Fleetwood routs rival Kutztown to get season off to smashing start

By John Nagy Last updated Aug 26, 2023

2023 Berks football coverage presented by

Utilities Employees Credit Union

(This story will be updated later tonight with additional details and postgame reaction.)

By John Nagy — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

Fleetwood scored 42 unanswered points en route to defeating Kutztown 48-6 in a non-league opener Friday night at Fleetwood.

Tigers senior Czion Brickle scored twice with runs from 22 and 65 yards out.

Quarterback Jack Riffle threw two touchdowns, one to senior Mason Musitano for 59 yards, another to tight end Landon Hare for a 6-yard score.

Kicker William Maurek put Kutztown on notice with a successful onside kick in the second quarter. Maurek was perfect on the night on extra points, making six straight.

Fleetwood’s defense dug in early after surrendering an early first quarter touchdown.

Fleetwood forced four turnovers, galvanizing the Tigers in front of their home fans.

Kutztown quarterback Colton Mathias, making his first start, threw a pair of interceptions and fumbled the ball in the first half. Mathias scored the lone touchdown for the Cougars on a 10-yard run in the first quarter.

Fleetwood remains at home to battle Conrad Weiser next week. Kutztown heads home to face

York Vo-Tech.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Kutztown	6	0	0	0	6
Fleetwood	6	35	0	7	48

Scoring summary

1	Fleetwood	Brickle, 21 run (conversion failed)	9:23
1	Kutztown	Mathias, 8 run (kick failed)	4:15
2	Fleetwood	Maddocks, 54 run (Maurek kick)	9:50
2	Fleetwood	Domenech, 15 interception return (Maurek kick)	7:51
2	Fleetwood	Musitano 59 pass from Riffle (Maurek kick)	2:36
2	Fleetwood	Killian, 5 run (Maurek kick)	0:36
2	Fleetwood	Hare 19 pass from Riffle (Maurek kick)	0:10
4	Fleetwood	Brickle, 65 run (Maurek kick)	2:04

Team statistics

	Kutztown	Fleetwood
First downs	9	10
Rushes-yards	49-175	22-231
Passing yards	5	90
Total yards	180	221
Passes	1-6-2	5-12-0
Fumbles-lost	2-2	0-0
Punts-average	2-23.5	2-45
Penalties-yards	0-0	6-55

Individual statistics

RUSHING

Kutztown: Ackley 22-104, Swayer 4-57, Lafferty 2-12, Sherry 7-9, Team 1-9, Gruber 2-8, Stoess 1-(-2), Matthias 10-(-22).

Fleetwood: Brickle 7-109, Maddocks 3-68, Thomas 4-28, Petition 3-13, Killian 2-11, Rizzle 1-4, McFarland 1-(-1), Team 1-(-1).

PASSING

Kutztown: Mathias 1-5-2-5, Stoess 0-1-0-0.

Fleetwood: Rizzle 5-12-0-90.

RECEIVING

Kutztown: Mason 1-5.

Fleetwood: Musitano 2-70, Maddocks 1-9, Hare 1-6, Brickle 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS

Kutztown: Mathias 2.