on fourth-and-1 that gave the Hawks another opportunity. Berks Catholic responded with a 10-play, 74-yard scoring drive capped by its version of the Philadelphia Eagles “Tush Push,” on Hess’ 1-yard run.
Hamburg answered in two plays as Shuey hit Bentz with an absolute bullet on the sideline. Bentz turned up field and outran the defense to the end zone for his second touchdown. It looked like the Hawks were headed for a shootout but it turned out to be their last score.
Hamburg went into intermission with a 21-17 lead, but on the first possession of the second half it went three-and-out; then things went sideways. In a matter of minutes, Hamburg went from being up by four to down by double digits.
The Saints’ Eric Bennethum blocked a punt for a safety to start a big momentum swing. Bryce Gumby returned the ensuing free kick 36 yards, giving the Saints excellent field position at the Hamburg 49. Nine plays later Bradley sprinted around the left side for a 13-yard rushing touchdown.
After the Hawks went three-and-out again it took only two plays for the Saints to score as Pennington took another inside reverse handoff and was off to the races for a 59-yard touchdown and a 33-21 lead. Bradley finished the scoring with his second TD.
The Hawks simply did not have enough manpower to stay with the Saints.
“Our lack of depth caught up to us,” Hoffert said. “We had 30 guys dressed tonight, so it was a rough way to end it but the fight was there to the very end.”
For the Saints’ senior class, it was important to go out on a positive note.
“We knew coming into this game it was our last one together,” said Garcia, “we just wanted to leave everything out on the field so there’s nothing we can look back and say, ‘I wish we would have done more.’ ”
“It’s bittersweet,” Impellizzeri said. “(I’m) sad to leave the team, sad to leave Berks Catholic but happy to go out with a bang and happy we could go out and win that championship. I’m so proud of this team.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 7 | 10 | 16 | 7 | 40 |
| Hamburg | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Pennington, 31 run(Osorio kick) | 7:59 |
| 1 | Hamburg | Semmel, 36 pass from Shuey (Blatt kick) | 29.6 |
| 2 | Hamburg | Bentz, 12 pass from Shuey (Blatt kick) | 8:23 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Hess, 1 run (Osorio kick) | 7:08 |
| 2 | Hamburg | Bentz, 57 pass from Shuey (Blatt kick) | 1:46 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Osorio, 24 FG | 0:00 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Safety, blocked punt in end zone | 10:19 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Bradley, 13 run (Osorio kick) | 5:36 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Pennington, 59 run (Osorio kick) | 3:00 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Bradley, 6 run (Osorio kick) | 9:04 |
Team statistics
| Berks Catholic | Hamburg | |
| First downs | 23 | 18 |
| Rushes-yards | 60-430 | 27-91 |
| Passing yards | 43 | 198 |
| Total yards | 473 | 289 |
| Passes | 6-8-0 | 15-25-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-1 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 2-35.5 | 3-27.3 |
| Penalties-yards | 8-76 | 3-15 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Berks Catholic: Pennington 8-142, Bradley 18-140, Garcia 16-105, Gumby 4-28, Rose 7-13, Suski 1-4, Curley 1-3, Hess 4-(-3), Team 1-(-2).
Hamburg: Oviedo 12-49, Shuey 12-39, Chase 2-3, Ernst 1-0.
PASSING
Berks Catholic: Hess 6-8-0-43.
Hamburg: Shuey 15-25-0-198.
RECEIVING
Berks Catholic: Mace 3-14, Duffy 2-24, Bradley 1-5.
Hamburg: Bentz 5-104, Brady 4-21, Semmel 2-47, Horvath 2-14, Correll 2-12.
