Weiser’s Donovan Gingrich among four Berks picks for East/West Big School game
2025 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was orginally published Feb. 21.)
Donovan Gingrich will cap a senior season that saw him quarterback Conrad Weiser to an undefeated season by playing in the PSFCA Big School East/West game.
Gingrich is one of four Berks players selected for the team, along with Scouts teammate and kicker Alex Malone, Reading High offensive lineman Keyshawn Efese, and Twin Valley offensive lineman Aris Drake.
They are among 10 Lancaster-Lebanon League players selected for the 36-player team of top seniors from the eastern part of the state (with the Susquehanna River as a dividing line).
They’ll play the West stars May 18 at Cumberland Valley’s Chapman Field, at 5:00; the Small School game kicks off at noon.
Gingrich, who’s committed to play at Bloomsburg University, set a Weiser record by completing 66.7 percent of his passes last season. He threw for 1,545 yards and 17 touchdowns in leading the Scouts to the Section 3 title.
He was named Offensive Back of the Year in Section 3 and earned all-league honors as a punter, averaging 42.7 yards per kick.
Gingrich completed his career with 3,653 passing yards, third-most in program history, and 39 TD passes, second-most.
The Scouts improved from 2-8 in 2023 to 10-1 last season, the largest wins increase in Berks football history.
Drake, who is committed to the United States Naval Academy, earned Section 4 all-league honors as a tackle for an offense that averaged 234 rushing yards and 40.2 points per game.
The 6-5, 290-pounder was a four-year starter for the Raiders and earned a dozen Division I offers before choosing Navy.
Efese, who is committed to play at Monmouth, didn’t allow a sack all season in earning Section 1 all-league honors at tackle. The 6-5, 290-pounder graded out at 92.5 percent and recorded 23 pancake blocks.
He pulled in eight Division I offers before his senior season after drawing all-league second-team honors at tackle.
Malone, a converted soccer player, had a perfect season for Conrad Weiser, nailing 44-of-44 PATs and 4-of-4 field goals to earn a share of the Berks County Specialist of the Year award with Wyomissing’s Keegan Maher.
His longest field goal of the season came in the Scouts’ biggest game, the Section 3 championship against Cocalico. He opened the scoring with a 38-yard field goal; the Scouts won 24-21.
Also selected from the Lancaster-Lebanon league were offensive linemen Spencer McClintock and Owen Mark and linebacker Declan Clancy, all of Manheim Township; linebacker Emory Fluhr and long-snapper Carson Zook, of Lampeter-Strasburg; and linebacker Brodie Daugherty Manheim Central.
Dave Hahn of Manheim Central will be the East head coach. Ephrata head coach Kris Miller will be an assistant coach. TJ Plack of Peters Township will be head coach of the West squad.
Several Berks players with All-State honors were not selected for the team: Logan Wegman and Jayden Zandier of Exeter, Evan Myers and Carter Faubel of Twin Valley, and Madyx Gruber of Wilson. Wegman is committed to play at Navy.
2025 East/West Big School roster
Last year Twin Valley’s Paul McClune was the only Berks player selected for the Big School game.
In 2023 Exeter All-State lineman Anthony Caccese was the lone Berks pick; he eventually was moved to the Big 33 Classic roster and played in a victory over Maryland.
