Berks Catholic shuts down Octorara for Section 4 win
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Kyle Kutz — LNP/Lancasteronline
ATGLEN — Coming off a tough loss against Lampeter-Strasburg, Berks Catholic righted the ship with a dominant 38-7 football win Friday night at Octorara in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 play.
The game marked the inaugural varsity matchup between the two programs.
Late in the first quarter, senior Josiah Jordan pounded in a 3-yard touchdown run to give the Saints (3-2, 3-5) a 7-0 lead.
The Braves’ dual-threat passer, Braeden Wood, attempted to respond in the second quarter on a 22-yard connection with senior wideout Kaden Norat that positioned Octorara (0-5, 1-7) deep in the red zone.
However, two crucial penalties — a 5- and 10-yarder — pulled the Braves too far away from the end zone to capitalize, and they turned the ball over on downs.
Senior kicker Andrew Kurtas hit a 26-yard field goal to extend the Saints’ lead to 10-0. Jordan later ran in another score on the goal line to send BC into halftime up 17-0.
Out of the break, Saints junior quarterback Will Hess completed two big-play TD passes — a 43-yard bomb to wide-open Jaxon Geddio and a 13-yard hook-up with Devin Garcia in the flat — to seal the Braves’ fate and push their lead to 31-0.
The BC backfield, led by Jordan (88 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries), repeatedly tested a susceptible Octorara defense, which entered having yielded the most rushing yards in the league. The Saints racked up more than 238 yards on the ground and effectively set up the passing game for Hess, who accounted for two scores and 150 yards through the air.
Octorara was unable to shift its often erratic Wing-T offense into full gear or position itself to snap a now six-game slide, despite a solid performance from Mekhi Murray (9 carries for 56 yards and a TD).
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 7 | 10 | 21 | 0 | 38 |
| Octorara | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 3 run (Kurtas kick) |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Kurtas, 26 FG |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 4 run (Kurtas kick) |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Geddio, 43 pass from Hess (Kurtas kick) |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Garcia, 13 pass from Hess (Kurtas kick) |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Armistead, 35 run (Kurtas kick) |
| 4 | Octorara | Murray, 7 run |
Team statistics
| Berks Catholic | Octorara | |
| First downs | 15 | 17 |
| Rushes-yards | 29-238 | 46-186 |
| Passing yards | 150 | 59 |
| Total yards | 388 | 245 |
| Passes | 5-8 | 5-10 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 0-0 | 3-18.7 |
| Penalties-yards | 6-55 | 8-55 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Berks Catholic: Jordan 12-88, Armistead 2-58, Gumby 5-40, Bradley 2-24, Garcia 5-20, Rosa 1-5, Blythe 1-3, Rose 1-0.
Octorara: Murray 11-71, Gardner-Myers 2-35, Wood 12-33, Stoltzfus 5-24, Norat 2-15, Focht 8-12, Kurtz 3-7, Teuffert 1-7.
PASSING
Berks Catholic: Hess 5-8-0-150.
Octorara: Wood 6-11-1–63.
RECEIVING
Berks Catholic: Geddio 2-94, Bradley 1-24, Jordan 1-19, Garcia 1-13.
Octorara: Norat 2-27, Stoltzfus 2-7, Colligan 1-25, Busby 1-7.
