This Conrad Weiser touchdown was worth more than six points

The touchdown came late in the third quarter with Conrad Weiser already leading by 17 points and on the way to a 31-7 win at Octorara.

Jonathon McQuillen’s 69-yard touchdown run last week was more than a little window dressing. It was history in the making.

The 5-8, 135-pound sophomore became the first Tulpehocken player to score a touchdown in a varsity football game. Until this season that would not have been possible; the Trojans have never fielded a football team.

Through a PIAA-sanctioned cooperative sponsorship agreement approved in June Tulpehocken students are eligible to play football at Conrad Weiser.

Scouts head coach Alan Moyer was excited about McQuillen’s score, so much so that he presented him with a game ball.

For years Moyer had been opposed to a co-op with Tulpehocken because he feared it would push Weiser up to a higher classification. The PIAA will add 50 percent of Tulpehocken’s male enrollment, grades 9-11, to Conrad Weiser’s football enrollment figure.

He realized earlier this year such a classficiation bump would be trivial compared to the opportunity his program can offer to students outside the Weiser school district.

“I speak to a lot of organizations throughout the year and tell everyone what a great game this is, and how it gives us a chance to touch so many lives and to help young men (grow),” Moyer said. “Then it hit me: If you’re gonna brag about this, why not give more kids an opportunity to play?”

Moyer signed off on the idea. Now, more than a dozen Tulpehocken student-athletes are playing football at Weiser. Moyer said there are six in the high school program, all sophomores or freshmen. The others are playing at the junior high level.

It’s a win-win for both schools.

“I’ve seen so many good athletes move out of our district because they didn’t get the opportunity to play football,” said Tulpehocken athletic direction Brent Johnson. “We’ve lost some quality athletes over the years.”

For years Moyer was hesitant to sign off on the move because he didn’t think enough Tulpehocken students would participate to make it worth it for Weiser should it be bumped up a class.

Now he’s just happy to see someone such as McQuillen get an opportunity and take advantage of it.

“He’s a good kid, and has a very positive attitude,” Moyer said. “And he has some athletic ability. In Week 1 we were down to our fourth running back and he got some carries.”

McQuillen also plays on special teams.

He is the only Tulpehocken student seeing significant playing time this season but that should change in future years.

This is the first season in Berks football history that students at every BCIAA school have access to a football program.

Antietam, Brandywine Heights and Oley Valley don’t field their own teams but have agreements with neighboring schools.

Antietam players compete at Exeter; for many years they played at Muhlenberg. Oley Valley students are part of the Fleetwood program. Brandywine Heights students play at Kutztown. In fact, if not for Brandywine players the Cougars might not be able to field a team due to a lack of numbers.

In order to form a cooperative sponsorship the schools must have a contiguous geographical border and one must have an enrollment (male or female, depending on the sport) of fewer than 300.

According to numbers on the PIAA website it doesn’t appear that Conrad Weiser will be bumped from 4A to 5A during the current 2022-24 cycle because of the agreement with Tulpehocken. That may change for the 2024-26 cycle.

PIAA reclassifies schools based on enrollment every two years.