Football Notebook: MIA, 600 club, soaring Hawk, power rankings and more
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
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In 60 years of football Rick Keeley had never missed his team’s game.
Not in 12 years as a player at the CYO, high school or college levels. Not during 10 seasons as an assistant coach, at St. Pius X and Holy Name. Not over 38 seasons as a head coach, at Holy Name, Hamburg and now Berks Catholic.
He coached from the press box once after minor surgery. But he was always there – until Friday.
Keeley was too ill to make it to the Saints’ game at Conrad Weiser – and he missed a doozy. The Saints scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, the last with 13 seconds remaining, to beat Conrad Weiser 30-26.
“That’s a game I didn’t want to miss,” said Keeley, who wasn’t able to watch video until the following day. “Even though I wasn’t there, I’m enjoying it.”
Keeley received text updates during the game but was mostly in the dark about what was happening on the field; he had no in-game communication with associate head coach Dave Stahler or the coaching staff.
It wasn’t an easy game to manage, either. The Saints went in without senior starting quarterback Will Hess. During warm-ups his backup, Zach Suski, was injured and couldn’t go. That thrust sophomore Johnny Sauppee into his first meaningful game action.
Sauppee’s first two throws were intercepted – one was batted up in the air at the line, the other went off a receiver’s hands. His third and final throw was a big one, on fourth-and-11 in the final minute, his team trailing 26-23. Sauppee connected with back-up tight end Jake Linderman for 16 yards to the 2. Connor Pennington scored the go-ahead TD to help the Saints even their record at 3-3.
“I have a great staff and had confidence in what was going on,” said Keeley. “It ended up being pretty good.”
Keeley is back at practice this week and plans on being on the sideline Friday when Berks Catholic plays Lampeter-Strasburg. He said he expects Hess to be back behind center, as well.
600 Club
You’ve gotta like Manheim Central’s chances to reach the 600-victory plateau Friday when it plays Lebanon. The Barons beat Muhlenberg last week for win No. 599. They are 5-1 and ranked No. 9 in the state in Class 4A. The Cedars have lost 28 straight and have scored just six touchdowns in six games this season.
Wilson isn’t far behind. The Bulldogs beat Gov. Mifflin last week for their fourth straight win and 597th in program history; they’ve won more games than any Berks program.
The Bulldogs will be favored the next three weeks and should nail down No. 600 in Week 9 at McCaskey.
Mount Carmel is the state’s winningest program, according to pafootballnews.com, with 894 wins; the Tornado began playing in 1893. Easton is No. 2 with 875 wins and Berwick is No. 3 with 840.
Manheim, which first played in 1947, and Wilson, which first played in 1945, are relative newcomers to the sport compared to teams such as Mount Carmel and Easton. They are, however, among the most successful.
Of teams with 500 or more wins Manheim ranks third with a winning percentage of .720; Wilson ranks fifth at .710. Ridley (.773) and Southern Columbia (.745) are first and second, respectively.
Hawk soaring
Six games into his first season as a starter Tyler Shuey broke the Hamburg record for touchdown passes in a season and is closing in on the record for passing yards.
Shuey threw a pair of TDs last week in a 61-23 loss to Lancaster Catholic, giving him 18. Xander Menapace set the program record with 16 last season.
Menapace, a three-year starter, threw for 1,833 yards as a senior. Shuey is at 1,737 yards going into Friday’s game against Pequea Valley.
Shuey leads the Lancaster-Lebanon League in passing yards and is fourth in TD passes.
He is on pace to throw for nearly 2,900 yards in the regular season. He’s also on pace to top Menapace’s records for completions and attempts in a season.
Raiders in a rush
Twin Valley has produced only three 1,000-yard rushers in its 27-year history. It could add two this season.
Sophomore Drew Engle is fourth in the Lancaster-Lebanon League in rushing with 847 yards and junior Evan Johnson is fifth with 799 yards. What’s remarkable about their totals is the fact that they’re rarely in the backfield together. They generally alternate at the tailback spot by series.
Johnson topped 1,000 yards last season in Week 11 but finished with minus-22 rushing yards in the season finale and ended at 993.
The only Raiders to finish with 1,000 yards: David Sabulsky (1,224) in 2016, Nick Wilkinson (1,100) in 2007 and Dominic Caruso (1,022) in 2019.
It’s rare to have a pair of 1,000-yard backs in the same backfield.
Showdown weekend
The Section 3 and 4 titles are on the line Friday with a pair of premium match-ups.
Wyomissing plays at Cocalico Friday in a Section 4 match-up of state-ranked teams: The Spartans are No. 2 in Class 3A, the Eagles No. 8 in Class 5A.
Cocalico has clear sailing after this: It’s next three opponents are a combined 6-12. Wyomissing still needs to play Lampeter-Strasburg, which is 5-1.
Garden Spot plays at Twin Valley in a battle of unbeatens; the winner will likely go on to win the Section 3 title. Garden Spot handed Ephrata its first loss last week; the Raiders will play at Ephrata next week.
Solanco and Elizabethtown, the teams that dominated Section 3 last season, are a combined 2-10.
The Section 1, 2 and 5 titles will likely come down to the season finales: Manheim Township at Wilson, Manheim Central at Exeter and Schuylkill Valley at Lancaster Catholic.
Power rankings
The Born Power Index ranks Manheim Township as the No. 1 team in the Lancaster-Lebanon League with a 107.9 rating – more than 30 points higher than any Section 1 team.
No surprise there. The Blue Streaks are unbeaten and have beaten each of their opponents by 29 or more points.
Next up? It’s Cocalico and Wyomissing in Section 4. The Eagles have a 93.5 rating, the Spartans 86.4. That would make Cocalico a touchdown favorite in Friday’s showdown.
The BPI has Manheim Central (82.9) as a touchdown better than Section 2 rival Exeter (75.0); Garden Spot (72.2) about a five-point favorite over Section 3 rival Twin Valley (67.1); and Lancaster Catholic (49.0) about a touchdown better than Section 5 rival Schuylkill Valley (41.4).
Stats ’n stuff
Hamburg’s Mason Semmel is closing in on the program record for receiving yards in a season (706). The senior tight end has 585 yards in six games. . . Schuylkill Valley junior Kowen Gerner has eight TD receptions; the program record is 10, by Michael Knowles in 2019. . . Exeter grad Sam Orzolek, a sophomore defensive end at Dickinson, was named Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week after making 11 tackles, three for loss, in a 19-17 win over Franklin & Marshall.
