Football notes: Eagles’ record-setting duo, Panther in a rush, grand figures

For a guy who spent a lot of the summer throwing passes Joey Schlaffer is doing some special things catching them.

Schlaffer already owns Exeter program records for career catches, yards and touchdown receptions. Now he’s gunning for the all-time Berks records.

The Penn State tight end recruit already owns the Berks career record for touchdown receptions. His game-opening 14-yard TD catch Friday in a 42-8 win over Muhlenberg was his 28th, one ahead of Tony Hardy, who caught 27 for Reading High between 1989-91.

Schlaffer topped Alex Javier’s program record of 21 TD catches earlier this season.

He’s also the Eagles’ all-time leader with 104 receptions and 2,065 receiving yards.

He’s one of 16 Berks players with 100 or more career receptions. He’ll crack the Berks Top 10 with three more catches and figures to finish around sixth all-time.

Schlaffer is one of four Berks receivers to top 2,000 career yards. He passed Conrad Weiser’s Aanjay Feliciano to move into third place last week. Now he trails just Wyomissing’s Nolan McCready (2,110) and Twin Valley’s Trey Freeman (2,250). He needs 186 yards to surpass the record Freeman set last season.

Exeter has three regular season games remaining and has clinched at least a fourth game, in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament.

If the Eagles repeat as district champs that means eight more games, which would give Schlaffer a chance to put that record out of reach.

Schlaffer is in his fourth season as a starting wide receiver. He had 15 catches, five for TDs, as a freshman in 2019. He was an all-league pick as a sophomore, when he had 20 receptions and six TDs, and Berks 1 co-Receiver of the Year last season when he had 48 catches for 822 yards and nine TDs.

He has led or shared the team lead in receptions for three straight seasons.

On target

The guy throwing passes to Joey Schlaffer is on pace for a Berks record, too.

Exeter senior Mason Rotelli, in his first season as a starter, is completing a league-leading 74.2 percent of his passes, well above the Berks single-season record.

Wilson’s Tony Cipolla completed 68.4 percent of his passes in 1999. Only one other Berks quarterback (with at least 100 attempts) has completed two-thirds of his passes over a full season: Conrad Weiser’s Logan Klitsch, who did it last season.

Rotelli is the top-rated passer in the Lancaster-Lebanon League according to stats on lancasteronline.com. He has completed 49-of-66 passes for 875 yards and 14 touchdowns, with just one INT.

Only two other passers in the league are completing 70 percent: Manheim Township’s Hayden Johnson, who’s at 74.1 percent, and Wyomissing’s Zach Zechman, who’s at 72.7 percent. Zechman has attempted just 44 passes and would not generally qualify for the leaderboard.

Looking grand

Dominic Giuffre needs 46 yards to become the first Schuylkill Valley back in eight years to reach 1,000 rushing yards.

Giuffre had a career-high 202 yards and scored four touchdowns Friday in a 35-6 win at Columbia. He has rushed for 954 yards, tops among Berks backs.

He can become the fourth player in the Lancaster-Lebanon League to reach 1,000 when the Panthers go for their sixth straight win Friday at Hamburg.

Annville-Cleona’s Phoenix Music leads the league with 1,256 yards, according to stats on lancasteronline.com. Elco’s Jake Williams is next at 1,249; Manheim Central’s Brycen Armold has rushed for 1,069.

Elizabethtown’s Logan Lentz, who has 921 yards, is also in range of 1,000.

Edward Shuttleworth, in 2014, is the last Schuylkill Valley back to top 1,000; he had 1,462. Nick Scheidt set the record with 1,618 in 2013. With at least four games left (including a district playoff game) Giuffre has a chance to make a run at that record.

Eight Schuylkill Valley players have rushed for 1,000 yards; Scheidt and Derek Gaul are the only ones to do it twice.

Perfect debut

Six years after signing with the Los Angeles Rams, Exeter grad Taylor Bertolet finally got a chance to kick in an NFL regular season game — and he nailed it.

The former Texas A&M standout was good on each of his three field goal attemps and all three PATs for the Los Angeles Chargers in a 30-28 win at Cleveland Sunday.

His third field goal, from 27 yards, gave the Chargers the league for good with 9 1/2 minutes left.

Bertolet still holds the Exeter mark for longest field goal, at 48 yards, in 2010 vs. Pottsville.

In a rush

Two Lancaster-Lebanon League running backs topped 300 yards last week.

Ephrata’s Andre Weidman went for 382 yards in a 42-28 win over Fleetwood and is now the Mounts’ all-time rushing leader, with 2,710 yards.

Elco’s Jake Williams went for 319 yards on just 11 carries in a 41-21 win over Octorara, piling up 319 yards; he scored five TDs.

Those are the season’s first 300-yard performances in the league.