Logan Klitsch to Aanjay Feliciano connection carries Weiser past Elco
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Logan Klitsch promised his offensive linemen an extra batch of cupcakes this week if they didn’t allow a sack against Elco.
They delivered, and an explosive offense propelled Conrad Weiser to a 35-32 victory over Elco in a non-league matchup Friday at Robesonia.
Klitsch ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 230 yards and one touchdown. He connected on 193 of those yards with Aanjay Feliciano. The 6-foot-3 senior wide receiver was involved early and often. His first catch was a short swing pass that he took 21 yards to the 1. Cameron Jones finished it off with a rushing touchdown that gave the Scouts (2-1) a 7-0 lead.
“Coach (Brett) Skovera (the offensive coordinator) emphasized we gotta come out strong and that’s exactly what we did today,” Feliciano said. “We worked on coming out firing with the ‘O-line’ working and we executed.”
The next series illustrated why it is so hard to defend the Klitsch-to-Feliciano hook-up. Feliciano caught a sideline pass for 31 yards on a Klitsch roll to his right. The next play he caught a crossing route for 27 yards on a Klitsch roll to his left and finally on third-and-goal he caught a 1-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone to give Conrad Weiser a 14-0 lead.
Elco was slow to get its Veer attack going but it bounced back with touchdowns on back-to-back drives to trail 21-12 with 1:49 remaining in the first half. Luke Williams was an absolute workhorse. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound running back carried the ball 31 times for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
“It’s tough to stop,” Conrad Weiser coach Alan Moyer said of the Veer. “They come off the ball hard and Williams is a heck of a back. He’s big and physical.”
The Scouts got another huge play from their leaders when faced with a long third down late in the half. Klitsch picked up a low snap and stayed in the pocket to air out a deep pass to Feliciano who made a contested catch for a 42-yard gain. Klitsch scored on the next play on a 17-yard run to make the score 28-12.
“Every throw to him (Feliciano) is a 75/25 ball if you are going to play one-on-one coverage,” Klitsch said. “If you are going to play one-on-one coverage, we are going to take advantage of it. If you are going to double him up, then we have Trey (Dianna) underneath, Evan (Traynor) underneath and Nate Fizz who made some catches today.”
The Raiders (1-1) trailed 28-12 with 1:05 left in the half but took advantage of two Conrad Weiser 15-yard penalties to score just before halftime.
Elco scored three touchdowns in the half but trailed by 10 due to two missed extra points and a failed two-point conversion rush attempt.
The Elco defense forced the first Conrad Weiser punt on the initial drive of the second half and suddenly the Scouts found themselves in a tight game. Williams finished off a 13-play drive to make it 28-24.
Alden Stickler intercepted what Klitsch called a “bad decision” and Elco had the ball to start the fourth quarter with a chance to take its first lead. The Raiders went three-and-out and the Scouts scored on the next drive on a 30-yard Klitsch touchdown run.
“If I see the edge I am going,” Klitsch said. “I will use my legs when I have to.”
Elco put together a methodical drive finished by quarterback Cole Thomas’ third touchdown run of the game. He then completed a pass to Aidon Fritsch for a two-point conversion which got Elco as close as they had been since the start of the game.
The Scouts went to their version of a bruising back to finish off the game. Cole Rothermel, listed at 175 pounds, received five straight carries, and got two first downs to help drain the clock. Rothermel finished with 10 of his 13 carries in the second half and a total of 81 yards.
“Give credit to the offensive line,” Moyer said. “They were coming off the ball and there were some great holes there. He’s (Rothermel) more of a ‘3 yards and a cloud of dust guy’ and it worked out for us.”
The offensive line has yet to decide the flavor of the promised extra batch of cupcakes. Klitsch will work on that tomorrow with Skovera’s daughter, Natalie.
“They get whatever they want,” Klitsch said. “We made them cookies, brownies and a batch of cupcakes last weekend and they all enjoyed them. We might go pumpkin spice or something like that.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Elco | 0 | 18 | 6 | 8 | 32 |
| Conrad Weiser | 14 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 35 |
Scoring summary
| Team | Player | Play | From | PAT Player | Extra Point |
| Conrad Weiser | C. Jones | 1 run | Noll | kick | |
| Conrad Weiser | Feliciano | 1 pass | Klitsch | Noll | kick |
| Elco | C. Thomas | 6 run | kick failed | ||
| Conrad Weiser | Klitsch | 23 run | Noll | kick | |
| Elco | L. Williams | 6 run | kick failed | ||
| Conrad Weiser | Klitsch | 17 run | Noll | kick | |
| Elco | C. Thomas | 3 run | run failed | ||
| Elco | L. Williams | 4 run | kick failed | ||
| Conrad Weiser | Klitsch | 30 run | Noll | kick | |
| Elco | C. Thomas | 1 run | Fritsch | pass from Thomas | |
Team statistics
| Elco | Conrad Weiser | |
| First downs | 21 | 20 |
| Rushes-yards | 56-311 | 29-195 |
| Passing yards | 21 | 230 |
| Total yards | 332 | 425 |
| Passes | 1-2-0 | 14-20-1 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-26 | 1-34 |
| Penalties-yards | 6-30 | 9-80 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Elco: L. Williams 31-183, C. Thomas 15-65, Groy 7-29, Kreider 1-25, Frederick 2-9.
Conrad Weiser: Klitsch 13-102, Rothermel 13-81, Dianna 1-7, C. Jones 2-5.
PASSING
Elco: C. Thomas 1-2-0–21.
Conrad Weiser: Klitsch 14-20-1–230.
RECEIVING
Elco: L. Williams 1-21.
Conrad Weiser: Feliciano 9-193, Fizz 2-29, Dianna 3-8.
Interceptions
Elco: Stickler.
