‘Little things’ add up to big loss for Red Knights
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Andrew Clauser— MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
It wasn’t the ideal start to the season for coach Troy Godinet and his Reading High football squad.
Three fumbles deep in its own territory, momentum-killing penalties, and miscues contributed to the 55-6 non-league loss to C.D. East Friday night at Albright’s’ Shirk Stadium. Add the talented and speedy Panthers backfield to the mix and you get a lopsided score.
There were a lot of lessons learned for the Red Knights, all a part of a program trying to grow. There were a lot of new faces in the starting lineup and it showed all night against a fast and talented opponent.
“We beat ourselves up against a young and talented squad over there,” Godinet said. “They are very skilled and very fast, plus they played together last year.
“We are young, too, but we need to take those steps forward to get to where we want to be. It starts with us. We have to hold ourselves accountable from the top to the bottom. We’ll be better.”
The self-inflicted wounds started early in this contest with two fumbles by the Red Knights deep in their own territory. East capitalized with two scores in less than two minutes. Two more touchdowns of 59 and 54 yards boosted the Panthers lead to 28-0 by the start of the second quarter.
The Red Knights started to build momentum in the second quarter forcing two punts along with an explosive 81-yard TD catch by Xavier Beatty with 2:50 left in the half. Beatty caught the pass in heavy traffic and broke free giving the Red Knights, and their faithful, some life.
The mistakes kept coming in the second half and the Panthers took advantage of those mistakes leading to a running clock early in the fourth quarter.
Despite the outcome, it did not take away from the effort of the players. The postgame message from Godinet to his team demonstrated the need to focus on the little things.
“We preach intensity, mental toughness and brotherhood on the field and in the locker room,” he said. “If we aren’t doing the little things right it’s not going to matter.”
The Red Knights will face Muhlenberg, another growing program, Friday at Shirk Stadium.
Despite the loss Godinet knows his players will show up Monday ready to work and improve on the “little things” against their border rival.
“We have a resilient group of kids,” he said. “They will come to work on Monday. I have great respect for (Muhlenberg) Coach (John) Lorchak, who is trying to build a strong program as well. It will be a great matchup for us and I look forward to it.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| C.D. East | 21 | 7 | 20 | 7 | 55 |
| Reading High | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | CD East | Porter, 7 pass from Jollah (kick failed) | 4:28 |
| 1 | CD East | Prather, 5 run (Bloss kick) | 3:20 |
| 1 | CD East | Armstrong, 59 pass from Jollah (Porter run) | 1:48 |
| 2 | CD East | Prather, 54 run (Bloss kick) | 9:26 |
| 2 | Reading High | Beatty, 81 pass from Fritz (kick failed) | 2:50 |
| 3 | CD East | Arp, 12 pass from Jollah (kick failed) | 10:26 |
| 3 | CD East | Neal, 15 pass from Jollah (Bloss kick) | 7:24 |
| 3 | CD East | Armstrong, 27 run (Bloss kick) | 1:45 |
| 4 | CD East | Prather, 5 run (Bloss kick) | 10:29 |
Team statistics
| C.D. East | Reading High | |
| First downs | 8 | 6 |
| Rushes-yards | 25-223 | 37-59 |
| Passing yards | 167 | 116 |
| Total yards | 390 | 175 |
| Passes | 9-20-0 | 5-6-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0 | 3 |
| Punts-average | 3-37 | 4-16.7 |
| Penalties-yards | 12-125 | 9-78 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
C.D. East: Porter 10-100, Prather 9-96, Armstrong 2-29, Caceres 3-7, Jollah 1-(-9).
Reading High: Alvarado 19-58, Darby 5-28, Laws 2-3, Fritz 8-(-30).
PASSING
C.D. East: Jollah 9-20-0-167.
Reading High: Fritz 5-6-0-116
RECEIVING
C.D. East: Armstrong 3-76, Neal 2-25, Porter 2-9, Prather 1-45, Arp 1-12.
Reading High: Beatty 2-95, Alvarado 2-14, Small 1-7.
