Defense carries Conrad Weiser to win over Ghosts
2024 Berks football coverage
presented by UECU
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Conrad Weiser entered this football season coming off back-to-back losing records for the first time since 1980. That doesn’t fly in Robesonia.
“Winning five games over the past two years sucked for us,” senior linebacker Ashton Kiebach said. “We haven’t been winning, but we all want to win.”
The Scouts opened the season in the win column with a 21-7 victory over Abington Friday night in Robesonia and used a stifling effort on defense to do so, knowing they had to neutralize the Ghosts’ dynamic signal caller Antonio Ford.
“We knew we had to lock down their quarterback,” Kiebach said. “He’s a dual threat and a great player.”
The Scouts got after Ford with five sacks via Kiebach (two), defensive lineman Eugene Booth III (two) and defensive end Mason Gechter (one).
Weiser’s D held the Ghosts to 172 yards, forced six punts, and took the ball away twice.
The two takeaways came on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter, effectively sealing the game after the Scouts and Ghosts offenses stalled in the second half.
Dylan Parr returned an interception 36 yards for a touchdown with 9:01 left to give the Scouts a two-touchdown lead. On the next possession, Kiebach recovered a fumble when the Ghosts desperately ran a direct-snap draw out of punt formation on fourth down.
“I got stopped this morning and my neighbor asked me, ‘Hey coach, what’s your defensive game plan when the task is to tackle a ghost?’ ” Conrad Weiser head coach Alan Moyer said. “That was a pretty good question. But I think we proved that we could tonight. We did a great job tackling.
“This was the result of a lot of hard work in the offseason. We do a daily tackling and turnover circuit. We got some turnovers tonight. We’re very happy with the way the defense played.”
Conrad Weiser quarterback Donovan Gingrich capped a 15-play, 92-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown plunge with 1:04 left in the first quarter to give Weiser a 7-0 lead.
Gingrich hit Evan Rittle down the left sideline with a perfect throw for a 36-yard TD with 8:58 left in the first half and the Scouts went up 14-0.
Ford answered for the Ghosts with a 2-yard TD run on the next drive. Abington’s former wide receiver turned quarterback hit George Clay for a 40-yard gain and Brayden Davis for a 21-yarder on the drive before scoring with 6:04 left in the second quarter.
Those two chunk plays were the largest of the night for the Ghosts.
Both offenses sputtered in the second half with the only points coming on Parr’s pick-six.
Conrad Weiser has made the District 3 playoffs 13 of 17 seasons since 2007. The Scouts have only missed qualifying in 2016, 2017, and the past two seasons.
Kiebach and his classmates were freshmen when the Scouts last qualified after finishing 7-4 in the 2021-22 season. They’re grinding to get back.
“We’ve been grinding all offseason,” Kiebach said. “We’ve been pushing each other for those extra reps. It’s important for us to keep winning. Now we started off winning and we want to continue it all season.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Abington | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Conrad Weiser | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Conrad Weiser | Gingrich, 1 run (Malone Kick) | 1:04 |
| 2 | Conrad Weiser | Rittle, 36 pass from Gingrich (Malone kick) | 8:58 |
| 2 | Abington | Ford, 2 run (Oliviera kick) | 6:04 |
| 4 | Conrad Weiser | Parr, 36 interception return (Malone kick) | 9:01 |
Team statistics
| Abington | Conrad Weiser | |
| First downs | 9 | 15 |
| Rushes-yards | 31-81 | 37-147 |
| Passing yards | 91 | 107 |
| Total yards | 172 | 254 |
| Passes | 5-19-1 | 7-13-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Punts-average | 6-31.8 | 4-34.8 |
| Penalties-yards | 16-105 | 10-72 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Abington: Ford 12-52, Mager 9-32, Peterkin 5-14, Hopkins 1-1, Team 4-(-18).
Conrad Weiser: McQuillen 14-47, Gingrich 7-42, Morgan 7-21, Rivera 3-16, Rittle 2-11, Miller 3-7, Kiebach 1-3.
PASSING
Abington: Ford 5-18-1—91, Yokus 0-1-0—0.
Conrad Weiser: Gingrich 7-13-1—107.
RECEIVING
Abington: Davis 3-32, Clay 1-40, Thomson 1-19.
Conrad Weiser: Miller 3-30, Rittle 2-66, Parr 1-7, Leed 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS
Abington: Turner.
Conrad Weiser: Parr.
