Twelfth man lifts Tigers over Panthers

By Mike Drago Last updated Sep 9, 2024

Fleetwood's Brody Nowotarski takes down Schuylkill Valley's Dillon Lackner Friday. (PhilMarPhoto)

2024 Berks football coverage

presented by UECU

By Sam Cavalieri — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent

Brody Nowotarski was overcome with emotion following Fleetwood’s 22-10 win over Schuylkill Valley Friday night at Tigers Stadium.

The senior scored a touchdown and his team won, but it was more than that. Earlier this year, on Jan. 11, his teammate Benjamin Miller lost his life in a car accident.

Miller was a senior offensive lineman for the Tigers last season. The Tigers retired his No. 66 jersey in a ceremony before the game and his teammates played with emotion in taking down the Panthers (1-2).

“Today was about was putting it all out there for (Benny),” Nowotarski said. “He was my best friend, he was family, he was everything to everybody. We all just came out here, put our work in and showed him what we could do.”

Nowotarski, a defensive back and wide receiver, scored on a 45-yard punt return for the game’s first touchdown, a score that gave Fleetwood a lead it would never relinquish.

His score on the play is all the more remarkable considering that Nowotarski is not a punt returner. The punt was partially blocked after a bad snap and went low and to the right, fluttering right into the hands of Nowotarski, who was lined up to block for the punt return.

He also made a 16-yard reception to set up a first-and-goal that ended in a Trey Killian touchdown for a 16-3 lead in the second quarter.

“Brody and Benny (were) best friends (and) I knew this night would be emotional for everybody and very emotional for him,” Fleetwood coach Steve Pangburn said. “We told the guys we are playing with 12 guys on the field tonight, and for Brody in particular to come out and have a special night you’ve almost got to look up and wonder.”

The Fleetwood defense unleashed havoc on Schuylkill Valley quarterback Logan Nawrocki. Nawrocki was sacked six times and finished with minus-42 yards rushing. Landen Hare was a dominant force at defensive end and was in on several sacks.

Hare, Nowotarski and the rest of Fleetwood defense limited the Panthers (1-2) to just 11 yards in the second half.

Brody Nowotarski celebrates with teammartes Bryce Ryan, left, and Jason Pettion following his touchdown. (PhilMarPhoto)

“I don’t have an official count, but I challenged him to get five (sacks) and he probably got pretty close,” Pangburn said of Nowotarski. “I know he was around the ball; a lot of guys got after it.”

The Tigers got just enough on offense from their two quarterbacks, Tristin McFarland and Chase Domenech. Both were able to grind out yards. McFarland finished with 53 yards rushing and Domenech had 44.

Domenech sprung the big play with a 22-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-8 to put the game away with 2:39 left to play.

The Tigers host Conrad Weiser next week to start Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 play. They believe they will have a 12th player with them once again.

“He’s still here in our hearts and watching over us,” Nowotarski said.

	1	2	3	4	Final
Schuylkill Valley	3	7	0	0	10
Fleetwood	0	16	0	6	22

Scoring summary

1	Schuylkill Valley	Wamsher, 40 FG	4:12
2	Fleetwood	Nowotarski, 45 punt return (McFarland run)	9:13
2	Fleetwood	Killian, 4 run (McFarland run)	0:31
2	Schuylkill Valley	Gerner, 63 pass from Nawrocki (Wamsher kick)	0:18
4	Fleetwood	Domenech, 22 run (run failed)	2:39

Team statistics

	SCH. VALLEY	FLEETWOOD
First downs	9	13
Rushes-yards	22-29	40-132
Passing yards	138	39
Total yards	167	171
Passes	13-21-0	7-14-1
Fumbles-lost	3-2	1-0
Punts-average	4-19.3	3-24.7
Penalties-yards	7-70	5-35