Team of the Day: Berks Catholic Saints

By Mike Drago Last updated Jul 26, 2024

Saints coach Rick Keeley celebrates championship with Jackson Haas, Josiah Jordan, and Ty Barreto.

2024 Berks football coverage

presented by UECU

The Berks Catholic Saints lost the first two games they played in their debut season, 2011. They didn’t lose many over the next decade.

The Saints made arguably the strongest debut in Berks football history, winning nine games in their second season and league and district championships in their third.

Rick Keeley, Saints coach for their first 13 seasons.

In 2015 they set a Berks scoring record, averaging 44.5 points per game. Two years later they became the first Berks team to win three straight District 3 championships. In 2019 they made their seventh straight appearance in a district championship game, yet another record for a Berks team.

From 2013-17 they went 63-7, recording the most wins ever by a Berks football team over a five-year stretch.

Rick Keeley was the only head coach the Saints knew over their first 13 seasons. He resigned following last season, his Berks-record 38th season as a head coach.

Dave Stahler, one of his former players (at Holy Name) and one of his long-time assistants at Berks Catholic, succeeds him and is a head coach for the first time in 2024.

At their best, the Saints were known for their explosive offense. They set a Berks record by averaging 44.5 per game in 2015 and topped it two seasons later, averaging 45.3.

They set a Berks record in 2017 with a 41.3-point winning marging in the regular season and with a 34.3-point winning margin over the entire season.

The last two seasons haven’t been the best for the Saints, as they finished 4-6 in the regular season each year and missed the District 3 playoffs. They did, however, end each season with a victory and an Eastern Conference championship.

They’ll move to Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League this seasona after playing in Section 4 the past two years.

To find more about Berks Catholic football history, including the newly updated team records page, click on the Saints Team Page.

You can find this season’s schedule, the Saints’ series record against all their 2024 opponent, results from the 2023, 2022 and 2021 seasons and team rushing, scoring and passing records you won’t find anywhere else.

Each day during the preseason, MikeDragoSports.com will feature a different Berks team.

Next up: Conrad Weiser.