Saints put Raptors away with dramatic second-half turnaround
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Andrew Clauser — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Berks Catholic head coach Dave Stahler talked before the season about the importance of turnovers and how they cost the Saints a few wins last year – maybe even a share of the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 title.
| Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 45 |
| Exec. Education | 20 |
Executive Education Charter was proving that point Thursday as it took a six-point lead into halftime due in large part to three Berks Catholic fumbles.
Whatever Stahler or his coaches said in the locker room seemed to ignite a fire in the Saints as they looked like a different team in the second half.
“I said (that we need) to take care of the ball and finish off blocks,” Stahler said after the Saints reeled off 31 unanswered second-half points to beat the visiting Raptors 45-20. “I knew we could move the ball against this team. We just had to take care of it and we did a better job in the second half.”
Along with the early turnovers the Saints were victimized by the Raptors passing attack. Quarterback Shawntez Whitsitt had his way with the Saints secondary, going 7-for-11 for 206 yards and leading three scoring drives.
The momentum shifted when senior safety Aiden Curley picked off a Whitsitt pass and took it 42-yards to the house early in the second quarter.
The Raptors led 20-14 going into the locker room.
The Saints defense looked a lot different in the second half. Whitsitt started to overthrow his receivers and was forced to scramble more. Stahler mentioned three key reasons for the change.
“The corners did a better job staying over the top of the receivers,” he said. “The guys underneath started to get out wider, limiting the short field.”
The third reason was the effectiveness of the defensive line.
“The D-line is the strength of our team and they were effective in stopping the run, which allowed us to play the pass better,” he said.
It was evident in the fourth quarter that Berks Catholic was beginning to wear down the Raptors. The Raptors started to rack up penalty yards, some out of frustration. Also, the Saints started to pile on the hits which was considered to be the hallmark of the Saints defense.
The Saints running game hit stride in the second half and helped them take over the game. Curley finished with a game-high 134 yards on 18 carries, with a 12-yard touchdown in the final quarter. Xavier Gerald kick-started the comeback with third-quarter TD runs of 13 and 46 yards; he finished with 111 yards on just eight carries. Overall, Berks Catholic rushed 47 times for 373 yards.
“Aiden was awesome tonight,” Stahler said. “He finished this game for us with a few tough runs. He is one of the leaders of this team and we are grateful to have him. Owen Schalk missed last week’s game but had a great second half blocking the outside edge. We were glad to have him back this week as he is another important leader for this team.”
The Saints’ final three points came from the leg of sophomore kicker Alex Reali, who kicked a 44-yard field goal. That tied Alex Kurtas’ 2022 mark for longest field goal in Berks Catholic history.
The Saints (1-1) face another tough opponent next week as they take on Bethlehem Catholic Friday at Forino Sports Complex.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Executive Education | 6 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Berks Catholic | 7 | 7 | 21 | 10 | 45 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Executive Education | Mirza, 11 run (kick failed) | 7:11 |
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Harter, 1 run (Reali kick) | 2:07 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Curley, 42 interception (Reali kick) | 11:49 |
| 2 | Executive Education | Whitsitt, 3 run (pass inc) | 7:28 |
| 2 | Executive Education | Whitsitt, 2 run (Murray, pass from Whitsitt) | 1:14 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Gerald, 13 run (Reali kick) | 8:25 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Gerald, 46 run (Reali kick) | 3:12 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Koller, 5 run (Reali kick) | 2:01 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Curley, 12 run (Reali kick) | 11:54 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Reali, 44 FG | 4:39 |
Team statistics
| EXECUTIVE EDUCATION | BERKS CATHOLIC | |
| First downs | 13 | 16 |
| Rushes-yards | 33-133 | 47-373 |
| Passing yards | 230 | 6 |
| Total yards | 363 | 379 |
| Passes | 9-23-2 | 1-7-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 3-3 |
| Punts-average | 3-27.3 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 9-90 | 9-70 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Executive Education: Whitsitt 11-81, Mirza 7-31, Ramos 14-18, Murray 1-3.
Berks Catholic: Curley 18-134, Gerald 8-111, Koller 9-63, Schalk 7-44, Burkman 3-20, Harter 2-1.
PASSING
Executive Education: Whitsitt 9-23-2-230.
Berks Catholic: Harter 1-7-6.
RECEIVING
Executive Education: Connor 4-134, Davis 2-35, Murray 1-32, Kohler 1-17, Brake 1-12.
Berks Catholic: DiSabatino 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS
Berks Catholic: Curley, DiSabatino.
MISSED FIELD GOALS
Berks Catholic: Reali 25.
