Berks Catholic can’t dig out of early hole, falls to state-ranked Pope John Paul II
ROYERFORD — In its first 12 years Berks Catholic has been one of the most consistently strong football programs in the state. The playoffs became familiar territory for the Saints.
This season they’ve entered unfamiliar territory, falling to 0-3 for the first time with a 49-28 loss to Pope John Paul II Saturday.
On a warm, sun-drenched afternoon the Golden Panthers shined the brightest as they jumped all over the Saints from the opening kickoff. Sophomore quarterback Luke Terlesky carved up Berks Catholic’s defense with a precision passing attack and a tough, complimentary running game led by Boyd Skarbeck powered the offense.
Terlesky used four different receivers to keep the Saints off balanced, connecting on 19-of -26 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns.
Skarbeck gave the Saints fits, as well. He ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns with four catches for 91 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown reception right before the half to put the Golden Panthers up 35-7.
“They called a good game,” said Berks Catholic coach Rick Keeley. “They found the open spots and the quarterback was able to get the ball to those open spots and their receivers caught it.
“And they did a nice job of protecting. They played a very good football game and they played the whole game today and they did all the little things you have to do to win.”
Skarbeck was no surprise to Keeley. He received a scouting report a few years back from an unlikely source. Apparently, Sharon Keeley has an eye for talent, too.
“My wife taught him and she told me back when he was in fourth grade that he was going to be an outstanding football player,” said Keeley.
Skarbeck showed it Saturday with 200 total yards.
While the Golden Panthers were clicking on offense the Saints struggled in the first half, amassing only 131 yards. They had difficulty finding running lanes to get their Wing-T offense on track. Eighty-eight of those first-half yards came on a Devin Garcia run that set up their first touchdown, a 6-yard scamper by Josiah “JayJay” Jordan, his first of three scores.
Skarbeck and Terlesky, who threw for 257 yards in the first half, weren’t the only ones who did damage for PJP. BC’s defense had no answer for junior wide receiver Brent Mitala or senior end Brendan Kenning, either.
Mitata had five receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns while running for 33 yards and another score. Kenning had seven catches for 82 yards.
The Saints scored on their opening drive in the third quarter on a 42-yard touchdown run by Jordan.
Following Skarbeck’s third touchdown BC fought back. After Jordan, who had 105 rushing yards, scored from the 12 the Saints caught a badly needed break when Terlesky mishandled a snap.
Jackson Haas recovered the fumble deep in Golden Panthers territory; three plays later the Saints made it 42-28 on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Will Hess.
Pope John Paul had no interest in letting it get any closer. It responded with an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped by a Terlesky 1-yard touchdown.
“We have to play four quarters and we have to play together,” said Keeley. “Today, it was too little, too late against a really good football team.”
Pope John Paul, ranked No. 10 in the state in Class 4A, improved to 3-0.
“They’re a very good football team and a well-coached football team,” said Keeley. “Coach (Scott) Reed is doing a great job.”
While Reed is appreciative of compliments he’s not particularly interested in hearing how good his team looks in September.
“All those things are nice, but we have a 1-0 mentality,” said Reed. “We know BC is a great football program and have a lot of respect for Coach Keeley and his team.
“But I’m really proud of our team. BC hasn’t given up a lot of points this year so we had to bring out everything and the kitchen sink today. I thought our offensive line did a really nice job helping us keep the ball away from them.”
The Saints’ focus shifts to Friday with the return of the “Backyard Brawl” and a matchup with another state-ranked team, Wyomissing.
“We’ve always been a pretty good team at focusing on the game at hand,” Keeley said. “Next week, we’ll be focused on Wyomissing. Our goal next week is to get better, learn from what we did today and see if we can improve enough to beat the Spartans.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 0 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 28 |
| Pope John Paul II | 14 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 49 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | PJP | Mitala, 50 pass from Terlesky (Bosio kick) | 9:00 |
| 1 | PJP | Skarbeck, 10 run (Bosio kick) | 5:37 |
| 2 | PJP | Mitala, 2 run (Bosio kick) | 11:43 |
| 2 | BC | Jordan, 6 run (Kurtas kick) | 1:56 |
| 2 | PJP | Mitala, 39 pass from Terlesky (Bosio kick) | 0:55 |
| 2 | PJP | Skarbeck, 36 pass from Terlesky (Bosio kick) | 0:31 |
| 3 | BC | Jordan, 42 run (kick failed) | 8:10 |
| 3 | PJP | Skarbeck, 1 run (Bosio kick) | 2:54 |
| 4 | BC | Jordan, 12 run (Garcia run) | 8:08 |
| 4 | BC | Hess, 1 run (Kurtas kick) | 6:37 |
| 4 | PJP | Terlesky, 1 run (Bosio kick) | 2:20 |
Team statistics
| Berks Catholic | Pope John Paul II | |
| First downs | 8 | 19 |
| Rushes-yards | 39-224 | 28-157 |
| Passing yards | 31 | 293 |
| Total yards | 255 | 450 |
| Passes | 4-8-1 | 19-26-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 2-30.5 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 8-63 | 5-35 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Berks Catholic: Jordan 18-105, Garcia 5-92, Armstead 7-27, Blythe 4-3, Olivier 1-2,
Hess 4-(-5).
Pope John Paul II: Skarbeck 13-109, Mitala 7-33, Reed 5-24, Terlesky 3-(-9).
PASSING
Berks Catholic: Hess 4-8-1-31.
Pope John Paul II: Terlesky 19-26-0-293.
RECEIVING
Berks Catholic: Mace 2-12, Polinsky 1-16, Geddio 1-3.
Pope John Paul II: Kenning 7-82, Mitala 5-109, Skarbeck 4-91, Reed 3-11.
INTERCEPTIONS
Pope John Paul II: Lucci.
