Berks Catholic ends season with nice ‘surprise’: A championship trophy
When Berks Catholic lost its Week 9 game to Cocalico its hopes for a District 3 football playoff spot evaporated.
The Saints never imagined that two weeks later they’d be holding aloft a trophy.
“This was a good surprise,” said senior lineman Jackson Haas after the Saints ended a difficult season with a 49-14 win over visiting Pine Grove Thursday night to win their first Eastern Conference Class 3A championship.
The Saints (5-6) had never played in an Eastern Conference game before. Most of their players had never even heard of the tournament until they learned on Sunday they would be hosting the title game.
That gave them a chance to play together for another week and to wash away a little of the hurt from the only losing season in their proud 12-year history.
“We saw it as a chance to send our seniors off with a ‘dub’ and give us a little momentum for the offseason,” said senior center Ty Barreto.
“Whenever you have a chance to practice another week and play another week you appreciate that,” said Berks Catholic coach Rick Keeley. “We took full advantage of it. We wanted to come into this game and play well and end the year with two (straight) wins and winning a championship.”
The Saints didn’t play so well at the beginning. They allowed Mason Kroh to get free on an 80-yard kickoff return to open the game. Three plays later they trailed 7-0.
They trailed again, 14-7, later in the first quarter after Lane Lehman went 19 yards for a touchdown, his second score of the game.
“I don’t know if we took ’em as seriously as we should have,” Keeley said of the Cardinals (3-8).
Lehman rushed for 96 yards in the first half. After making some defensive adjustments the Saints got some stops. After allowing touchdowns on Pine Grove’s first two possessions the Saints forced a punt, got a turnover on downs and a sack that ended the first half.
The Saints grabbed momentum at the end of the first half, taking over with 53 seconds following that fourth-down stop. Jaxon Geddio made a terrific sideline grab for a 19-yard gain to the Pine Grove 32 with 33 seconds left.
That was more than enough time for Josiah Jordan to go the rest of the way, which he did on a 32-yard burst — his second of four visits to the end zone.
He followed with scoring on runs of 25 and 27 yards, mixing in a variety of dazzling spins and cuts on his way to 180 rushing yards and 219 total yards, including three receptions. He also had a TD reception nullified by a penalty. On defense, he intercepted a pass.
Jordan, a senior and three-year starter, saved some of his best for last.
“He’s just magic,” said Keeley. “He can make things happen. Any time he touches the ball he has the ability to go the distance.”
Jordan started the rout with the first of his scores 3:41 before halftime, cutting outside a nifty edge block by Owen Reber and racing 27 yards down the sideline. That was the first of six unanswered scores by the Saints.
They were up 21-14 at the half and completely controlled things after that. Berks Catholic rushed for 386 yards, had 466 total yards and 26 first downs.
Quarterback Will Hess completed 6-of-8 passes for 90 yards, with a 13-yard scoring pass to Devin Garcia and a 19-yard TD to Michael Bradley. Garcia also scored on a 17-yard run.
After figuring out the Cardinals’ offense the Saints were dominant. They allowed just 5 total yards — and no first downs — in the third quarter and 10 rushing yards in the second half.
Barreto called the win bittersweet.
“It definitely feels good but there’s a little sour taste in our mouth,” he said. “I feel we should’ve competed for a district championship this year.”
That’s not a stretch. The Saints are the only team that went into halftime with a lead (10-7) over Wyomissing, the No. 1 seed and overwhelming favorite to win the District 3 Class 3A championship. Had Berks Catholic made the 3A field (and landed on the opposite side of the bracket from the Spartans) there’s a strong chance it would’ve gotten a second shot at Wyomissing.
Their shot at that essentially went out the window in September when they lost their first four games. They played a brutal schedule which included seven district playoff qualifiers, among them Pope John Paul II (9-1), Loyalsock (9-1), Wyomissing (10-0) and Lampeter-Strasburg (9-1), each which is or was ranked in the state this season.
“We played a tough schedule this year and we got punched in the mouth a couple of times,” Keeley said. “These kids just kept bouncing back. When it all shook out at the end we still had an opportunity to play for a championship and I think we took full advantage of it.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Pine Grove | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Berks Catholic | 7 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 49 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Pine Grove | Lehman, 1 run (Karenda kick) | 10:30 |
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Garcia, 13 pass from Hess (Kurtas kick) | 7:30 |
| 1 | Pine Grove | Lehman, 19 run (Karenda kick) | 3:16 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 27 run (Kurtas kick) | 3:41 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 32 run (Kurtas kick) | 0:25 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Bradley, 19 pass from Hess (Kurtas kick) | 8:51 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 25 run (Kurtas kick) | 5:35 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 27 run (Kurtas kick) | 1:09 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Garcia, 17 run (Kurtas kick) | 11:53 |
Team statistics
| Pine Grove | Berks Catholic | |
| First downs | 10 | 26 |
| Rushes-yards | 27-114 | 40-386 |
| Passing yards | 70 | 90 |
| Total yards | 184 | 476 |
| Passes | 8-18-2 | 6-8-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-31.3 | 1-19.0 |
| Penalties-yards | 6-61 | 5-53 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Pine Grove: Lehman 19-104, Kroh 8-10.
Berks Catholic: Jordan 16-180, Garcia 6-70, Blythe 6-50, Bradley 4-35, Gumby 3-23, Rose 3-15, Rosa 2-13.
PASSING
Pine Grove: Kroh 8-18-2–70.
Berks Catholic: Hess 6-8-0–90.
RECEIVING
Pine Grove: Wolf 2-24, Schaeffer 2-20, Hannevig 2-12, Lehman 1-10, Ibarra 1-4.
Berks Catholic: Jordan 3-39, Bradley 1-19, Geddio 1-19, Garcia 1-13.
INTERCEPTIONS
Berks Catholic: Jordan, Impellizzeri.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Berks Catholic: Kurtas 52.