Saints dug in hard but couldn’t get past Shamrocks

By Mike Drago Last updated Nov 26, 2025

Berks Catholic's Johnny Sauppee, left, consoles teammate Colton Drumheller following loss Friday. (PhilMarPhoto)

2025 Berks football coverage presented by

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By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor

MYERSTOWN — Time after time the Berks Catholic Saints dug in and stopped Trinity’s powerful offense.

They forced the Shamrocks to turn the ball over on downs after their first drive reached the Saints’ 35.

Final
Trinity	17
Berks Catholic	0

They were back on the field a minute later, after a Berks Catholic fumble, and stopped them again on fourth down, at the Saints’ 30.

They did it one more time late in the first half, after the ’Rocks put together a 13-play drive that moved the ball from their own 10 to the BC 13. Linebacker Ryan Spatz blitzed on third-and-6, forcing a quick pass that hit the ground. Trinity had to settle for a field goal and small lead midway through the second quarter.

“This was our last game, (and) we knew we had to leave it all out there,” said Saints senior linebacker Aidan Curley. “They’re a really good team, and they’re tough to stop; I’m proud of the way we played.”

The Saints’ defense played at a championship level Friday night in the District 3 Class 3A title game but the Shamrocks defense was a level better, stoning Berks Catholic 17-0 at Elco High School.

The top-seeded Saints (9-3) came in as the highest-scoring Class 3A team in the district but against the third-seeded Shamrocks (10-3) and their array of bigger, faster Division I athletes they couldn’t move the chains.

“I felt we could move the ball (against them), but we’re not built to be behind the sticks,” said Berks Catholic coach Dave Stahler, “and one or two mistakes and we’re in trouble. We get a second-and-12, third-and-13, we don’t have a lot of tricks for that.”

Eight of Berks Catholic’s 31 designed runs ended up as losses. It was held to 13 first-half yards and a season-low 62 for the game. The Saints had negative passing yards and just seven first downs. They did not penetrate the red zone once.

Saints Aidan Curley takes out Maddox Jarzynski as he attempts a pass. (PhilMarPhoto)

They closest they got was the 22 late in the third quarter, but Alexi Reali was wide on a 40-yard field goal attempt.

It ended up as the Saints’ first shutout in 31 games, since a 31-0 loss to Pope John Paul II early in the 2023 season.

“I thought we’d be able to block them a little better up front,” Stahler said. “Our offensive line’s played great all year, and I thought the kids battled tonight, but we didn’t get it done.

“We just weren’t finishing off runs, and that matters. You’ve got to run hard and you’ve gotta run like you want to be there.”

The veteran Shamrocks, playing in their fourth straight championship game, had speed all over the field, preventing the Saints from getting to the outside.

They had a bevy of play-makers, chief among the wide receiver Maddox Jarzynski, who had a huge night with 11 catches for 114 yards and both the touchdowns. He’s a 6-2, 210-pound senior with one Division 1 offer and more to come.

He, like 6-4, 225-pound tight end Marcus Yeager, repeatedly used his height to go over the smaller BC defensive backs. The Saints prevented them from making big plays with the ball, but they couldn’t prevent them from catching it.

Quarterback Mason Boyer, after missing on seven of his first eight throws, warmed to the occasion and hit on 16 of his final 20 throws to finish with 177 yards.

“I thought we had coverage there,” Stahler said. “(There were) no yards after the catch; I think we did that all night. I think we did all of the stuff we wanted to do on defense.”

Trinity put the game away with 5:49 left when Jarzynski, with defenders on either side of him, pulled in an 8-yard TD pass to make it 17-0.

It was a one-possession game for most of the first half.

Boyer finally began to heat up late in the half and clicked off five straight completions on the Shamrocks’ final possession. He moved the team from its own 10 to the Berks Catholic 15 when he beat the blitz and found Jarzynski in the back of the end zone with a 15-yard pass that made it 9-0 with 24 seconds left in the half.

Saints’ Josiah Turman battles Maddox Jarzynski, who can’t come down with the catch. (PhilMarPhoto)

Boyer completed 6-of-7 passes on the 90-yard drive. Four of those, for 52 yards, went to Jarzynski, who finished the first half with six catches for 79 yards.

Despite the rough finish, the Saints were proud to be in a championship game for the first time since 2019, and with a season that saw them win a section championship and accumulate their most wins in seven years.

“I’m beyond happy with how we did this year,” said senior halfback Owen Schalk. “Win or lose, we got the chance to be here, and we played our hearts out and that’s all that mattered.”

“There was so much stuff that was awesome (that) happened (this year),” said Curley, “and everyone came to together and it was beautiful to see. There was no one else I would’ve done it with. I’m proud of everybody.”

Stahler felt likewise.

“This group of kids worked so hard,” he said. “They heard all year about how bad they were gonna be and they came together and had a great season. We were 9-3 and all the teams we lost to were still playing (this weekend). I’m proud of the effort, proud of the kids. I love those kids to death. I just wish we could’ve got one more and stayed together a little longer as a team.”

	1	2	3	4	Final
Trinity	0	10	0	7	17
Berks Catholic	0	0	0	0	0

Scoring summary

2	Trinity	Amatucci, 30 FG	8:30
2	Trinity	Jarzynski, 15 pass from Boyer (Amatucci kick)	0:24
4	Trinity	Jarzynski, 8 pass from Boyer (Amatucci kick)	5:49

Team statistics

	TRINITY	BERKS CATHOLIC
First downs	17	7
Rushes-yards	27-113	33-65
Passing yards	177	(-3))
Total yards	290	62
Passes	17-30-1	3-5-1
Fumbles-lost	2-0	1-1
Punts-average	0	3-36.3
Penalties-yards	4-30	6-40