Late stop by Johnny Sauppee helps Saints avoid Cougars’ upset bid
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Kutztown had successfully run the ball on Berks Catholic all night; the deciding play of the game came down to the Cougars’ bid for a two-point conversion with 36.8 seconds remaining.
Berks Catholic linebacker Johnny Sauppee stopped Kutztown’s Mason Sherry just short of the goal line as the Saints held on for a 35-34 comeback victory in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 game Friday night at Forino Sports Complex.
| Section 5 | ||
| Sch. Valley | 4-0 | 5-2 |
| Hamburg | 3-1 | 5-2 |
| Lanc. Cath. | 3-1 | 4-3 |
| Ann.-Cleona | 2-2 | 3-4 |
| Berks Cath. | 2-2 | 3-4 |
| Pequea | 2-2 | 4-3 |
| Kutztown | 0-4 | 0-7 |
| Columbia | 0-4 | 0-7 |
“We had to hit the gap before they hit the gap,” Sauppee said. “We had to get there before them, blow up the block, and make the tackle. I saw the guard coming around so I had to make the play.”
The Saints (2-2, 3-4) fell behind 28-7 in the second quarter as the Cougars (0-4, 0-7) effectively implemented their 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust game plan.
Kutztown jumped out to the three-score lead when Brenden Ackley, who had four rushing touchdowns, scored on a 26-yard run 4:26 before halftime.
“We’ve been coming out of the gates very slow,” Sauppee said. “We need to keep the energy up and start coming out on fire.”
Ackley had first score on a 4-yard run to complete the first drive of the game, which spanned over six minutes.
After forcing and recovering a fumble by Berks Catholic’s Bryce Gumby, Ackley finished the ensuing drive with a 2-yard TD plunge just 55 seconds into the second quarter.
Gumby made up for the mistake and willed Berks Catholic to victory with 222 rushing yards and three touchdowns, all of which was needed after the Saints struggled to stop the run, lost the turnover battle, and were pushed around in the first half.
The Saints went 53 yards in three plays and scored their first points with Zach Suski’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Kozik 10:12 before the break. Sherry returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for a score for the Cougars.
Gumby responded with a 33-yard TD run four plays after Ackley’s 26-yarder to make the score 28-14 at halftime.
“We’ve been in that spot (trailing at halftime) before, last week and the week before that,” Gumby said of back-to-back narrow losses to Schuylkill Valley and Lancaster Catholic. “We knew we needed to get the energy back up and keep it up.”
Gumby scored on a 41-yarder four plays into the second half.
“At halftime, we just said a couple short words and then let everyone sit in silence, regain their thoughts, get back on track, and just go,” Gumby said.
The Saints forced Kutztown’s first punt with 3:46 left in the third quarter before embarking on a 10-play, 68-yard drive that finished with Suski’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Gumby, tying it 28-28 with 41 seconds left.
Nathaniel Rose gave the Saints the lead on a 3-yard TD run with 7:42 left in the game, which was set up by Gumby’s 56-yard run down to the 7. Ackley scored on a 5-yard run on fourth down with 36.8 seconds left after a 13-play, 62-yard drive.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Kutztown | 7 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 34 |
| Berks Catholic | 0 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Kutztown | Ackley, 4 run (Moriarty kick) | 5:59 |
| 2 | Kutztown | Ackley, 2 run (Moriarty kick) | 11:05 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Kozik, 18 pass from Suski (Tripathi kick) | 10:12 |
| 2 | Kutztown | Sherry, 84 kickoff return (Moriarty kick) | 9:59 |
| 2 | Kutztown | Ackley, 26 run (Moriarty kick) | 4:26 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Gumby, 33 run (Tripathi kick) | 3:06 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Gumby, 41 run (Tripathi kick) | 10:57 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Gumby, 10 pass from Suski (Tripathi kick) | 0:41 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Rose, 3 run (Tripathi kick) | 7:42 |
| 4 | Kutztown | Ackley, 5 run (Sherry run failed) | 0:37 |
Team statistics
| Kutztown | Berks Catholic | |
| First downs | 16 | 13 |
| Rushes-yards | 58-240 | 27-289 |
| Passing yards | 18 | 45 |
| Total yards | 258 | 334 |
| Passes | 2-6-1 | 4-9-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| Punts-average | 2-35.5 | 1-13 |
| Penalties-yards | 8-55 | 4-29 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Kutztown: Ackley 19-110, Bahr 20-50, Sherry 10-39, Mathias 3-26, Swoyer 3-15, Walters 1-4, Team 2-(-4).
Berks Catholic: Gumby 16-222, Rose 11-67.
PASSING
Kutztown: Mathias 2-6-1—18.
Berks Catholic: Suski 4-9-0—45.
RECEIVING
Kutztown: Walters 2-18.
Berks Catholic: Gumby 2-20, Kozik 1-18, Duffy 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS
Berks Catholic: Curley.
