DeShawn Wilson scores just about every way you can as Reading High tops Lebanon
DeShawn Wilson had a game for the ages Friday.
The Reading High senior scored five touchdowns — five different ways — in a 42-22 non-league win at Lebanon.
Wilson scored on a run, a reception, a kickoff return, a punt return and an interception.
That’s a feat that’s possibly never been accomplished in 128 seasons of football at Reading High.
He’s the first Red Knight to score five TDs in a game in over 15 years, and just the seventh overall with five or more touchdowns in a game.
“DeShawn is a hard-nosed, physical young man,” Red Knights coach Andre Doyle said before the season. “When he goes out there he’s in attack mode at all times.”
According to a report on social media, Wilson scored on a punt return, kickoff return, interception return, reception and a run. Each score was from 50 yards or longer.
Those figures have not yet been confirmed by a team official or a media source, but Wilson confirmed Saturday morning via direct message on Twitter to MikeDragoSports.com that he had five TDs in five different ways.
There are only six possible ways to score a touchdown. The only way the 5-9, 170-pound wide receiver/corner did not score was on a fumble return.
Malcolm Williams was the last Reading High player to score as many as five touchdowns in a game; he had six in a 62-8 win over Ballou High in 2005.
The other most-recent such event came in 2001, when Sam Bryant scored five times in a 57-27 win vs. Pottsville.
Three other Red Knights accomplished the feat over 100 years ago. The program — and Berks — record is seven touchdowns in a game, by John P. Charlton vs. Allentown in 1913.
Wilson played for the Red Knights as a sophomore, then transferred to a Florida school last year when the Reading School District went to virtual learning. He and his family wanted him to have in-person schooling.
He is a strong student getting looks from several Ivy League schools.
Wilson returned to Reading early this year and re-joined the basketball team in time to help with its run to the District 3 Class 6A and PIAA championships.
He didn’t play football during the Red Knights’ spring season, and was missed, Doyle said.
“He brings a different element to our team that we didn’t have in the spring,” Doyle said. “DeShawn 100 percent leads by example. When he’s on the field, there’s always a play that he can make, without a doubt.”
The victory was the first for the Red Knights since Oct. 25, 2019, when they beat Muhlenberg 34-0. They ended that season with a loss to Lebanon, went 0-5 in the spring 2020 league and opened last week with a 27-20 loss to McCaskey.
The Red Knights play Academy Park Friday at Shirk Stadium at 7.
Photo Gallery provided by Bill Snook
