Wyomissing, Berks Catholic set for renewal of ‘Backyard Brawl’ (updated)
Wyomissing (3-0) vs. Berks Catholic (0-3)
Kick: Friday, 7, at Forino Sports Complex.
League records: Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 4 opener for both.
Series: Saints lead 6-5.
Last meeting: Max Hurleman ran for three touchdowns and 153 yards as Wyomissing won 23-0 in 2019. The Saints were limited to eight first downs and 117 total yards. Hurleman scored on runs of 60 and 24 yards in the first half and 23 yards in the final quarter. Aidan Cirulli hit a 49-yard field goal to close the first half and push the Spartans’ lead to 16-0. The Week 10 victory at Forino Sports Complex completed a perfect regular season and clinched the Berks League Section 2 title for Wyomissing, which went on to beat Middletown for the District 3 Class 3A championship and finish 12-1. The Saints reached the District 3 Class 4A title game and finished 8-5.
Series history: The “Backyard Brawl” was born in 2011, Berks Catholic’s first season. Wyomissing won 35-0, one of the few lopsided games in the hard-fought series which almost always determined the Berks League Section 2 championship and played a key role in the District 3 Tournament seeding.
The teams met for the Class AA championship in back-to-back years, 2014 and 2015, with the Spartans winning the first and the Saints the second, both games at Hersheypark Stadium. Interestingly, the regular season victor lost the second meeting in each of those seasons.
In 2012 the Keeley-Wolfrum Trophy was added to the game, the trophy named in honor of the team’s head coaches, Rick Keeley of Berks Catholic and Bob Wolfrum of Wyomissing. They are the two longest-tenured coaches in Berks history as well as the two winningest. Keeley, in his 37th season, is the Saints’ only head coach. Wolfrum is in his 36th season as Wyomissing head coach.
Berks Catholic leads the trophy series 5-3.
Spartans update: Moved up to No. 1 in the state in PennLive.com Class 3A rankings after 35-14 win over Trinity. . . Believed to be first time in program history they have been ranked No. 1 during the season . . . Ended up No. 1 in 2012 after beating top-ranked Aliquippa in PIAA championship game. . . Opened season with 49-0 wins over Kennard-Dale and Pottsville. . . Scored 133 points before allowing one this season. . . First-string defense has not allowed a point. . . Ranked No. 1 in entire 37-team Lancaster-Lebanon League in total defense, allowing 133 yards per game. . . Allowing 4.6 points, second-lowest among all District 3 teams. . . Played without starting LBs Matt Kramer and Colin Niedrowski last week and still allowed just 105 yards in the first half. . . Just two players, Kramer and S Drew Eisenhower, returned to same spots on defense this year. . . Charlie McIntyre, who started last season at S, is playhing CB. . . First-year starters LB Ryker Jones, T Pacen Zielger, E Caleb Brewer and E Jven Williams have been keys on defense. . . Ziegler leads team with 14 tackles; Jones has 10. . . Averaging 44.3 points, fifth-highest in the state among Class 3A teams and fourth-highest among all teams in District 3. . . McIntyre rushed for career-best 154 yards and scored two TDs last week. . . He’s averaging a league-best 14.8 yards per carry, helped in large part by an 80-yard scoring run last week. . . Ben Zechman is the top-rated passer in Section 4; he has completed 70 percent of his passes, with 3 TDs and no INTs. . . Ended Berks Football League play with 16 consecutive league wins.
Fast fact: Wyomissing has won 28 straight regular season games, two short of the Berks record set by Wilson from 2012-2015. Berks Catholic won 29 straight from 2013-15. The Spartans’ last loss came in 2018 to Berks Catholic, 28-7. The Spartans’ longest previous streak was 20 games, from 2000-02.
Saints update: Fell to 0-3 for first time in 12-year history with 49-28 loss at Pope John Paul II last week. . . That was the most points allowed since a 62-7 loss to Gov. Mifflin in 2020 and third-most in program history. . . Have lost four straight games dating back to last year’s loss to Bishop McDevitt in a district semifinal. . . Had never lost three in a row before this season. . . Head coach Rick Keeley had not lost three straight games in the same season since 2000, when he coached Holy Name, which finished 6-5 that season. . . Josiah Jordan leads team with 235 rushing yards, 7 receptions, and 6 TDs. . . Devin Garcia averaging 8.2 yards per carry. . . QB Will Hess is completing 70 percent of his passes. . . LB Nafis Blythe (18) and LB Garcia (17) lead team in tackles. . . DT Jackson Haas has a pair of sacks. . . Ranked last in Section 5 in total defense, allowing 421 yards per game. . . Pass defense has been a major problem. Opposing teams are completing 68.1 percent of their passes (47-of-69) and averaging 253 yards per game. . . Andrew Kurtas has three touchbacks on 12 kickoffs.
Fast fact: There’s no home-field advantage in the series. Berks Catholic has won 3-of-4 games played at Wyomissing; the Spartans have won 3-of-5 games played at BC.
On schedule: The Saints and Spartans, long-time Berks League Section 2 rivals, meet for the first time since 2019. Berks Catholic moved to Section 1 for the 2020 season and Wyomissing opted not to schedule it as a non-league game.
Perfect finish: The Saints and Spartans entered their season-ending game with perfect records four times: 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017. Each team won two of those games. Wyomissing also went into the 2011 and 2019 games at 9-0 and won; Berks Catholic went into the 2013 game at 9-0 and won.
Series flashback 2014: Isaac Lutz pulls down a 30-yard catch in the end zone with 1:06 remaining to give the Saints the lead for good in a 19-14 victory at the A-Field. Lutz sparks the game-winning, 70-yard drive with an incredible 31-yard catch on fourth down in Wyomissing territory. Both teams entered the game unbeaten.
