Season preview: Schuylkill Valley Panthers
2024 Berks football coverage
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Schuylkill Valley
Classification: Class 3A.
League: Lancaster-Lebanon Section 5.
Schedule: Click here.
Last season: 6-1 Section 5 tri-champ, 9-3 overall.
Last District 3 playoff appearance: 2023.
Head coach: Bruce Harbach, fourth season, 17-17.
Key losses: RB Dominic Giuffre, T/DE Theo Wysocki, all-league DB Colby Crills, DT Alex Rider, DE Jayden Gulley.
Top offensive players: All-League second-team QB Logan Nawrocki (2,045 yards, 21 TDs), RB Cooper Hohenadel, RB/KR Brandon Pyle, FB Logan Cammauf, all-league WR Kowen Gerner (48 receptions, 11 TDs), WR John Kowalski, WR Dillon Lackner, TE Luke Spotts, C Spencer Mountz, G Noah Sonon, G Nate Kier, T Gabe Kier, T Colby Stricker, all-league PK Reese Wamsher.
Top defensive players: E Colby Stricker, E Faud Abdullateef, T Noah Sonon, T Nick Moyer, all-league LB Luke Spotts, LB Logan Cammauf, LB Kowen Gerner, LB Brandon Pyle, all-league second-team S Cooper Hohenadel, CB John Kowalski, CB Dillon Lackner.
Did you know? The Panthers’ won eight straight games last season, topping the previous program record of six (set the year before). The streak started following a season-ending loss to eventual Section 3 tri-champ Twin Valley and ended with a loss to Section 5 tri-champ Lancaster Catholic.
For the record: Logan Nawrocki (2,548 yards) is in position to become the fourth 3,000-yard passer in program history and is within range of Kyle Beissel’s program record (3,749).
On schedule: The Panthers switched to an all-Berks non-league schedule, adding games against Muhlenberg, Daniel Boone, and Fleetwood the first three weeks. They’ll play just one regular season game outside Berks County, at Pequea Valley in Week 5.
Quotable: “This is probably the best skills group I’ve had since (I was coaching at Lancaster) Catholic, when we won the district championship and state championship (2011).” — Panthers coach Bruce Harbach.
Outlook: Schuylkill Valley had a chance to share the Section 5 title two years but lost a heartbreaking finale to eventual champ Lancaster Catholic, 44-41. It was in position to win the title outright last season but again lost the season-ender to Catholic, 35-14.
Logan Nawrocki, Luke Spotts, and Cooper Hohenadel, each on the field for those stinging defeats, are back for one last run and it should be a good one. Bruce Harbach’s fourth season in Leesport should be the best yet; this team well could end up as the best in program history.
Harbach talked up this senior class when they were freshmen, boldly saying they were as good as some of the players he coached at Lancaster Catholic, where he won a pair of state titles. If the Panthers can claim outright league and district titles his claim will have been warranted.
“They’ve progressed every year,” he said of his Class of 2025. “This is the year.”
Start with Nawrocki, now entering his third year as a starter at QB. He gradually worked his way into the top spot behind center as a sophomore and made big strides last year when he threw for 2,045 yards and 21 TDs, some of the best numbers in program history. Bigger things are expected now.
“Logan’s become a coach on the field and I trust what he does, what he says when he sees something,” Harbach said. “He trusts his receivers and he knows if he throws the ball deep they’re gonna get it.”
The best deep threat is WR Kowen Gerner, who enjoyed a breakout junior season. He averaged 20.3 yards on his team-leading 48 catches and set a program record with 11 TD receptions. There’s no such thing as a 50-50 ball when its thrown in Gerner’s direction; the all-league pick is going to come down with it nearly every time.
Spotts gives Nawrocki a big, reliable target at TE; he caught 23 balls last season but his strength comes in the run game, where he’s an outstanding blocker. Harbach compares him favorably to Ryan Purvis and Matt Balasavage, All-State tight ends at Catholic.
WRs Dillon Lackner and John Kowalski should prove to be valuable weapons. Lackner caught 17 passes and three TDs last year. Kowalski has speed to burn; he won Class 2A gold medals in the 100 and 200 in the spring.
There’s a huge hole to fill at RB after the graduation of All-State pick Dominic Giuffre, who scored 42 TDs the past two seasons. Giuffre was injured and missed several games last year at midseason. Cooper Hohenadel filled in for him then and now takes over as the lead back; the Panthers are more than confident he can adequately fill the role.
The other area to watch is the offensive line, which graduated three starters. Noah Sonon and Gabe Kier return up front. This unit won’t be nearly as big as last year’s but, Harbach said, it should be more athletic. How that plays out will be a key to how far the Panthers can go.
The defense should be fine. Eight starters return from a unit that held five of its six Section 5 opponents to two TDs or less; only Lancaster Catholic, so far Kryptonite to the Panthers, scored more.
Spotts, an all-league pick, is a game-changer at LB; he had seven tackles for loss and five pass breakups last season. He’s part of an athletic and experienced linebacker crew that includes Gerner and Logan Cammauf.
Depth overall needs to be improved, though Harbach hopes to have only one two-way lineman, Noah Sonon. He’ll be one of seven two-way starters.
The kicking game should be sound with the return of all-league PK Reese Wamsher.
Even though they ended up sharing the section championship last year with Catholic and Annville-Cleona it was the first title of any kind in program history and the perfect launching pad for better things this season.
At the wire: Panthers have what it takes to bring home the school’s first outright league title and challenge for its first District 3 title.
