The Fearless Friday Football Forecast has a new champion — and an old one
2023 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
A late-season push and a strong performance in the playoffs helped Sam Cavalieri catch Joe Mays and hold on for a first-place tie in the second annual Fearless Friday Football Forecast.
Cavalieri and Mays each went 8-2 in Week 14 to finish with a 139-34 record, a mere couple of wins ahead of Lancaster sportswriter Jeff Reinhart and MikeDragoSports.com managing editor Mike Drago.
Mays finished first last season in the inaugural competition.
The top finisher gets a party hoagie from Mays Sandwich Shop, so it looks like we’ll need a long knife to cut this sub in half. You want onions on that?
Cavalieri, who trailed Mays by six wins heading into Week 9, went 13-1 in Week 10, 10-1 in Week 12 and 9-1 in Week 13 to pull into a first-place tie.
Mays was consistent throughout the season but stumbled slightly in Week 9, going 9-5 to allow Cavalieri to close the gap.
Mays doubling down on his alma mater in its playoff game at Cumberland Valley turned out to be a questionable strategic gambit, sort of like going for it on fourth down from inside your own 10. High risk, low reward.
Early season leader Chris DeAntonio, we’re sad to report, had a 1964 Phillies-like collapse, going 7-3 in Week 13 – a week which saw three Forecaster go 9-0 – before a fateful 2-8 finish this week when he made a desperate attempt to make up ground on the leaders by tossing Hail Marys all over the field.
It did not go well. The season’s worst week – the equivalent of a Pick-Six – landed DeAntonio in last place.
Andrew Clauser, who experienced a late-season swoon of his own – 26-15 over the final four weeks – somehow escaped the cellar.
There were five perfect scores throughout the season, the best of which belonged to Matt Gaffney, who went 14-0 in the final week of regular season play.
Mostly, there was a wealth of shoddy Forecasting, but we’ll make an effort to do better next season!
| Danville Wyomissing | Harrisburg Manheim Twp. | Ephrata Cocalico | Manheim McDevitt | Camp Hill Dunmore | Steel-High Lackawanna | |
| Joe Mays | Wyomissing | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Sam Cavalieri | Wyomissing | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Jeff Reinhart | Danville | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Lackawanna |
| Phil Marabella | Wyomissing | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Mike Drago | Wyomissing | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Sean McBryan | Wyomissing | Harrisburg | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Chris DeAntonio | Wyomissing | Manheim Township | Ephrata | Manheim | Camp Hill | Lackawanna |
| Matt Hagy | Wyomissing | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Matt Gaffney | Wyomissing | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Lackawanna |
| Logan Moyer | Wyomissing (DD) | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Daryn Zeiner | Wyomissing | Harrisburg | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Mike Mitchell | Wyomissing | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Andrew Clauser | Wyomissing | Manheim Township | Cocalico | McDevitt | Dunmore | Steel-High |
| Staff composite | Wyomissing 12-1 | Manheim Township 11-2 | Cocalico 12-1 | McDevitt 12-1 | Dunmore 12-1 | Steel-High 10-3 |
| McDowell N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. Cathedral Prep | Bonner-Prendie Dallas | Scranton Prep NW Lehigh | Week 14 | Season total | |
| Joe Mays | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Bonner-Prendie | NW Lehigh | 8-2 | 139-34 |
| Sam Cavalieri | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Bonner-Prendie | NW Lehigh | 8-2 | 139-34 |
| Jeff Reinhart | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Dallas | NW Lehigh | 7-3 | 137-35 |
| Mike Drago | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Dallas | NW Lehigh | 9-1 | 137-36 |
| Sean McBryan | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Dallas | Scranton Prep | 9-1 | 136-35 |
| Phil Marabella | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Bonner-Prendie | NW Lehigh | 8-2 | 136-36 |
| Matt Hagy | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Bonner-Prendie | NW Lehigh | 9-1 | 136-37 |
| Logan Moyer | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Dallas | Scranton Prep | 9-2 | 134-39 |
| Daryn Zeiner | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Bonner-Prendie | NW Lehigh | 9-1 | 133-39 |
| Matt Gaffney | N. Allegheny | Peters Twp. | Dallas | Scranton Prep | 7-3 | 133-40 |
| Mike Mitchell | N. Allegheny | Cathedral Prep | Bonner-Prendie | NW Lehigh | 7-3 | 131-42 |
| Andrew Clauser | N. Allegheny | Cathedral Prep | Bonner-Prendie | Scranton Prep | 6-4 | 130-43 |
| Chris DeAntonio | McDowell | Cathedral Prep | Bonner-Prendie | Scranton Prep | 2-8 | 129-43 |
| Staff composite | N. Allegheny 12-1 | Peters Twp. 10-3 | Bonner-Prendie 8-5 | NW Lehigh 8-5 |
