Spartans use big second-half effort to hold off Saints in a true ‘Backyard Brawl’
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum said that his offense, other than the first drive, was a “waste of time” in the first half.
His offense in the second half wasted no time. It scored a touchdown on each of its five possessions and pulled away late from a resolute Berks Catholic squad 41-24 in their first Lancaster-Lebanon Section 4 match-up in the “Backyard Brawl” Friday night at Forino Sports Complex.
Matt Kramer scored four of those touchdowns and rushed for 121 yards for the Spartans (1-0, 4-0); his big-play backfield mate Drew Eisenhower ran for 183 yards with a touchdown.
“They all are big-play guys, especially Eisenhower,” Wolfrum said. “Kramer has been that for us, as well. Ryker (Jones), we use him mainly on defense but he’s got great speed and he may be our number one hitter. He had some plays tonight, too.”
They needed all of their big-play guys to hold off the Saints (0-1, 0-4).
Wyomissing came in as the No. 1 ranked team in the PennLive.com Class 3A rankings and a clear favorite but the Saints provided the first real resistance of the season.
Wyomissing had 61 yards on its opening drive but only 53 yards for the rest of the half. A few costly holding penalties put them behind the sticks and Berks Catholic’s defense continued to get off the field.
“The first half we got flustered,” Wolfrum said. “We had penalties on a couple of offensive plays (that worked), they got called back on the few that we got.”
Despite the sloppy play the Spartans appeared in control and it looked like they would head to halftime with a 7-0 lead and their first-team defense shutout streak intact.
The Saints’ Nafis Blythe had other ideas. He came into the game with only 50 rushing yards but finished with 122 against the league’s top-rated defensive unit. He busted loose on a 43-yard gain followed by another 10-yard rush that allowed Will Hess to hook up with Josiah Jordan on a perfect corner route to tie the game with five seconds left in the half.
“Props to him, he was a big kid, he ran hard and ran low,” Jones said. “Tough to bring down and a big strong kid.”
The Saints then squib-kicked deep into Wyomissing territory. It wasn’t fielded cleanly and was recovered by the upset-minded Saints. Andrew Kurtas blasted a 44-yard field goal as time expired in the half to give Berks Catholic a 10-7 lead.
Wolfrum was frustrated with how his team played in the first half and made it clear at halftime.
“Honestly, when we got in the locker room he said there’s nothing X’s and O’s he can change for us,” Kramer said. “It’s just a matter of us doing our responsibilities. That’s a big thing in our offense and defense. We have to do our job and do it well.”
Wolfrum’s offense executed to perfection, scoring on drives of six, two, four, two and nine plays.
The defense found a way to slow down Blythe, but still got stung by two big plays.
The Spartans extended their lead to 10 points twice in the second half only for Berks Catholic to answer immediately. Hess threw a 66-yard touchdown to Michael Bradley that was tipped by a Wyomissing defender.
Jordan, who was bottled up for most of the game, exploded for an electric 63-yard touchdown run that cut Wyomissing’s lead to 27-24 with 11:10 left.
Berks Catholic coach Rick Keeley knew what they were in for in the second half.
“The first thing I said when I went in (at halftime): ‘Guys this games not over,’ ” Keeley said. “That team worked too hard to lay down in the second half and not come out and give it their best shot. We’ve got to go out and give it our best shot and that’s what happened.
“I thought we had a great effort in the second half, maybe getting tired a little bit and missing some tackles that they turned into big runs.”
Those big runs helped Wyomissing would even the “Backyard Brawl” series at six wins a piece. Eisenhower filled the second half with highlights, including an 85-yard run to the BC 1, a 56-yard kickoff return and a 20-yard touchdown that sealed the game with 4:03 left.
This Wyomissing team has large expectations and in the past two seasons it smashed its way through the regular season without so much as a tense moment. This type of game and outcome could pay off for a team that has state championship aspirations.
“The fact that we came back in the second half and played the way we played shows we have some fight in us and we aren’t going to give up when things look down,” Wolfrum said.
Maybe the first half wasn’t a waste of time.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Wyomissing | 7 | 0 | 13 | 21 | 41 |
| Berks Catholic | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Wyomissing | Jones, 11 run (Levering kick) | 8:23 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 15 pass from Hess (Kurtas kick) | 0:05 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Kurtas, 44 field goal | 0:00 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | Kramer, 7 run (Levering kick) | 4:18 |
| 3 | Wyomissing | Kramer, 33 run (kick failed) | 3:15 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Bradley, 66 pass from Hess (Kurtas kick) | 2:16 |
| 4 | Wyomissing | Kramer, 1 run (Levering kick) | 11:55 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Jordan, 63 run (Kurtas kick) | 11:10 |
| 4 | Wyomissing | Kramer, 2 run (Levering kick) | 6:23 |
| 4 | Wyomissing | Eisenhower, 20 run (Levering kick) | 4:03 |
Team statistics
| Wyomissing | Berks Catholic | |
| First downs | 16 | 13 |
| Rushes-yards | 41-398 | 41-219 |
| Passing yards | 8 | 97 |
| Total yards | 406 | 316 |
| Passes | 1-4-1 | 5-9-2 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 3-1 |
| Punts-average | 2-30 | 3-23 |
| Penalties-yards | 7-63 | 1-10 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Wyomissing: Eisenhower 10-183, Kramer 15-121, Mcintyre 6-57, Jones 5-37, Delp 1-1, Zechman 2-0, Team Rush 2-(-1).
Berks Catholic: Blythe 12-122, Jordan 19-118, D. Garcia 4-9, Bradley 3-(-3), Team Rush 1-(-7) Hess 2-(-20).
PASSING
Wyomissing: Zechman 1-4-1-8.
Berks Catholic: Hess 5-9-0-97.
RECEIVING
Wyomissing: Brower 1-8.
Berks Catholic: Geddio 2-9, Bradley 1-66, Jordan 1-15, Mace 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS
Berks Catholic: Jordan.
