McCaskey ends 42-game league losing streak at Reading High’s expense
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Joel Schreiner — LNP/Lancasteronline
LANCASTER — The losing skid is over for McCaskey.
Jalen Cintron’s career night and a goal-line stand by the defense in overtime propelled McCaskey to a 34-28 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 win over Reading High Friday night.
It was McCaskey’s first league win since beating Lebanon 48-33 in October 2017. It snapped a streak of 42 straight league losses. It also extended Reading’s losing streak to five games; the Red Knights have not won since beating Muhlenberg in Week 2. They have lost in overtime twice in the past three weeks.
Cintron’s fifth touchdown pass of the night, a 12-yarder to Joshua Morales-Monzon, came in OT after the Red Tornado (1-2, 2-5) won the coin toss and elected to start overtime with the ball. The two-point conversion try failed, leaving a window open for the Red Knights.
Reading’s overtime possession opened with a 1-yard loss, followed by back-to-back 5-yard gains giving the Red Knights (0-4, 1-6) a fourth-and-goal from the 1. The Tornado defense stopped Gabriel Laws short of the goal line.
Cintron completed 16-of-27 passes for 173 yards. He threw two touchdowns each to Morales-Monzon and DeAndre Jones; the other went to Quimeak Talton.
The 14-yarder to Talton put the Tornado ahead 28-21 with 7:33 left but Reading answered with a 78-yard scoring drive, capped by Cameron Smalls’ 5-yard TD run to tie the game.
McCaskey had three more possessions in regulation, including one that started on the Reading 38 when the Tornado fell on a fumble with 2:48 to go. However, all three of the drives ended with McCaskey turning the ball over on downs.
The two teams combined for 32 penalties and 285 penalty yards (178 for McCaskey).
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final | |
| Reading High | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
| McCaskey | 14 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 34 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | McCaskey | Morales-Monzon, 11 pass from Cintron (run failed) |
| 1 | McCaskey | Jones, 15 pass from Cintron (Cintron run) |
| 1 | Reading High | Laws, 9 run (Murcia kick) |
| 2 | Reading High | Alvarado, 5 run (Murcia kick) |
| 2 | McCaskey | Jones, 31 pass from Cintron (run failed) |
| 4 | Reading High | Laws, 13 run (Murcia kick) |
| 4 | McCaskey | Talton, 14 pass from Cintron (Morales-Monzon run) |
| 4 | Reading High | Small, 5 run (Murcia kick) |
| OT | McCaskey | Morales-Monzon, 12 pass from Cintron (pass failed) |
Team statistics
| Reading High | McCaskey | |
| First downs | 19 | 19 |
| Rushes-yards | 47-251 | 23-182 |
| Passing yards | 2 | 173 |
| Total yards | 253 | 355 |
| Passes | 2-9-2 | 16-27-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 1-0 |
| Punts-average | 2-33.5 | 3-37 |
| Penalties-yards | 13-107 | 19-178 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Reading High:Alvarado 27-143, Laws 10-43, Fritz 3-27, Small 3-26, Plylaharn 4-12.
McCaskey: Lavender-Gray 15-86, Morales-Monzon 11-77, Cintron 6-16, Talton 1-3.
PASSING
Reading High: Fritz 1-6-1–(-4), Plylaharn 1-3-1–6.
McCaskey: Cintron 16-27-0–173.
RECEIVING
Reading High: Drayton 1-6, Beatty 1-(-4).
McCaskey: Talton 9-65, Morales-Monzon 4-55, Jones 2-46, Ramos 1-7.
