Five Fast Friday Football Facts for Week 6
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
1
Doug Dahms can tie Ray Linn for the most wins as a head coach in the Gov. Mifflin/Wilson series when the teams meet for the 67th time tonight.
Linn, who coached at Mifflin from 1956-73 and from 1985-87, went 14-7 in head-to-head meetings vs. the Bulldogs.
Dahms, Wilson’s coach since 2006, is 13-7 vs. the Mustangs.
John Gurski, Wilson’s coach from 1964-82, went 11-8 in the series. Gerry Slemmer, who coached Wilson from 1983-97, has the highest winning percentage among coaches in the series; he went 10-3.
Since 2012 the teams have played for the Gurski/Linn Trophy, named in honor of the coaches who shaped their respective programs. Ironically, each lost the final game of his coaching career in this series.
The teams first met in 1954.
2
Riley Martinez tied the Exeter record with five touchdowns passes in a game last week in a 55-0 win over Lebanon.
Rod Sarlat set the Eagles record with five scoring tosses in 1990 vs. Hamburg. Mason Rotelli tied it in 2022 against Dover.
Martinez, a junior and second-year starter, threw scoring passes of 9 and 10 yards to Jayden Ware, 10 yards to Genuine Stutzman, 10 yards to Carter Redding, and 40 yards to Jayden Zandier.
Only one Berks quarterback has thrown six touchdowns in a game: Reading High’s Todd Landis in 1989 vs. Gov. Mifflin.
3
After completing 48.4 percent of his passes as a sophomore and 47.3 percent last season Conrad Weiser’s Donovan Gingrich has been on target 73.2 percent of the time this season.
He’s ranked third among Berks quarterbacks in passing efficiency behind Exeter’s Riley Martinez and Twin Valley’s Evan Myers.
The Weiser program record for completion percentage in a season is 67.6, by Logan Klitsch in 2021.
Gingrich is close to becoming just the fifth passer in program history to top 3,000 career yards; he’ll join Klitsch, Jim Debeic, Tom Wenrich, and John Rudy.
His 29 TD passes are tied for second-most in program history with Tyler Hoss; Klitsch owns the record with 51.
4
Berks Catholic’s Bryce Gumby is averaging nearly 10 yards per carry in his career.
After setting the program record with 268 rushing yards last week against Lancaster Catholic the senior halfback is averaging 12.3 yards per carry this season.
He led the team with 580 rushing yards last season and averaged 9.0 per carry. In limited duty as a sophomore he averaged 9.5 yards per carry.
Gumby missed Weeks 2, 3, and 4 this season with an injury before returning last week, when he scored four TDs.
5
Nazareth, which held off Wilson 35-31 in Week 3 when the Bulldogs fumbled at the goal line in the final minute, has not won since.
The Blue Eagles lost to Bethlehem Freedom, ranked No. 9 in the state at the time, 38-10 in Week 4; they fell to unranked Parkland 31-6 last week.
Nazareth was ranked No 5 in the state in Class 6A when it beat Wilson. It slipped out of the Top 10 and was listed as a Team To Watch after its first loss. It fell completely out of the rankings after its second loss.
Wilson, meanwhile, is 4-1 and listed as a Team To Watch in 6A.
