Football notes: Gut check for Spartans, big catch for Eagles, grand totals and more

Wyomissing’s running game was so good Saturday against West Perry that Matt Kramer scored a couple of touchdowns on plays where no one blocked for him.

The overmatched Mustangs were so worried about Jven Williams leading the Jet Sweep that they fell for the Spartans’ “Jet Gut” — a play where the guards pull with the hope defenders flow in that direction. They did and Kramer broke off touchdown runs of 63 and 18 yards.

“It’s just a little change-up,” Kramer, who rushed for 155 yards and three scores in the 63-7 win, said with a smile.

That was part of a massive 626-yard rushing onslaught, believed to be the highest in program history.

Only four other Berks teams have rushed for 600 yards in the last 32 seasons. Exeter piled up 661 rushing yards in a 2001 game against Twin Valley; that’s the most on record since 1991.

Wyomissing, well known for its efficent Wing-T rushing game, has put up some numbers over the years.

It rushed for 559 yards against Trinity in 2015, 536 against Twin Valley last season and 533 against Annville-Cleona in a District 3 playoff game in 2019.

Until Saturday’s 63-7 win over West Perry that was the most rushing yards ever by a Berks team in a District 3 playoff game.

“You never think (at the time) you’ve done that,” said Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum said of rushing for 600 yards. “A 300-yard game is like batting .300.

“If you get 400 (yards) you had a great game. You just don’t hear 500 or above (very often).

“I thought we had a great game, (and West Perry) ran out of gas,” he said. “Once we broke the line there was nobody tackling us all day long. Even the JVs had a couple real long runs.”

Charlie McIntyre went 72 yards for a TD on his first touch and finished with 165 yards on five carries. Drew Eisenhower ran for 84 yards on six carries; Chase Eisenhower got 66 yards. Backup Jeremiah Diaz went 80 yards for a TD on his only carry late in the game.

Wyomissing set the record for points and margin-of-victory in a District 3 Class 3A championship game.

The Spartans’ best run play this season has been the Jet Sweep, with Penn State recruit Jven Williams leading the way. It’s no surprise some consider him the top lineman in the nation when you see the way he gets out in front of plays.

“Our power game is really our bread and butter,” Wolfrum said, “but with Jven we’re having one of our better years with that (Jet Sweep) series.”

The Spartans’ run game success — they’re No. 2 in the Lancaster-Lebanon League, averaging 326 yards per game — is more than just Williams’ blocking. Tight end Caleb Brewer and tackle Pacen Ziegler — each getting Division I consideration — are keys parts, too.

In the Wing-T, Wolfrum insists that everyone blocks. You won’t see the field if you don’t.

“Blocking on the edge is the most important (part),” he said of making the Jet Sweep work. “That’s our halfbacks (Drew Eisenhower and McIntyre) and split end (Ethan Brower); they have to seal the outside people. I always say our halfbacks are just glorified guards.”

Big catch

Joey Schlaffer recorded his third 100-yard receiving game last week, his 30-yard touchdown catch with 7:00 remaining sealing Exeter’s 21-7 District 3 Class 5A semifinal over Northern.

The catch put the Penn State rercruit over the 2,500-yard career receiving mark and within range of another Exeter record.

His Berks-leading 888 receiving yards are 51 short of the program record 939 set by Alex Javier in 2019.

Schlaffer needs 112 receiving yards to become the 14th in Berks history with 1,000 receiving yards in a season.

He already owns Berks records for career receiving yards (2,504) and TD catches (31).

His 122 career receptions rank No. 6 all-time in Berks history.

Going in reverse

Evan Johnson became just the fourth Twin Valley back to top 1,000 yards when he ran for a career-high 205 yards in a District 3 playoff win over Milton Hershey. That left the fleet sophomore with 1,016 yards.

A week later, against top-seeded Bishop McDevitt, Johnson finished with minus-22 yards on 13 carries in a 47-3 loss. That dropped his final season total to 993 yards.

The Raiders netted just 31 rushing yards on 36 attempts against McDevitt.

That leaves five 1,000-yard rushers in Berks this season, according to figures on lancasteronline.com: Exeter’s Richie Karstien (1,533), Schuylkill Valley’s Dominic Giuffre (1,491), Hamburg’s Pierce Mason (1,367), Berks Catholic’s Josiah Jordan (1,225) and Muhlenberg’s Gio Cavanna (1,001).

Wyomissing’s Charlie McIntyre (946) and Matt Kramer (909) can still join that list, as can Drew Eisenhower (734).

Wilson’s Cam Jones just missed the list, finishing with 999 yards according to team stats.

Top of the heap

Wyomissing’s 11th district championship Saturday gave head coach Bob Wolfrum 349 wins and made him the winningest coach in District 3 history. He’s one of just three with 300 wins, including Manheim Central’s Mike Williams and the late Tim Rimpel, who last coached at Cumberland Valley.

So, what’s it like to be No. 1 on the list?

“It feels old,” deadpanned Wolfrum after beating West Perry last week. “You’ve gotta be old to get that many wins.”

No wonder Wolfrum feels old: This is his 80th season of coaching.

He’s been the Spartans’ head coach for 36 seasons and was an assistant, at Muhlenberg and Wyomissing, for a combined 15 seasons. He was also the Spartans baseball coach over 28 seasons, last coaching in 2012, and was an assistant girls basketball coach for one season.

He’s been part of close to 800 wins.

District 3 coaching victories*

Bob Wolfrum	Wyomissing	349-86-1
Mike Williams	Manheim Central	348-75-3
Tim Rimpfel	Trinity, Bishop McDevitt, Cumberland Valley	307-100-3
Bob Craig	Newport, Cedar Cliff	282-144-11
Rick Keeley	Holy Name, Hamburg, Berks Catholic	275-154-3
Jim Cantafio	Conestoga Valley, Wilson, Cedar Cliff	236-89-2
Denny Frew	Delone Catholic	220-101-3
Brad Livingston	Central York	211-153-4
Gump May	Bishop McDevitt, Hershey	206-164-5
Jack Yohe	Columbia, Hempfield	204-131-5
Jack Connor	South Western, Hanover	201-197-10