What Week 10 means to every Berks team
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
It’s the final week of the regular season and there’s plenty on the line.
Most of Berks’ 14 teams will advance to the postseason; where, and who they play, remains up in the air.
Even for the teams which won’t see Week 11 this is an important week.
Here’s a look at each team’s focus:
Berks Catholic
A win at Annville-Cleona will send the Saints (5-4) to the postseason. But where?
They’re sitting at No. 7 in District 3 Class 4A; the top six qualify.
If the Saints win they can pass No. 6 Big Spring (4-5) or No. 5 Biglerville (6-3) if either lose. The best chance there is a loss by Big Spring, which plays an East Pennsboro (6-3) team that has won six of its last seven.
The Saints could also pass either of those teams based on power ratings bonus points gained by any of their three non-league opponents – Twin Valley, Executive Education, and Bethlehem Catholic – if those teams win (all three could).
Failing all of that . . . the Saints should have a spot waiting for them in Eastern Conference Class 3A playoffs. They beat Hamburg last year for that title.
Conrad Weiser
The Scouts wrapped up the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 3 title last week with an incredible 24-21 win over Cocalico.
Now they can achieve their first 10-0 season in 28 years by beating Unionville (6-3). (Weiser went 10-0 in 1973, 1981, 1982, and 1996.)
The Scouts have clinched a spot in the District 3 Class 5A playoffs (and probably a home-opener, as well). What they’d really like is a first-round bye, which goes to the top four finishers. Right now they’re No. 6 in the power ratings.
A least one of the teams ahead of them will lose (No. 2 Shippensburg plays No. 3 Mechanicsburg.) No. 1 New Oxford (9-0) could lose to Eastern York (8-1) but that might not be enough for the Scouts, who are 59 point behind the Colonials.
A loss by No. 4 Bishop McDevitt (8-1) to State College (8-1) would benefit the Scouts. So would a loss by No. 5 Conestoga Valley (9-0) to Muhlenberg (3-6), though that’s much less likely.
(Chris Knight/LNP photos)
Daniel Boone
Say this about the Blazers (1-8): They play to the wire.
With Haydn Moyer in the pocket they’re always a threat but all too often that hasn’t been enough. They’ve lost games by four, two, and five points.
One thing’s for sure: They won’t catch their next opponent looking ahead. They’ll face an angry Twin Valley team, which has lost two in a row and was scorched for 56 first-half points last week.
There are easier ways to head into the offseason.
Exeter
A win Friday at Elizabethtown (2-7) will give the Eagles a 9-1 finish. That and a sawbuck will get an Iced Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha at Starbucks.
It won’t get a Section 2 title, which slipped away last week with a controversial 28-27 loss to Conestoga Valley.
It won’t get them a first-round bye in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament.
It should get them one more home game in the opening round of districts.
Not that a 9-1 finish is anything to sneeze at; it will rank among the Eagles’ top half-dozen seasons. Of course, no one will remember that 20 years from now; they’ll still be thinking about the officials’ ruling in the final seconds of regulation against Conestoga Valley when their bid for a two-point conversion was denied.
(Purdon Photography/Brad Drey)
Fleetwood
Even with a win over Cocalico the Tigers (3-6) are unlikely to make a return trip to the Eastern Conference, which has been kind to them (two championships in the last three years). The Tigers are still mathematically alive for a spot but it will take a win Friday and losses by several teams directly ahead of them, most notably Reading and Muhlenberg.
Postseason or not, a season-ending win over a quality program would be a good send-off into the offseason. It’s not a bad time to face the Eagles, who took a tough loss at Conrad Weiser last week.
Gov. Mifflin
The Mustangs (5-4) could back into the District 3 Class 6A Tournament with a loss at Ephrata (5-4) but a win would be so much better.
It would lock up their first winning season in three years and earn one more home game for the seniors, in the opening round of districts.
Hamburg
On paper the Hawks (5-4) still have a chance to make the Eastern Conference playoffs should they close by beating winless Columbia.
Without quarterback Tyler Shuey, who was injured and missed last week’s 48-14 loss at Berks Catholic, the Hawks simply won’t be much of a threat should they make it to Week 11.
That aside, a win over the Crimson Tide will give the Hawks four straight winning seasons for the first time. They had never had more than two in a row before this.
Kutztown
The pressure’s off the Cougars (1-8) after beating Columbia last week; they don’t have worry about a winless season.
Still, it’s been a disappointing ride for a program that seemed to ready to take off.
A win over Pequea Valley (4-6), and going into the offseason with two straight wins, will helped restore a little of that lost ‘mo.’
Muhlenberg
The Muhls (3-6) had a tremendous opening month but have hit a rough patch since, losing five straight.
Their mostly young lineup will get to experience some playoff intensity this week as Conestoga Valley goes for an unbeaten season and looks to put the finishing touches on a Section 2 championship.
An upset over CV could force open a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs for the Muhls.
Reading High
The Red Knights (2-7) have lost six of their last seven games and yet . . . they still have a chance to make the always-forgiving Eastern Conference playoff field. If the season ended today, they would be in.
It doesn’t, of course. First Reading has to play at Hempfield (3-6). A win there could extend the Knights’ season. Mathematically, they could play an EC game even with a loss.
Schuylkill Valley
The Panthers (7-2) can win the first outright championship in the program’s 52-year history by beating Lancaster Catholic (6-3) Friday in Leesport.
They split the Section 5 title with Catholic and Annville-Cleona last year after losing the season finale to the Crusaders 35-14.
They have already clinched an opening-round home game in the District 3 Class 3A Tournament.
And there’s this: A win gives the Panthers back-to-back 8-2 finishes, a first for the program; the 16 regular season wins would be the most in consecutive years in program history. They went 8-2 in the regular season just one other time, in 2003.
Twin Valley
Two weeks ago the Raiders (7-2) were unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the state; now they’re looking at opening the playoffs on the road, against the No. 2 or 3 seed in the District 3 Class 4A Tournament.
Back-to-back losses to state-ranked opponents, Wyomissing and Lampeter-Strasburg, means they’ll have to beat those same teams in back-to-back weeks to win a district championship.
They’ll tune up for that mission at Daniel Boone.
Wilson
The Bulldogs (8-1) are right where they had hoped to be, in first place in Section 1 and with a chance to claim their first section title in three years.
They haven’t gone three years without a section title since John Gurski handed over the keys to Gerry Slemmer in 1983.
They can grab the Section 1 title and the top seed in the District 3 Class 6A Tournament by winning at Manheim Township (9-0) Friday. No easy task: The Blue Streaks are ranked No. 6 in the state and have won 19 straight regular season games.
The Streaks haven’t lost at home since 2022, when the Bulldogs beat them 27-21.
Wyomissing
When Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee put reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein on the “Watergate” story he warned them: “Nothing’s riding on this except the First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country.”
The Spartans’ season-ender against Lampeter-Strasburg is sort of like that, only bigger.
The Spartans (8-1) and Pioneers (9-0) are playing for the Section 4 championship, the top seed in the District 3 Class 4A Tournament, and their respective spots in the state rankings, where Wyomissing is No. 2 and Lampeter is No. 5.
Oh, and this: The Spartans have a 36-game home winning streak that dates back to 2018.