District 3 preview: Conrad Weiser vs. Big Spring
District 3 Class 4A first round
Conrad Weiser (7-3) vs. Big Spring (7-3)
Kick: Friday, 7, at Robesonia.
Series: First meeting.
District 3 Class 6A bracket: Click here.
Scouts update: Saw four-game winning streak snapped with 45-7 loss at Wyomissing last week. . . QB Logan Klitsch is Berks’ top-ranked passer, with 2,063 yards, 20 TDs and a 67.2 completion percentage. . . He needs 46 yards to top Mike Oliveto’s record of 2,109 passing yards in a season. . . He needs three TDs to become just the fourth in Berks history with 50 career touchdown passes. . . WR Aanjay Feliciano leads Berks with 55 receptions, 1,076 receiving yards and 12 TD catches. . . He broke a pair of program records last week, with his 55th catch of the season and 94th of his career, erasing records set by Matt Weiser in 2010. . . He previously set season and career records for receiving yards and TD receptions. . . Trey Dianna is averaging nearly 16 yards on his 29 receptions. . . Klitsch leads team with 657 rushing yards. . . Senior OT Cameron Swanson has graded out at 90 percent or better for every game. . . Senior LB Brett Organtini leads team with 141 tackles. . . Ranked No. 2 in Berks in total offense. . . Defense ranked last among 15 Berks teams, allowing 358 yards per game. . . Allowing 29.9 points per game.
Did you know? Conrad Weiser was one of two Berks teams, along with Holy Name, to make the initial District 3 Tournament field in 1982. This is the 40th anniversary of the district playoffs.
Bulldogs update: Former Hamburg coach Joe Sinkovich has turned things around quickly in Newville, with a winning record in his second season and now a return to the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade in his third season. . . This is their first winning season since 2006. . . Pulled off a stunner in Week 9, dumping defending PIAA Class 1A champ Steel-High 49-14. . . Ended season with 7-0 loss at Middletown. . . Other losses came to 5A playoff qualifier Shippensburg and 3A qualifier Boiling Springs. . . QB Ethan Eisenberg is one of 17 starters back from a team than ended 2020 season with three straight wins and a 5-3 record. . . He has passed for 1,370 yards and 19 TDs, with nine INTs, despite averaging just 11 passes per game. . . RB Dillon Wakefield, who averaged over 100 yards per game last season, has done it again, 1,081 yards and 18 TDs; he averages 7.5 yards per carry. . . WR Logan Schmidt averages a whopping 38.8 yards per catch, and has taken half his 14 receptions to the house. . . Schmidt also a threat in the run game where he averages 9.8 yards per carry. . . He has 15 TDs. . . LB Connor Black has team-leading 118 tackles. . . Defense has picked off 13 passes and has 22 takeaways. . . Tied for second in Mid-Penn Capital with Steel-High, two games back of Boiling Springs.
Fast fact: The Scouts were one of just three Berks teams to make the truncated 2020 district playoffs, along with Gov. Mifflin and Wyomissing.
Did you know? Big Spring coach Joe Sinkovich was Hamburg’s coach from 2005-2013 and is the only coach in Hawks program history without a losing record. He went 48-48 and ranks third in all-time wins. In his second season, 2006, the Hawks snapped a 20-year district playoff drought. They returned to districts the next year and to the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2008. His 2011 team finished No. 1 in Berks in total offense and set a program record for points.
Conrad Weiser playoff history: Return to districts for fourth straight season, and open at home for the third time in that stretch. . . Qualified nine straight seasons, from 2007-2015. . . Reached championship game just once, in 1996, losing to Bishop McDevitt. . . 17th appearance. . . Overall: 13-16, including 2-3 since moving up to Class 4A.
Big Spring playoff history: Lone appearance came in 2010, a 41-13 loss to Lampeter-Strasburg.
Winner gets: No. 2 Lampeter-Strasburg (9-1), Nov. 12 at Strasburg. Pioneers earned first-round bye.