A pancake block is a lineman’s dream. Jacob Collazo said he dished out four or five in Friday’s 45-0 rout of Conrad Weiser. How much does the left tackle enjoy blocking in a Wing-T offense? He replied with a big smile, “I love it. I love it. Pancakes all day.” …
Read More »JayJay Jordan-Berks Catholic
JayJay Jordan didn’t waste any time making his presence felt against Conrad Weiser. The 6’, 170-pound senior spun out of a tackle and raced 55 yards on Berks Catholic’s opening possession. On the next play, he reached the end zone from three yards out for his eleventh touchdown of the …
Read More »Rick Keeley-Berks Catholic
Rick Keeley has retired as a teacher at Berks Catholic, but he’ll still be roaming the sideline with the Saints’ football team. Keeley is preparing for his 37th season as a head football coach, a Berks County record. We talked about his new life outside of the classroom. When asked …
Read More »Ty Barreto-Berks Catholic
Ty Barreto wasn’t able to help his teammates during the District 3-4A playoffs last year. The Saints’ center suffered a fractured tibia in his right leg against Exeter in mid-October. He missed the rest of the season. Barreto is back on the practice field and feeling better than ever. The …
Read More »JayJay Jordan-Berks Catholic
This wasn’t your typical summer league basketball game. Wilson (Marrella Financial) and Berks Catholic (Berks Packing) needed overtime to decide the West Reading League championship on Thursday. Nothing came easy in this matchup of two of the top high school programs in District 3. Berks Catholic emerged with a hard-fought …
Read More »Bryce Gumby-West Reading All-Stars
The West Reading All-Star team was assembled just a few days ago, but they looked like they had been playing together for years. They faced Franklin High School from Sacramento on Saturday morning at Berks Catholic. The game was part of the West Reading-Sacramento Cultural Exchange program which is celebrating …
Read More »Brandon Shurr-Berks Catholic
Experience is a great teacher. Berks Catholic only had two seniors on its baseball roster last year. Head coach Brandon Shurr started five freshman and a sophomore. While the 2021 season was a difficult one for the Saints, that experience is now paying dividends. Berks Catholic has gone from (5-15, …
Read More »RJ Emrich-Berks Catholic
The 2021 season wasn’t a fun one for the Berks Catholic baseball team. The Saints started five freshman and a sophomore, and finished the year with just five wins. They went (2-10) in league play. RJ Emrich told me that the lopsided losses from a season ago resulted in the …
Read More »Bob Birmingham-Berks Catholic
Caraline Herb made twelve 3-pointers last season against Reading. The 5’7 junior was an amazing 12-15 from beyond the arc in that game last February. You can understand why Berks Catholic head coach Bob Birmingham was glad to see the ball end up in Herb’s hands with five seconds left …
Read More »Snip Esterly-Berks Catholic
Snip Esterly called the Philadelphia Catholic League one of the best leagues on the East Coast. He was well aware that Archbishop Carroll was much better than its (12-10, 5-8) record. The Patriots went (7-1) against non-league competition. To say that Berks Catholic got a tough draw in the opening …
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