Four Downs: Four big takes from Week 5
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Four biggest takeaways from Week 5 of the 2024 high school football season.
1ST DOWN
Alan Moyer understandably had some reservations about his Conrad Weiser team’s 4-0 start. The Scouts’ first-month schedule wasn’t the most difficult.
A 38-3 whitewashing of Manheim Central Friday erased any doubts about the Scouts’ prowess.
“I’m hard to please sometimes,” Moyer said after that dominating performance. “I’m impressed with our kids.”
This obviously isn’t a typical Manheim Central team. A year ago they were the Section 2 champs and played for the District 3 Class 4A championship. Now they’re 2-3, the only wins coming against a pair of Philadelphia Public League schools.
That takes nothing away from a complete effort by the Scouts, who held Manheim to 85 total yards – 42 less than the Barons managed in a 35-0 loss to Dallastown, a Class 6A team with a 5-0 record.
The Scouts have the top-rated defense in the 37-team Lancaster-Lebanon League and now have to be considered serious contenders for the Section 3 title.
Their toughest Section 3 games are ahead, in Week 7 against Garden Spot and Week 9 vs. Cocalico, both on the road. Garden Spot is 3-2 and was the preseason favorite in the section; Cocalico is also 3-2 and beat Garden Spot 21-0 two weeks ago.
2ND DOWN
Bruce Harbach dubbed Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League “the fun section” a few years back and it continues to be.
It’s easily the most balanced and deepest section in the league, especially now that Berks Catholic has joined from Section 4.
Hamburg, Lancaster Catholic, and Schuylkill Valley are each 2-0; Berks Catholic could’ve been there, too, but came up two points short at Catholic Friday night.
Any of those four teams could end up on top after 10 weeks; there’s a good chance a couple of them will. Last year there was a three-way tie for first.
We’re coming up on a big week, with the top four contenders squaring off: Schuylkill Valley is at Berks Catholic and Hamburg is at Lancaster Catholic.
The last two seasons the Section 5 race came down to a Week 10 meeting between Schuylkill Valley and Lancaster Catholic; don’t be surprised if that’s the case again.
3RD DOWN
Wilson has come up with some fantastic goal-line stands over the years to win games — one at Lancaster Catholic in 2012 in a 14-7 win comes quickly to mind.
So does one in 2019, when the Bulldogs stopped Warwick on a third-and-goal from the 2 on the final play of the game to preserve a 14-7 win.
The stand the Bulldogs came up with late in the first half Friday in a 14-7 win over Cedar Crest was as good as any.
The Falcons had six snaps from the 1-yard line and didn’t get in. They were literally inches away from scoring but didn’t.
“Oh man, it was so close,” said sophomore linebacker EJ Brownback, “it had to be two inches from the goal line. I’ve never been in a goal-line stand that close before.”
Cedar Crest had a first-and-goal at the 1, a second-and-goal from the 2, and third- and fourth-and-goal from the 1 but came up empty when Brownback shot a gap on fourth down and threw Isaiah Zimmerman for a loss.
The clutch defensive play keeps the Bulldogs very much in the running for a Section 1 crown and a high seed in the District 3 Class 6A Tournament.
4TH DOWN
Exeter and Twin Valley continue to throw knockout punches.
The Eagles led hapless Lebanon 48-0 at the half Friday; the Raiders were up 35-0 at intermission at Octorara.
Both teams are 5-0. They’re the two highest-scoring teams in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. They’ve won their games by 40.6 and 42.2 points per game, respectively.
Things will get a little tougher for the Eagles in coming weeks, with Ephrata up next, then Muhlenberg and Hempfield. The section will likely be on the line in Week 9 when they play Conestoga Valley, which is also 5-0 and for the most part has been knocking out opponents quickly.
The state-ranked Raiders have a couple more walk-overs in line, next week at Northern Lebanon and then Donegal in Week 7. They won’t get their first real challenge until Week 8 at home against Wyomissing, which is also ranked among the top Class 4A teams in the state.
