Steady Logan Klitsch leads Scouts over Hawks
By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Everyone in the Berks Football League knows that Logan Klitsch is one of the best players in the county. The senior quarterback committed to Dartmouth earlier this season, proving he isn’t too bad in the classroom, either.
His mental toughness and ability to stay calm in tough situations was key for Conrad Weiser in a 31-27 victory over Hamburg Friday in a Berks Football League Section 2 match-up.
The Scouts (5-2, 3-1) found themselves behind the chains often in a penalty-filled tilt at Hawk Hill, but their leader never wavered. Klitsch was responsible for three touchdowns that all came on long down-and-distance situations.
He scored on third-and-goal from the 12 on a designed pass play turned into a scramble. He put the Scouts ahead for good in the second quarter on a second-and-18 when he found his go-to receiver, Aanjay Feliciano, on the right sideline. Feliciano made a couple deft moves for the 38-yard touchdown. Finally, on fourth-and-15 from the Hamburg 33 Klitsch rolled out to his left and with the flick of his right wrist hit Trey Dianna in the end zone to widen the lead to 14.
“It’s just Logan being a great leader,” Feliciano said. “If it wasn’t for him keeping us calm, we get our heads hot and it’s really just Logan that keeps us calm. A lot of us freak out and overthink things and Logan is always calm.”
Klitsch, who leads Berks with 13 touchdown passes and total touchdowns responsible for with 29, must have already passed down some of his ability to stay cool under pressure.
Freshman quarterback Donavan Gingrich was forced into the game due to Klitsch losing his helmet. Gingrich entered with one second left in the first half and the ball on the Hamburg 34. He threw a nice deep ball to Feliciano who went up between defenders and snatched a touchdown on the last play of the half.
“Donavan is a great kid, and I am very proud of him,” Klitsch said. “I told him that he has one more passing touchdown than I did in ninth grade.”
Gingrich’s first career touchdown pass was Feliciano’s 16th career touchdown reception. That makes him the all-time program leader, breaking the record of Matt Weiser (set from 2008-2010).
“I just feel great that I can do this for this team,” Feliciano said. “If I couldn’t do this, I don’t know where I would be at. God blessed me with ability and these coaches trust me, I’m just happy.”
Conrad Weiser ended up needing every bit of its explosive first half. The Hawks (5-2, 1-2) put up 314 yards of offense in the second half and scored two touchdowns in the last 2:55 to force the Scouts to recover an onside kick to put the game away.
Diohnny Ruiz finished with 101 rushing yards and 85 receiving yards, including two touchdown receptions. Pierce Mason rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown.
“We came out the first half firing and the second half a little slow,” Feliciano said. “We still fired the first half and that’s basically why we won the game. We’ve got to build up to the whole game and we will be a better team.”
Conrad Weiser coach Alan Moyer was not a happy camper about the number of penalties. The Scouts finished with nine accepted penalties for 93 yards. The majority of penalties were holding or blocking penalties which erased some nice gains including a touchdown.
“We have been doing that all year — we have to be the most penalized team in the county,” Moyer said. “With all the mistakes and penalties, it’s good to come out with a win against a 5-1 program. We take that one and move on to the next.”
The Scouts have a non-league game next week against New Oxford before finishing versus Kutztown and a match-up at Wyomissing that could decide the section title.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Conrad Weiser | 7 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 31 |
| Hamburg | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 27 |
Scoring summary
| Team | Player | Play | From | PAT Player | Extra Point |
| Hamburg | Mason | 53 run | Hix | kick | |
| Conrad Weiser | Klitsch | 12 run | Noll | kick | |
| Conrad Weiser | Feliciano | 38 pass | Klitsch | Noll | kick |
| Conrad Weiser | Dianna | 33 pass | Klitsch | Noll | kick |
| Conrad Weiser | Feliciano | 34 pass | Gingrich | Noll | kick |
| Hamburg | Watt | 5 run | Hix | kick | |
| Conrad Weiser | Noll | 34 kick | |||
| Hamburg | Diohnny Ruiz | 9 pass | Menapace | Hix | kick |
| Hamburg | Diohnny Ruiz | 42 pass | Menapace | Hix | kick failed |
Team statistics
| Conrad Weiser | Hamburg | |
| First downs | 14 | 19 |
| Rushes-yards | 33-160 | 46-303 |
| Passing yards | 211 | 137 |
| Total yards | 371 | 440 |
| Passes | 15-21-0 | 11-14-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Punts-average | 3-40.34 | 3-31.34 |
| Penalties-yards | 9-93 | 14-120 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Conrad Weiser: Klitsch 15-70, Rothermel 9-42, Parham 3-25, Dianna 1-16, Jones 4-8, Feliciano 1-(-1).
Hamburg: Mason 11-105, Di. Ruiz 16-101, Menapace 10-69, De. Ruiz 3-16, Watt 6-12.
PASSING
Conrad Weiser: Klitsch 14-20-0–177, Gingrich 1-1-0–34.
Hamburg: Menapace 11-14-0–137.
RECEIVING
Conrad Weiser: Feliciano 7-102, Dianna 4-55, Fizz 2-35, Pazdrick 1-12, Rothermel 1-7.
Hamburg: Diohnny Ruiz 5-85, Watt 3-17, Harris 2-20, Mason 1-15.
