Steve Pangburn-Fleetwood

It’s no secret that having success on the football field usually translates into a bigger roster. That’s exactly what has happened at Fleetwood. First-year head coach Steve Pangburn noticed back in January that more kids were coming “out of the woodwork.” Pangburn was the Tigers’ offensive coordinator the past two seasons under Steve Beatty. He told me that the transition to head coach has been very smooth. Fleetwood won seven games in 2021 and outlasted Boyertown 48-35 in the Eastern Conference Class 5A/6A championship. The Tigers ended the season on a high note with five victories in their last six games. They averaged 356 total yards (218 rushing) and put up 33 points a night. Pangburn got to work with one of the top quarterbacks in Berks County. Tanner Maddocks passed for more than 1,500 yards and ran for over 600. The freshman at Villanova scored 21 total touchdowns. Pangburn believes they’re in good shape with Jack Riffle stepping in at QB. “What’s there not to like. You want to talk about a student of the game; I’m pretty sure he does football 24-7. Even when he was young, he knew the playbook upside down and then the arm talent caught up with all of that,” he said. The 6’1, 175-pound junior was named a captain this year. Pangburn stated that his team’s biggest strength is its football IQ. They return six starters on defense and four on offense. “We’ve got an intelligent group out there. The young guys have really put in the classroom time and then taken it to the field,” he said. Fleetwood will have some new faces in the backfield, but a trio of experienced linemen have returned. Juniors Hunter Leister (6’, 245) and Hunter Svoboda (6’7, 240) are back along with senior center Noah Yourkawitch (5’9, 265). Leister was a second team guard in Section 2 of the Berks Football League a season ago. According to Pangburn, David Ramsey, Trey Killian, Ty Wamsher, and Czion Brickle will all get carries. They’ll try to replace the production of Gavin Morris and Gage Moyer who combined for 1,623 rushing yards and 23 TD. Morris was selected to the first team in Section 2 of the BFL. Junior wide receiver Mason Musitano and Riffle have grown up very close to each other. Pangburn emphasized, “Their chemistry is incredible. This is the best I’ve seen from Mason. He’s really put in a lot of work.” Musitano (6’2, 185) reeled in a team-high 29 catches for 488 yards and five scores last year. After allowing nearly 29 points per game, the Tigers’ coaching staff has made some changes to the defensive scheme. Pangburn thought they stayed “vanilla” for too long last season. He also wants a handful of players to focus solely on the defensive side of the ball. Fleetwood travels to Kutztown for its opener this Friday. Pangburn has studied the video of the Cougars’ scrimmage. He noted, “What jumped out at me is their roster looked larger than it ever has. Their coach has got them going. [I’m] reminding everybody that we expect the best out of them Friday night. Their film shows that they’ve been developing.” Larry Chester is in his second stint as Kutztown’s head coach. The Cougars (2-8, 0-6) finished last in Section 2 of the BFL in 2021. They’re now part of Section 5 in the revamped Lancaster-Lebanon League. Meanwhile, the Tigers are in Section 3 with Daniel Boone, Twin Valley, Elizabethtown, Solanco, Ephrata, and Garden Spot. Pangburn stressed that he’s only concerned with Kutztown right now.