Counting to 10 apparently not as easy as it might seem
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Year-end Top 10 lists are a right of passage in the media.
The lists are subjective: What’s important or significant to one person might not be so for someone else.
That being said, it’s hard to believe that the local newspaper’s Top 10 list for local sports did not include a single high school football story.
Not one.
There were two field hockey stories and one from girls wrestling . . . but not a single football story worth cracking the Top 10?
Not surprising. The Reading Eagle ceded its football coverage to other outlets several years ago and hasn’t taken the sport seriously since. It only covered a handful of games each Friday night, so it’s not hard to believe they missed a lot of what was going on.
The staff at MikeDragoSports.com covered every Berks game this season; hopefully we didn’t miss much. To that end, here’s a Top 10 list of the most significant Berks football stories of 2023:
1. Wyomissing
The Spartans continue to climb mountains and set the standard in Berks football.
They extended the longest regular season winning streak in Berks history to 41 and became the first Berks team to win five straight District 3 championships – one year after becoming the first to win four in a row.
They also became the first team to reach the PIAA semifinals four straight years and set a record by winning 40 times over the past three seasons – more wins than any Berks program over three consecutive seasons.
2. Rick Keeley
The longest-tenured head coach in Berks football history stepped down after 38 seasons as a head coach, 48 years of coaching and 60 seasons on the sidelines.
Might be worth a mention.
Keeley’s teams won 11 league championships, five district championships and reached the district final seven straight years – something no other Berks program has achieved. He was named Coach of the Year 10 times and won 280 games, fourth-most ever among District 3 coaches.
3. Twin Valley
The Raiders set a program record with 10 wins – three more than ever before – had the most productive offense in the 37-team Lancaster-Lebanon League, produced a pair of 1,000-yard running backs and had a pair of All-State picks for the first time.
Their 7-0 start was the best ever for the program and led to a spot in the state rankings for the first time. They shared the Section 3 title with Ephrata and Garden Spot, just the title in program history.
4. Bob Wolfrum
It’s not often they name something for you – a building, a trophy, a field – while you’re still alive. It’s almost unheard of to be selected for such as honor while you’re still at the top of your game.
The LPGA does that (silly) with its Hall of Fame, but most other sports wait until you’re finished sweating for such an honor.
Bob Wolfrum, who saw Wyomissing’s home field dedicated in his honor this season, is obviously still at the top of his game.
He was named Berks Coach of the Year for the record eighth time after a season that saw his team win 12 games. His teams have gone 40-4 over the past three seasons season and 61-6 over the past five.
That latter record could easily be 66-6 if not for the five games scratched from the 2020 season due to COVID-19.
5. Schuylkill Valley
After 50 seasons with nothing to put in the trophy case, the Panthers got their hands on some hardware in Season No. 51, sharing the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 title with Annville-Cleona and Lancaster Catholic.
Bruce Harbach’s third Panthers team went 9-3, setting a program record for wins; it won a playoff game for the first time in 11 years and just the second time ever.
6. Tyler Shuey
The Hamburg junior and first-time starter made an unprecedented debut, throwing for 356 yards in his first game and more than 1,000 over his first three. He became just the second Berks passer to throw for 2,000 yards in the regular season and finished with 2,762, second-most ever.
7. Jeff Lang
Lang, one of the building blocks of what became a Gov. Mifflin dynasty, ended his 33-year relationship with the program when he resigned as head coach following the season.
He became an assistant coach with Mick Vecchio in 1992 and was a pivotal figure in helping the Mustangs win 14 league titles, 226 games and their only District 3 championship over the next three decades.
Vecchio’s offensive line coach for 26 seasons was held in such high esteem by his peers that he was elected to the Berks County Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012, one of the few assistant coaches ever afforded such an honor.
8. Lancaster-Lebanon League realignment
The league’s biennial realignment, based on enrollment, will send 10 of the 37 programs into a new section for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
The biggest impact in Berks is what appears to be the loss of the “Backyard Brawl” between Berks Catholic and Wyomissing.
The Saints and Spartans were paired in Section 4 the last two seasons but with Berks Catholic moving to Section 5 they won’t meet in league play. At this point they aren’t scheduled to play in a non-league game, either.
That means what was the hottest rivalry in Berks for most of the past decade will be put in cold storage.
9. Caleb Brewer
The 6-5 lineman committed to Penn State in April, then led Wyomissing to another district championship.
He moved from tight end to tackle, where he’ll likely play in college, but his biggest impact came on the defensive end, where he became a real force.
He was named Berks Lineman of the Year by MikeDragoSports.com and cleaned up in the all-league voting: He was named the Defensive Lineman of the Year, Offensive Lineman of the Year and Outstanding Lineman in Section 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League; he was the only lineman in any of the five sections to pull off a clean sweep.
10. Kutztown University connection
Nate Millard, Adam Kase and Kam Wolfe were among several Berks grads who played key roles in Kutztown University’s greatest season.
Millard, a kicker from Daniel Boone, was an all-conference pick and first-team pick on the Division 2 Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA) All-Super Region 1 Teams.
Kase, an offensive lineman from Conrad Weiser, was an all-conference first-team pick and a D2CCA second-team pick.
Wolfe was a starting linebacker and second-team all-league pick who helped the Golden Bears win 12 games and a conference championship and reach the NCAA Division II semifinals.
