Scouts still standing (and unbeaten) after wild Section 3 opener vs. Tigers
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Gross — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent
Conrad Weiser trailed Fleetwood by 10 at home Friday after a first half in which the Scouts committed six pre-snap penalties and struggled to get out of their own way.
| Final | |
| Weiser | 26 |
| Fleetwood | 23 |
The halftime message from Alan Moyer, the Scouts’ veteran coach, had a straightforward message:
“I told them to get back to being us.’’
A year after engineering the biggest one-season turnaround in Berks County football history, Weiser being Weiser is proving a workable formula again.
The Scouts are 4-0 after rallying from a two-score deficit to edge Fleetwood 26-23 in Robesonia Friday. It was the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 opener for both teams.
Weiser went 10-0 in the regular season a year ago and won the Section 3 title before running into monolithic Bishop McDevitt in the District 3 playoffs.
This was a year after winning just two games in 2023. And the 2024 team was a veteran one, including 20 seniors, 12 of whom earned all-section or all-league recognition.
Nobody saw this 2025 start coming except, maybe, for Moyer and his guys.
“I’ve said this from Week 1,’’ Moyer said. “I don’t know if we’re the most talented group of kids, but they’re coachable. If they’re coachable, our staff does a phenomenal job of preparing them for Friday nights.’’
They went into this particular Friday night banged up; four starters were believed out, until two-way lineman Nate Gilfert was able to go.
“He was hurting all week, had a rough week of practice, and boy, he came out and played a nice game,’’ Moyer said.
The Scouts struggled early to sustain offense and even organization, as did Fleetwood, coming in 2-1 off an eye-opening defeat of Schuylkill Valley the previous week.
In lieu of sustained drives there were unusual big plays, like a blocked punt by Fleetwood’s Andrew Barber that rolled through the end zone for a safety.
Or Weiser’s Kaiden Leonard grabbing a pass that had bounced off Fleetwood hands and taking it 76 yards to the house. Or Fleetwood’s Beau Fegley ripping the ball away from a ballcarrier and taking it 40 yards for a TD.
Leonard’s Pick-Six provided Weiser’s only points of the half, but the Scouts settled in after that.
Also, they started throwing it around, which is a bit off-script.
Weiser quarterback Connor Sellers, a first-year starter, had thrown just 19 passes through three games. Friday, Sellers had to deliver and did, completing 13-of-19 throws for 214 yards and no turnovers.
“We put him in a lot of tough positions tonight,’’ Moyer said. “We don’t like those positions, third (down) and forevers, but the kids came through.’’
Weiser pulled within 16-13 on an 88-yard drive in which Sellers completed 5-of-6and Gabe Rivera ran it in from 9 yards out.
After the defense held, Weiser’s Kole Kupper delivered the play of the night, an 80-yard punt-return TD in which Kupper covered perhaps 150 yards, weaving from one sideline to the other, breaking numerous tackles and, ultimately, giving his team the lead for good.
Down 26-16 with nine minutes left, Fleetwood came up with an 80-yard touchdown drive in which it converted two clutch fourth downs, the score coming on a 2-yard run by 5-7, 225-pound Tanner Zornek on his only carry of the game.
Weiser got the ball back with 5:44 left and ran out the clock, converting a third-and-18 on a huge throw and catch from Sellers to Leonard, who had three receptions for 99 yards.
Two snaps later Rivera got his biggest run of the night, a 26-yarder, to move the chains, get himself over the 100-yard mark (20 carries for 106) and seal it with 2:09 left.
Fleetwood (2-2) got big games from quarterback Chase Mcmonagle (16-of-23 passing for 205 yards), linebacker Parker Detwiler, who was also over the place in helping hold Rivera in check most of the night, and from junior running back Nathan Kummerer, who had five catches for 88 yards.
Weiser, which is now 15-2 all time against Fleetwood, is at Manheim Central next week. Fleetwood hosts Garden Spot.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Fleetwood | 2 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 23 |
| Conrad Weiser | 6 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 26 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Fleetwood | Safety, punt blocked out of end zone | 4:27 |
| 1 | Conrad Weiser | Leonard, 76 interception return (kick failed) | :54 |
| 2 | Fleetwood | Fegley, 40 yard fumble return (Cappellano kick) | 9:04 |
| 2 | Fleetwood | Fegley, 1 run (Cappellano kick) | 3:47 |
| 3 | Conrad Weiser | Rivera, 9 run (Spang kick) | 6:54 |
| 3 | Conrad Weiser | Kupper, 80 punt return (Spang kick) | 3:44 |
| 4 | Conrad Weiser | Rivera, 11 run (kick failed) | 9:54 |
| 4 | Fleetwood | Zornek, 2 run (Cappellano kick) | 5:44 |
Team statistics
| FLEETWOOD | CONRAD WEISER | |
| First downs | 11 | 16 |
| Rushes-yards | 24-111 | 31-105 |
| Passing yards | 205 | 210 |
| Total yards | 316 | 315 |
| Passes | 16-23-1 | 13-19-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 4-35 | 2-30 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-45 | 8-45 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Fleetwood: Fegley 12-83, Kummerer 6-20, McKinney 1-7, McMonagle 4–1, Pletz 1-0.
Conrad Weiser: Rivera 20-106, Leonard 1-9, Kupper 2-8, DePrince 5-(-7), Sellars 3-(-11).
PASSING
Fleetwood: McMonagle 16-23-1-205.
Conrad Weiser: Sellars 13-19-0-210.
RECEIVING
Fleetwood: Kummerer 6-88, Ryan 5-56, McKinney 3-18, Adams 1-34, Pletz 1-9.
Conrad Weiser: Parr 4-59, Rivera 3-14, Leonard 3-99, Giffing 1-16, Kupper 1-16, DePrince 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS
Conrad Weiser: Leonard.
These photos and others from the game can be purchased from PhilMarPhoto.
