Which Berks team has the best chance to win a district championship?
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
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Wilson, Exeter, and Wyomissing will each play for District 3 football championship next weekend. Which has the best chance to bring home a trophy?
The chance of all three doing so are long. Each is considered an underdog.
Since the district playoffs began in 1983 Berks has never seen more than two champions in a given season, even with the expansion to six classes in 2016.
This season marks the sixth time Berks has landed three teams in championship games, and the first time since 2021 when Wilson (6A), Exeter (5A), Gov. Mifflin (5A), and Wyomissing (3A) each made it. That’s the only time four Berks have played for a title in the same year.
Holy Name was the first Berks team to reach a District 3 championship game, in 1982, the first year of the tournament (only four teams made it in each of the three classes).
Central Catholic was the first Berks team to win a championship, in 1983.
Wyomissing has the most district championship among Berks teams, with 12. The Spartans have also won five straight, the only Berks team to ever do that.
Berks Catholic is the only Berks team to reach the title game in seven straight seasons (2013-19).
One last note: For the first time since 2018 District 3 has returned to its policy of using neutral sites for championship games. For the last the last five seasons the higher-seeded team earned home-field advantage.
Included with each game is the favorite, according to the Born Power Index.
Here’s a quick glance at this year’s match-ups:
6A: Wilson (11-1) vs. Harrisburg (10-2)
Saturday, at Exeter, 1:00
The Cougars have been a nemesis to the Bulldogs, ending their season four times in the last six years. One of those, in 2021, was in a championship at Harrisburg.
The Cougars’ home turf, Severance Field, has been a house of horrors for the Bulldogs, who are 1-4 there. They’ve experienced some long afternoons in the ’Burg, none worse than a 2007 semifinal they lost 17-14 in overtime.
Fortunately the second-seeded Bulldogs don’t have to play there this time. They’ll be on much more familiar turf when they go for their 10th straight win and first championship since 2016.
They dominated Cedar Crest in the opening round before holding off Central York 28-20 in a hard-fought battle Friday.
The fourth-seeded Cougars had little trouble with top-seeded Manheim Township in the semis, winning 35-14 as Penn State recruit Messiah Mickens rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns.
Mickens is also a threat at defensive end; he was named the Defensive Player of the Year in the Commonwealth Division of the Mid-Penn Conference.
Mickens is one of Harrisburg’s nine first-team all-league picks.
The Cougars were bolstered Friday by another Penn State recruit, offensive lineman Kevin Brown, who returned to the field for the first time since suffering a broken foot in Week 2.
Harrisburg’s losses came in a season opener to La Salle College (45-7) and to Cumberland Valley (24-21).
The Cougars have two wins over state-ranked teams: Bishop McDevitt (No. 8 in 5A) and State College (No. 4 in 6A).
Wilson is ranked No. 7 in the state by PennLive.com, Harrisburg No. 9.
Born favorite: Harrisburg +7.2.
5A: Exeter (12-1) vs. Bishop McDevitt (11-2)
Friday, at Elco, 7:00
The Eagles are playing for a championship for the third time in four seasons and looking to bring home a trophy for the first time since knocking off the top-ranked team in the state, Gov. Mifflin, in 2021.
They avenged their lone setback this season, nearly mercy-ruling Conestoga Valley, which had been unbeaten before taking a 48-14 pounding at the hands of the Eagles.
The Eagles are the No. 8 seed, the Crusaders No, 6, but those numbers are misleading and mean nothing at this point.
(PhilMarPhoto)
Both teams have pulled off a rare feat on the way to the championship game, knocking off unbeaten teams on the road in consecutive weeks.
The Crusaders dominated Conrad Weiser 42-7 in the quarterfinals and Mechanicsburg 26-14 in the semis.
McDevitt is a couple of field goals away from being unbeaten itself.
It lost to backyard rival Harrisburg 35-33 in overtime in Week 2 and at State College 58-55 in Week 10. Both those teams are ranked in the state’s Class 6A Top 10.
The Crusaders are seeking a fourth straight district championship. They won the Class 4A title the last three years before being bumped up a division due to the PIAA’s “Success Formula.”
McDevitt is led by quarterback Stone Saunders, a University of Kentucky recruit who has thrown more touchdown passes (197) than any quarterback in Pennsylvania history. He was named Offensive Player of the Year in the Commonwealth Division of the Mid-Penn Conference.
He’s one of nine all-league players in the McDevitt lineup.
McDevitt is ranked No. 7 in the state.
Exeter, by the way, can set a program record with a 13th win,
Born favorite: Bishop McDevitt +8.8.
4A: Wyomissing (10-2) vs. Lampeter-Strasburg (12-0)
Friday, at Warwick, 7:00
It was pretty evident last month after the Pioneers visited Bob Wolfrum Field that these Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 rivals would see each other again.
Lampeter-Strasburg won the first meeting 20-7, although it didn’t seem that close. Its swift-moving defense completely hemmed in Wyomissing’s offense, allowing just 146 total yards. The Spartans managed only four first downs and 62 yards in the first half.
(PhilMarPhoto)
The Spartans defense hung tough but Pioneers quarterback Caileb Howse, who’s made a case for Player of the Year in the Lancaster-Lebanon League, always seemed to be a step ahead.
He was flushed him out of the pocket time and time again, forced to throw away passes or scramble to keep plays alive – and he did.
He rushed for 111 yards and scored on a 15-yard run to essentially put the game away with 7:21 left.
Justice Hardy, Wyomissing biggest offensive threat, was held to 49 rushing yards on 12 carries. He was knocked out of the game several times with injuries. He hasn’t played since.
The Pioneers, by the way, became the first team in six years to beat the Spartans on their home field, snapping a record 36-game winning streak.
The top-seeded Pioneers opened the playoffs with a 42-7 win over Elco, then beat Twin Valley 31-13. Wyomissing is the only team that’s been able to stay within two TDs of them, and the only team to hold them to 20 points or less.
The second-seeded Spartans are seeking their sixth straight district championship. They won in Class 3A the past five years; this is their first time playing at 4A.
The Pioneers have won three district championships, most recently in 2020. This is the fourth time in six years they’ve reached the 4A title game.
Lampeter is ranked No. 3 in the state, Wyomissing No. 5.
Born favorite: Lampeter-Strasburg +4.3.
