Title-game bound Saints find themselves ‘where we need to be’
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Eric Bennethum is too young to remember the details about Berks Catholic’s football glory days a decade ago, but he sensed the electricity running through the program at the time. His dad Phil Jr. is a long-time Saints coach; his brother Phil III was a junior lineman on BC’s first district championship team in 2013.
“I remember my dad and my brother being excited having an opportunity to play in a big game,” said Eric, a junior two-way lineman for the Saints. “I’m excited to do the same thing – and win some gold.”
It’s been a while since the Saints were in the winner’s circle.
They put together one of the most dominant runs in Berks football history from 2013-2019, winning four district titles and appearing in seven consecutive District 3 championship games – the first Berks program to achieve either feat.
Berks Catholic went 63-7 from 2013-17 – the winningest five-year stretch ever by a Berks football program.
It once had a dream backfield that included fullback Brandon George, who played at the University of Pittsburgh and is now with the Kansas City Chiefs; halfback Isaac Lutz, who played at Penn State; and Cooper Lutz, who played at Syracuse and Vanderbilt.
Memories of those 12-, 13- and 14-win seasons have faded. Many of the players on the current team had never worn pads when that run began.
Berks Catholic, born from the 2011 merger of Central Catholic and Holy Name, experienced its first losing football record in 2022. It had another the next year. In the five seasons prior to this one they were 27-25 with just two district playoff wins.
This looked like another mediocre season after 1-2 start. Eric Bennethum didn’t see it that way.
“We knew we had a lot of games left, and we knew they were winnable games,” he said. “We just had to lock in, play with more intensity. Now, we’re ready to go.”
The Saints (9-2) haven’t lost since Week 3. They’ve strung together eight straight wins, leading them back to their first District 3 championship game in six years. They’ll face third-seeded Trinity (9-3) Friday at 7 at Elco as they seek their first Class 3A championship. (The first three were in Class 2A, the most recent in 4A.)
“We knew what this team had and how far we could go,” said senior two-way lineman Palmer Reber of shaking off the difficult start, “we just had to unlock it. After that third game we skyrocketed to where we needed to be.”
Looking back, the Saints’ start wasn’t so bad after all. Their season-opening loss came at Twin Valley, a powerhouse which is unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the state in 4A. Their second loss came at the hands of Bethlehem Catholic, which is playing for the District 11 Class 4A championship Friday.
It was in that 48-41 loss to Becca that the Saints found their path. They trailed 34-13 at halftime when Johnny Sauppee came off the bench to replace injured starting quarterback Cole Harter. Sauppee led a valiant comeback that saw the Saints score 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and pull within a touchdown with 1:22 left.
They couldn’t get over the top in that one but strangely gained momentum and confidence from the loss. They’re emboldened now as they look back and see that the only teams to beat them are enjoying their own great seasons.
“(After playing Becca) we knew we could stay with any team we wanted to,” Reber said. “That really helped us.”
In the eight weeks since Berks Catholic has mercy-ruled four of its opponents and won by an average of 29.5 points. Its only close game in that stretch came against Annville-Cleona in the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 championship game; it pulled that one out in overtime, 14-7.
The top-seeded Saints face a Trinity team that may be the most talented one they’ve seen since Week 1. The Shamrocks have four linemen with Division I offers and a top-notch pass-catch combination in quarterback Mason Boyer and receiver Maddox Jarzynski. That pair connected for three first-half touchdowns last week in a 42-21 rout of Annville-Cleona; Jarzynski also had a Pick-6.
This postseason match-up is an unusual one: Berks Catholic and Trinity began their seasons by scrimmaging each other Aug. 16 in Camp Hill. Generally, league opponents or teams with the possibility of meeting in the postseason will not play a preseason scrimmage.
That early meeting gave each side a better understanding of what they face Friday.
“Becca and Executive Education (Berks Catholic’s Week 2 opponent) had pretty good receivers, but these two kids are special,” Berks Catholic coach Dave Stahler said of Trinity’s Jarzynski and Marcus Yeager.
Jarzynski is getting PSAC looks; Yeager is committed to play at Richmond.
“They’re seniors and they’ve been there and done it,” Stahler said. “They certainly will present a challenge for our guys on the back end of the defense.”
The Saints’ defense has been spectacular in recent weeks; it has allowed just four TDs in the last five games. It was at its best last week in a 37-6 win over Bermudian Springs when it allowed just two first downs and 41 total yards. The only score came on a kickoff return in the final minutes.
To say the least, the Saints are excited to be playing for district gold once again.
“I was a little kid watching championships,” Eric Bennethum recalls. “I’ve been working my butt off for how many years to see this happen again. All the guys are coming together. I think this is a pretty special team.”
“We had a couple rough years,” said Reber. “Now we’re back. When we ran for 575 yards at Schuylkill Valley against a team that beat us last year I thought: ‘I don’t know how far this team can go but I can’t wait to see.’ ”
