Columbia dominates in all phases in shutout of Lancaster Catholic
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Dave Byrne — LNP/Lancasteronline
| Final | |
| Columbia | 43 |
| Lanc. Catholic | 0 |
LANCASTER — On Lancaster Catholic’s Night of Champions, it was Columbia that put on a championship performance.
The Crimson Tide dominated the defensive line of scrimmage from the opening snap, holding Catholic to no first downs and minus-five yards of offense in the first half of an eventual 43-0 victory in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 opener for both squads.
The Crimson Tide (2-2), held a 9-0 lead at halftime and blew the game open with a 20-point third quarter.
“We challenged our line and they stepped up big time,” Tide coach Nate Bagley Jr. said. “They’ve really stepped up and done a great job.”
“We came ready for this game,” Tide quarterback Cameron McClair said. “We worked as one. We finally got that one we’ve been waiting for.”
On Catholic’s third possession, Brandon Way broke a 63-yard touchdown run. It was called back on a holding penalty and the Crusaders (2-2) never threatened. The Tide keyed on Way all evening, holding him to 18 yards on 11 carries.
This right after Columbia struck first on McClair’s 65-yard bomb to Kamrai Nichols. A safety gave the Tide a 9-0 lead at the half and they expanded that in the third quarter on TD runs of 4 and 12 yards by Tyler Brommer and Kareem Nichols’ 17-yard TD reception. McClair tacked on TD runs of 13 and 18 yards in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.
“They outplayed us in every way possible,” Crusaders coach Chris Maiorino said. “They did all the things that we didn’t do today.
“We played a pretty bad first half, and we’re only down 9-0,” Maiorino said. “We’re like, ‘That’s the one positive we can take out of it.’ But then we couldn’t get things going.”
Tide quarterback/defensive back Cameron McClair passed for 101 yards and two touchdowns, completing 4-of-10, but his elusiveness proved deadly as he rushed 12 times for 89 yards and two TDs. He also had a key sack for a safety late in the first half, knocking Crusaders starting quarterback J.J. Boas out of the game.
“The kind of whopping we took Week 1 kind of woke us up,” Bagley said. “But they came out and fought tonight.”
Columbia returns home to host Annville-Cleona in Week 5. For their part, the Crusaders go from frying pan to fire, traveling to Berks Catholic.
