Berks Sports Report Paul Roberts
Berks Catholic’s offense has done its damage on the ground this season. The Saints only had two touchdown passes in their first seven games. On Thursday, they took a few shots through the air and it paid off. Johnny Sauppee tossed a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and Berks Catholic blew out Columbia 37-0. “It feels great. We’ve been working on it all week, implementing more play-action,” explained Sauppee. The (6-2, 5-0) Saints have won six of their last seven contests.
The Crimson Tide faced a fourth-and-5 at Berks Catholic’s 44-yard line on the opening possession. Starting quarterback Cameron McClair was moved outside to wide receiver. Kareem Nichols’ pass to him down the right sideline was intercepted by sophomore Logan Gonzalez. Berks Catholic marched 90 yards on its first drive which lasted five minutes and ten seconds. The only pass was Sauppee’s 13-yard TD to Nick DeFazio. Sauppee faked a handoff and found his 6’2, 215-pound tight end wide open in the middle of the end zone.
Aidan Curley broke off a 22-yard run to midfield midway through the second quarter. He picked up seven more yards on fourth-and-3 at Columbia’s 45-yard line. Curley ended up with 73 yards on seven carries. Sauppee hit Coy Koller in the right flat for a 12-yard touchdown and a 14-0 advantage with 2:42 remaining before halftime. Koller is a 5’10, 165-pound sophomore who starts at running back and linebacker. “I think he’s really stepping up for us. He’s a state caliber wrestler. He can do it for years to come. He’ll be really good,” stated Sauppee. The 6’2, 205-pound senior has been starting at quarterback since Week 4. Sauppee took over after junior Cole Harter was injured in a 48-41 loss to Bethlehem Catholic. Harter is healthy again and head coach Dave Stahler said both quarterbacks are doing well at practice. Sauppee was 3-for-7 for 22 yards against the (3-5, 2-3) Crimson Tide.
Reading transfer Jeremiah Camara began the second half with a big kickoff return to Columbia’s 43-yard line. Camara then took a sweep to the left, cut up the middle, bounced it outside, and raced 41 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown. The 5’8, 175-pound junior finished with 100 yards on a dozen carries. “He’s been great. He’s been working hard at football and basketball. He does a lot of good things for us. He’s also another threat downfield when we need him and he runs the ball very hard,” noted Sauppee. In five games, Camara has piled up 503 rushing yards and 5 TD on 53 touches.
A long punt pushed the Saints back to their 5-yard line midway through the third quarter. Koller busted a 55-yard run up the middle to get the drive started. Curley scored from ten yards out on a counter with 3:31 left in the third period. Berks Catholic covered 95 yards in just over two minutes and extended its lead to 28-0. The Saints’ defense added a safety early in fourth quarter. Defensive end Eric Bennethum and inside linebacker Ryan Spatz, a pair of juniors, wrapped up sophomore running back Chase Marley in the end zone. After Berks Catholic got the ball back, Faith Zudie took off on a 48-yard touchdown run with 9:51 to go. The Saints had a total of 389 yards including 367 on the ground. Their defense held the Crimson Tide to 86 yards. Sauppee, who also plays linebacker, mentioned that containing McClair was the key. “He’s elusive, he can get out of the pocket and make some plays downfield. That was very big for us to eliminate those [plays] and make him check it down to the flat,” replied Sauppee. McClair, a 6’2 junior, was 10-of-16 for 74 yards.
Berks Catholic travels to Hamburg next Friday. The Saints host Annville-Cleona in their regular season finale. That game could decide the Section 5 championship in the Lancaster-Lebanon League. The Dutchmen are unbeaten in league play at (4-0).