Saints sparkle in season-ending win over Dutchmen, move up in districts
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
(This story was produced by LNP/Lancasteronline, and published in partnership with MikeDragoSports.com.)
By Daryl Simione — LNP/Lancasteronline
ANNVILLE — Berks Catholic’s football team scored early and often in its regular season finale Friday night.
Quarterback Zach Suski threw four touchdown passes, halfback Bryce Gumby scored four touchdowns, and the Saints raced past Annville-Cleona 49-14 in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 finale.
The win appears to have lifted Berks Catholic (5-2, 6-4) into the District 3 Class 3A playoffs, where the top six teams earn berths. The brackets will be made official Sunday.
Annville-Cleona (3-4, 4-6) got within a touchdown early in the second quarter but the Saints scored four touchdowns in the final nine minutes of the first half to trigger the mercy rule.
Berks Catholic opened the scoring with Gumby’s 5-yard touchdown run.
However, the Saints fumbled on their next possession and the Dutchmen capitalized with a 33-yard halfback option pass from Jon Shay to Jonathan Moran.
Gumby helped the Saints answer with a 44-yard touchdown run. Berks Catholic then went up two scores on Suski’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Nathaniel Rose.
The Dutchmen showed plenty of fight on the next drive, with quarterback Bryce Keller bursting in from the 1-yard line to cut it to 21-14.
Keller, who completed a 35-yard pass to Shay on the drive, finished with 83 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Gumby had three rushing TDs and one receiving touchdown.
Suski (10-for-12, 228 yards) threw a 59-yard touchdown to Gavin Welker to extend the Saints’ lead to 28-14.
Gumby made a huge tackle on defense to deny Shay on fourth down near midfield, and was on the receiving end of a 13-yard touchdown pass from Suski. He later raced 33 yards around the left side for a 42-14 lead.
With four seconds left in the half, Suski threw an 18-yard touchdown to Jackson Kozik to set the final margin.
The Saints totaled 404 yards on just 33 plays, an average of 12.2 yards per play.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 21 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
| Annville-Cleona | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Gumby, 5 run (Osorio kick) |
| 1 | Annville-Cleona | Moran, 33 pass from Shay (Kreider kick) |
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Gumby, 44 run (Osorio kick) |
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Rose, 24 pass from Suski (Osorio kick) |
| 2 | Annville-Cleona | Keller, 1 run (Kreider kick) |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Welker, 59 pass from Suski (Osorio kick) |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Gumby, 13 pass from Suski (Osorio kick) |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Gumby, 33 run (Osorio kick) |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Kozik, 18 pass from Suski (Osorio kick) |
Team statistics
| Berks Catholic | Annville-Cleona | |
| First downs | 16 | 12 |
| Rushes-yards | 19-176 | 43-165 |
| Passing yards | 228 | 80 |
| Total yards | 404 | 245 |
| Passes | 12-14 | 5-6 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2-1 | 2-0 |
| Punts-average | 1-25.0 | 4-28.2 |
| Penalties-yards | 3-20 | 4-30 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Berks Catholic: Gumby 7-93, Gerald 4-37, Schalk 1-24, Zudie 1-14, Rose 3-8, Suski 1-3, Guilavogui 2-3.
Annville-Cleona: Keller 19-83, Shay 7-29, Navarro 7-26, Barrientos 3-17, Sellers 2-4, Moran 1-3, Englehart 4-3.
PASSING
Berks Catholic: Suski 12-14-0–228.
Annville-Cleona: Keller 4-5-0–47, Shay 1-1-0–33.
RECEIVING
Berks Catholic: Kozik 3-36, Duffy 3-29, Gumby 2-43, Welker 2-81, Rose 1-24, Schalk 1-15.
Annville-Cleona: Shay 3-48, Moran 1-33, Getty 1-1.
