All-State linebacker adapts quickly to help East hold on for Small School win
2026 Berks football coverage presented by
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MECHANICSBURG — Logan Cammauf became the leading tackler in the history of Schuylkill Valley football as an inside linebacker, playing in the box, banging against linemen 40 to 50 pounds bigger, stuffing down the running game.
His final high school game provided an entirely different experience. Playing outside linebacker in the PSFCA Small School East/West game Sunday meant he was essentially a big cornerback, dropping back into coverage on nearly every play.
“I was a little bit nervous coming into this,” admitted the two-time All-State pick and the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 Linebacker of the Year.
Those nerves weren’t silenced until the final play of the game when the 6-1 Cammauf leapt to knock down a pass at the 10-yard line, preserving the East’s 19-14 victory at Chapman Field.
“I did what I had to do,” Cammauf said. “I made a play.”
Top players are often pressed into unusual situations when it comes to All-Star games, where the rosters are limited, as is the practice time.
Cammauf, who will play at Millersville University in the coming months, rose to the occasion, as you expect top players to do.
The East took the lead for good when Lancaster Catholic’s Brandon Way, another All-State pick out of Section 5, broke off a 19-yard scoring run with 31 seconds remaining.
That left the West with 80 yards to cover in that final half-minute, but with Jeff Thompson III – who quarterbacked Clairton to a state championship on this same field a few months ago – behind center it had a chance.
Thompson, who finished with 280 passing yards – more than the East’s total offensive output – completed passes of 16 and 28 yards to South Allegheny’s Drew Cook, giving the West a first down at the East 36 with six seconds remaining.
The next pass went down the middle, with Cammauf drifting over to knock it down and give the East its third win in the six-game series since the PSFCA went to a Small and Big-game format.
“(The thought was) get back to the end zone and don’t let ’em catch it,” Cammauf said of the game’s final play.
He didn’t, ending a tremendous high school career with a memory that will last a lifetime.
Berks Catholic’s Palmer Reber, who played offensive tackle for the East, was equally excited at the end, even though he wasn’t on the field for the game’s final play.
“Man, this game feels better than any other game I’ve ever played in,” said Reber, who helped the Saints beat Annville-Cleona in overtime to capture the Section 5 championship before they advanced to the District 3 Class 3A championship game. “Just to get the win, it feels great.”
“I was a little nervous, too,” said Berks Catholic offensive tackle Anthony Zatorski, “because it’s the best of the best in PA.”
The rosters included the top Class 3A, 2A, and 1A players in the state who weren’t selected for next week’s Big 33 Classic. There was talent at every position, especially at quarterback and receiver, making for a string of big plays.
The East scored on the opening play of the game, getting a 55-yard touchdown bomb from Matt Bodnar II to his Notre Dame-Green Pond teammate, Alex Clark.
The West took a 14-7 lead on a pair of scoring passes, Thompson III finding Cook for a 71-yard bomb early in the second quarter and Brady Jones of Penn Cambria hitting Teek Wooding of Clairton with a 26-yard scoring pass.
Bodnar and Clark connected again on a 35-yard scoring pass with 1:03 left in the opening half but a missed PAT saw the East trail by a point until the final minute.
Bodnar, who finished 8-of-10 for 149 yards, set up the go-ahead score with a short flip to Niko Carestia of Schuylkill Haven, who took it 17 yards to the 19.
“It was great to play with kids of this caliber,” Cammauf said, “I don’t have the words to describe it. It’s something else.”
