Four Downs: Four big takes from Week 5
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Four biggest takeaways from Week 5 of the 2023 high school football season:
1ST DOWN
Gov. Mifflin and Wilson no longer compete for the same league title. They don’t open or close the season against each other as they did for many years.
Still, the annual rivalry game seems to be as big as ever. As soon as each finished off Week 5 wins the players’ focus immediately turned to the annual battle for the Gurski/Linn Trophy. They’ll meet for the 66th time Friday at Gurski Stadium.
The Bulldogs appear to be hitting stride, with three straight wins. Their defense still needs some work but they were able to make some big stops Friday to knock off unbeaten Cedar Crest on the road.
The Mustangs are also 3-2, with losses to heavyweights Spring-Ford and Exeter; they are playing much better than a season ago.
2ND DOWN
The long-suffering Kutztown Cougars have shed a lot of baggage in recent years.
Last season they snapped a 70-game league losing streak by beating Northern Lebanon.
In 2020 they ended a 35-game losing streak, finishing the season with a win over Shenandoah Valley.
Friday they earned their first win vs. a Berks opponent in seven years, beating Hamburg 35-34; the Cougars had lost 32 straight.
It’s a milestone victory, for sure, and a breakthrough win for head coach Larry Chester and his staff, who have worked hard to breath life back into a program once without a pulse. Not so long ago the roster was so thin Kutztown had to forfeit a game because it didn’t have enough players to suit up.
Now the Cougars are in position to finish with a winning record and maybe even a berth in the District 3 Tournament.
3RD DOWN
Berks Catholic hopes to back off on the front of its schedule next season.
The Saints’ three non-league opponents – Loyalsock, Executive Education and Pope John Paul III – were each ranked among the Top 10 teams in the state in their classifications. So are three of their Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 opponents: Wyomissing, Lampeter-Strasburg and Cocalico.
That’s a tough way to make a living – or to make the playoffs.
Despite that heavy load the Saints are in position to return to the District 3 Class 3A Tournament. They’re fifth in the 3A power ratings; the top six qualify.
It won’t be easy to get there: They’ll need to win their winnable games, against Conrad Weiser (1-4) this week and Octorara (2-3) in Week 8, plus at least one other, against Lampeter-Strasburg, Cocalico or Elco. Those teams are a combined 12-3.
Berks Catholic played without injured starting quarterback Will Hess in its 19-16 win over Donegal Friday.
4TH DOWN
Bob Wolfrum doesn’t grade on a curve; he expects excellence from each of his Wyomissing players.
Berks’ all-time winningest coach has set the bar high for the Spartans.
They limited the state’s leading rusher, Elco’s Jake Williams, to 133 yards on 23 carries in Saturday’s 28-14 win – about half what he averaged over the first four games of the season.
Wolfrum gave his defense a “C” grade for that performance: Average. He expects better.
Elco coach Bob Miller thought the Spartans earned higher marks.
“Their linebackers get to the ball really well, especially on the outside,” he said. “Jake normally bounces (to the outside for big gains). This is a faster team than we’ve seen. He wasn’t able to take some of those inside runs and bounce ’em out like he’s normally able to do.”
Two weeks from now Wyomissing’s young defense will get the ultimate challenge at Cocalico against a Veer offense that often runs as flawlessly as Wolfrum’s Wing-T. That game figures to decide the Section 4 title.
