Saints duo ready to put it on the line in East/West Small School game
2026 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Any football coach would love the wealth of speed the East squad features heading into PSFCA Small School East/West game Sunday.
There’s Villanova recruit Brandon Way of Lancaster Catholic, a two-time All-State pick. Niko Carestia of Schuylkill Haven, who just ran a blistering 10.86 100 meters. And Lackawanna Trail’s Issac Ryon, the Class 1A Player of the Year who showed off his 4.5 speed in rushing for more than 2,800 yards and 49 touchdowns as a senior.
What East coach Joe Tout likes just as much are the guys who will be out in front of them blocking in Sunday’s East/West game, including Berks Catholic tackles Palmer Reber and Anthony Zatorski.
“I feel pretty good about our offensive line coming into this game,” said Tout, the head coach at Northern Lehigh. “I expect them to be pretty solid. No matter who’s in there, they’ve all done a nice job. You don’t know what to expect (once the game begins), because you don’t know what the West has, but I feel good about our offensive line.”
Reber and Zatorski are among three Berks County players participating in the game, along with Schuylkill Valley linebacker Logan Cammauf.
Way is one of six Lancaster-Lebanon League players, along with Annville-Cleona teammates Jon Moran and Cian Soliday.
The game features the top players from Class 1A, 2A, and 3A schools, and kicks off at noon at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field. The Big School game, featuring players from Class 4A, 5A, and 6A schools, follows at 5.
Reber and Zatorski are part of an offense that should be versatile and could be dynamic.
The quarterbacks – Matt Bodnar II of Notre Dame-Green Pond and David Naniewicz of Lakeland – each have outstanding credentials.
Bodnar, an All-State pick, threw for more than 4,097 yards – tops in the state – and 37 touchdowns as a senior. He also ran for 11 scores. He finished with over 7,000 career passing yads, 604 of that coming in one game. He turned down offers to play at Villanova and Penn and chose Division III powerhouse Mount Union instead.
Naniewicz, also an All-State pick, passed for 1,614 yards and ran for 942 in leading Lakeland to an 11-2 record and the District 2 Class 2A championship.
They’ll have outstanding targets to throw to in All-State pick Alex Clark of Notre Dame-Green Pond, All-State pick Evan Achenbach of Williams Valley and Kyeir Hankerson of Philadelphia West Catholic. Hankerson is 6-1, Clark and Achenbach 6-2. Their height and speed – Clark owns the District 11 records in the 100 and 200 meters — will make them tough to defend.
“We like our wideouts,” said Tout. “We feel pretty good about those guys. There’s some nice players, and it’s been fun to watch those kids compete against each other in practice.”
Reber and Zatorski were part of a dominant offensive line that carried Berks Catholic to a perfect run through Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League and all the way to the District 3 Class 3A championship game.
“They have good technique; they’re good blockers,” Tout said. “That’s what you expect when you get these kids.”
Zatorski, a 6-2, 250-pound tackle, had the highest blocking grade on a Saints offensive line that paved the way for a running game finished No. 3 in the 37-team league, averaging 378 rushing yards per game. He was also a first-team selection on the All-Berks Small School squad. He is committed to play at Muhlenberg College.
The 6-3, 260-pound Reber was a two-way starter and two-time all-league pick. He was named Offensive Lineman of the Year in Section 5 as a junior. He is committed to play at Shippensburg University.
“I’ve been impressed with Palmer,” Tout said. “I like his physicality; he gets after it a bit.”
Cammauf, a 6-2, 180-pound inside linebacker, is a two-time All-State pick. He recorded a team-best 114 tackles as a senior, with a team-high 15 tackles for loss. He had two sacks, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. He was named Linebacker of the Year in Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
Even though he primarily played on the inside at Schuylkill Valley Cammauf could see time Sunday as an outside linebacker, and in man coverage against wide receivers. He’s a three-sport athlete and has the ability to play in space.
“One of the things that you hope for in this game, is that you’re getting more athletic guys at those positions, and he is,” Tout said of Cammauf. “I think our linebackers are pretty good.”
Joining Cammauf on that critical second line of defense are Ryon and Braeden Smith of Lansdale Catholic. Smith was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Philadelphia Catholic League, had three Pick Sixes, and led the league in tackles.
“These games are awesome because they’re the best of the best,” said Tout, an assistant coach for the East in 2012. “I coach at a Single-A school; we get great kids, but we don’t always get football players (like these).”
