Trey Freeman catches all-time Berks mark but Twin Valley falls short at Gettysburg
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
GETTYSBURG — The way Trey Freeman sees it, the all-time Berks receiving record he set in Twin Valley’s season finale Saturday night is a team record, not a personal one.
“I wouldn’t have been able to get this done without the line, without Dom (Caruso), without (quarterback) Evan Myers,” the senior wide receiver said following a 31-28 loss to Gettysburg in which he eclipsed the 20-year-old record set by Wyomissing’s Nolan McCready. “They’re all my family.
“People are always like: ‘How does it feel for you to break the record?’ I broke the record with the team. It was a ‘we’ thing.”
Freeman had six receptions for 124 yards, including a a 21-yard touchdown over two defenders that pulled the Raiders within three with 1:21 left in the game. He entered needing 18 yards to break McCready’s record.
After Freeman’s score Twin Valley tried an onside kick but the Warriors (7-3) recovered and ran out the clock. They gained a first down, then took a knee twice to end it.
The Warriors will go into the District 3 Class 5A playoffs as the No. 9 seed, moving up two spots with the win.
The Raiders (6-4) dropped three spots and go into their first district tournament as the No. 13 seed. They’ll play at Spring Grove Friday.
“We played another district-qualifying team tonight,” said first-year Twin Valley head coach Kris Olsen, whose team owns wins over district qualifiers Daniel Boone and Conrad Weiser. “We cut out a few mistakes and it’s a different ballgame.
“I think we proved we can hang with anyone. That’s where I think you need to take a few positives from a loss. Our kids never quit.”
The Raiders trailed 9-0 in the first quarter, then played catchup, trading scores the rest of the way. Freeman, Caruso and Myers pushed the Warriors throughout.
Myers passed for a season-high 227 yards and two touchdowns. Caruso had 124 all-purpose yards and a 10-yard touchdown run. Freeman had his fifth 100-yard game of the season.
Freeman has played on varsity since he was a freshman and has caught passes from three different starting quarterbacks. His freshman and sophomore years he played with Zach Gardner; last year he played with Ryan Scheivert; this season it’s Myers, a freshman.
His production has increased steadily each season, his receiving totals rising from 293 yards to 347 to 506 yards. This season he has 51 receptions for 1,071 yards, both program records. He topped Nick Kurtz’s record for catches, which had been 46, with his second catch Saturday.
Freeman owns every receiving mark in the Twin Valley record book. The big one, though, is the Berks career mark for receiving yards, which now stands at 2,217. McCready set it at 2,110.
“He’s a kid that started as a freshman because he was the best we had,” said Olsen, an assistant coach when Freeman arrived. “He’s gotten better each year. He’s worked his tail off to the point where he can make an incredible play in the back of the end zone when the team is relying on it. We depend on him. It’s good that he will finally get some recognition.”
That incredible play Olsen mentioned was the jump-ball in the back of the end zone; Freeman grabbed the ball over two defenders for that late TD.
“I don’t know how I caught it,” Freeman said. “I ran a wheel route and Evan made a perfect pass. I just jumped up and came down with it.”
The catalyst for the Warriors was running back Landon McGee who rushed for 184 yards, including carries of 46, 41 and 30. He eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season, putting his total at 1,138. Gettysburg rushed for 310 yards.
The Warriors also got three huge plays from Andrew Gastley, who scored on a 72-yard kickoff return in the second quarter and a 62-yard pass in the third. He also recovered a fumble.
Despite the loss the Raiders remain upbeat. They finished with a winning record for just the third time in the program’s 26-year history. A win next week will match the program record for wins in a season.
“First time we’re going to the playoffs,” Freeman said. “I love this team. All of them are my brothers. Our goal is to win the first playoff game in program history.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Twin Valley | 0 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 28 |
| Gettysburg | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Gettysburg | Gondwe, 33 FG | 9:11 |
| 1 | Gettysburg | Heiser, 21 run (Gondwe kick blocked) | 2:02 |
| 2 | Twin Valley | Caruso, 10 run (Puccino kick) | 11:44 |
| 2 | Gettysburg | Gastley, 72 kickoff return (Heiser run) | 11:29 |
| 3 | Twin Valley | Myers, 4 run (Puccino kick failed) | 4:49 |
| 3 | Gettysburg | Gastley, 62 pass from Heiser (Gondwe kick) | 3:39 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Ameisen, 31 pass from Myers (Kozan pass from Myers) | 8:48 |
| 4 | Gettysburg | Heiser, 11 run (Gondwe kick) | 2:56 |
| 4 | Twin Valley | Freeman, 21 pass from Myers (Puccino kick) | 1:21 |
Team statistics
| Twin Valley | Gettysburg | |
| First downs | 14 | 14 |
| Rushes-yards | 31-102 | 50-310 |
| Passing yards | 227 | 115 |
| Total yards | 329 | 425 |
| Passes | 13-29-0 | 5-9-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-1 | 2-0 |
| Punts-average | 4-48.5 | 2-32.5 |
| Penalties-yards | 8-73 | 12-109 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Twin Valley: Caruso 20-90, Harris 6-11, Johnson 2-8, Myers 3-(-7).
Gettysburg: McGee 23-184, Heiser 8-43, Furman 5-33, Neikirk 5-22, Johnson 6-20, Scott 2-5, Newman 1-3.
PASSING
Twin Valley: Myers 13-29-0–227.
Gettysburg: Heiser 5-9-1–115.
RECEIVING
Twin Valley: Freeman 6-124, Caruso 4-34, Ameisen 1-31, Kozan 1-21, Olsen 1-17.
Gettysburg: Gastley 3-94, Boone 1-18, Scott 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS
Twin Valley: Johnson.