Kutztown punter Logan Seip bobbled the snap on the opening possession. He was tackled immediately at the 10-yard line. Ryan Spatz went up the middle for a touchdown on Berks Catholic’s first offensive play. The 180-pound senior ended up with four carries for 21 yards. Spatz was also in on seven tackles at linebacker. The Cougars’ second drive lasted ten minutes and covered 59 yards, but didn’t translate into points. Myles Moriarty threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-9 from the Saints’ 21-yard line. Moriarty, a 6’4 sophomore, was filling in for injured quarterback Athan Amato.

Coy Koller, Berks Catholic’s leading rusher, ripped off a 24-yard run on their second series. Freshman quarterback Kellen Bowman then lofted a long pass down the left sideline to Jayvien Martinez. Cornerback Hunter Amato had good coverage on the play. He tipped the pass off of Martinez’s helmet. The ball went up in the air and into the hands of Martinez for a 44-yard touchdown. “It’s a funny-shaped ball and sometimes you get a lucky bounce,” replied Stahler. The Saints were in front 14-0 with 10:13 left in the second quarter.

On the ensuing possession, All-State defensive end Faith Zudie blocked Ryan Walters’ punt and stumbled two yards into the end zone for a touchdown. The 6’3, 210-pound senior made it 21-0 with 7:46 remaining in the first half. Three minutes later, Walters found himself punting from his own goal line. The snap to him was high and to his right. Walters picked up the ball and was under heavy pressure again from Zudie. The punt went off the side of Walters’ foot and was scooped up by Jake Schmehl who went two yards for a touchdown. Berks Catholic had increased its margin to 27-0 with 4:41 to go before halftime.

Kutztown couldn’t corral the kickoff and the (3-4, 3-1) Saints recovered at the 28-yard line. That was one of four turnovers by the (2-5, 1-3) Cougars. It resulted in a 38-yard field goal from Alex Reali with 3:02 left in the half. On the following drive, Moriarty and Walters had trouble with the exchange. Berks Catholic pounced on the fumble and turned it into another score. Zudie took a sweep to the right and raced 27 yards for a touchdown. The Saints’ lead had ballooned to 37-0 with two minutes remaining in the second quarter. Martinez isn’t surprised at the success that Zudie is having this fall. “It starts from the weight room, it starts from the summer. He’s always working. He’s always being a leader. He’s always showing us how to get stuff done,” noted Martinez. The first half came to a close with Martinez making an interception.

Berks Catholic turned to its backups in the second half. Armani Arguinzoni broke free for a 63-yard TD run to begin the third quarter. The speedy 170-pound freshman added a 33-yard TD run with 23 seconds left in the third period. Arguinzoni put the Saints on top 51-0. Sophomore Amari Bridges-Weaver capped the scoring with a 31-yard TD run with 2:37 on the clock. Martinez, a 5’10 junior, was glad that the younger players got an opportunity to shine. “It’s really cool. Those kids are always on the scout [team]. They’re working at practice. They’re getting hit and they’re sacrificing their bodies for us to get better. I’m happy seeing them get in,” remarked Martinez.

Walters had piled up 1,220 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns in Kutztown’s first six games. The 6’, 180-pound junior is in pursuit of Calvin Laing’s school record of 1,589 yards which was set in 2005. Walters managed 69 yards on 19 carries at Berks Catholic. Moriarty ran the ball eleven times for just 16 yards out of the Power-T formation. He was 1-of-4 for 20 yards through the air. The Cougars ran 25 more plays than the Saints, but were outgained 309-to-161. Zudie and safety Mason Mace had eight tackles apiece. “All we had to worry about was the run and our [defensive] line and our linebackers took care of that,” said Martinez.

The Saints were the District 3-3A runner-up last year. Only four teams qualify for the Class 3A tournament this season. Berks Catholic moved up from #7 to #5 in the District 3 power rankings after defeating Kutztown. The Saints are behind Schuylkill Valley, Wyomissing, Hamburg, and Pequea Valley. Berks Catholic travels to Columbia next Friday.

The Saints won despite being outgained 423-to-230. The (3-3, 2-1) Dutchmen finished with a 24-to-9 advantage in first downs. They’ve used a triple-option attack to average 329 rushing yards per game and 6.7 yards per carry this season. Annville-Cleona reached the 1-yard line with just over two and a-half minutes left. On fourth down, Devon Englehart was wrapped up for no gain by Zudie, Joe Lanza, and Jack McKeone. Lanza, a linebacker, and McKeone, a 250-pound defensive tackle, are both sophomores.

Berks Catholic wasn’t able to pick up a first down which forced Alex Reali to punt from the end zone. The 6’1, 215-pound junior wasn’t fazed. Reali boomed a 63-yard punt to the 33-yard line with 1:29 remaining. The Dutchmen went into their bags of tricks. Quarterback John Ditzler threw the ball backwards to backup quarterback Lane Peters from the 39-yard line. Peters then hit freshman Tyler Gingrich for a 41-yard pass play to the Saints’ 20-yard line. Tyler is the son of Matt Gingrich who’s in his 12th season as the head coach at Annville-Cleona. Ditzler connected with Danny Shay along the left sideline for a 10-yard completion with 20 seconds on the clock. Gingrich caught the next pass to the 1-yard line with 13 seconds to go. Englehart tried to go up the middle on the final play, but he was stuffed by Zudie, Coy Koller, and Lincoln Miller. “I’m very proud of our defense,” replied Zudie.

Berks Catholic marched 64 yards on the opening possession and grabbed a 7-0 lead. The drive included a 21-yard run by Mason Mace and a 12-yard run from Koller. Ryan Spatz capped the series with a 13-yard touchdown run through the heart of the defense. The Dutchmen responded with an 80-yard possession that took four and a-half minutes. The Saints got a healthy dose of fullback Yama Navarro. A 16-yard run by Navarro set up his 3-yard touchdown with 3:39 left in the first quarter. The 5’8, 175-pound senior ended up with an eye-popping 34 carries for 230 yards. Navarro is already up to 1,029 rushing yards and 9 TD this fall. Englehart added 92 yards and a score on a dozen carries. The 5’5, 153-pound senior has 652 yards on the ground and 10 TD.

Berks Catholic went in front 14-7 by going 71 yards on its second series. Koller had a 37-yard run which led to a 12-yard touchdown by Zudie on the first play of the second quarter. Zudie scored on a sweep to the left on fourth-and-2. “He told me just to get the first down, but it was wide open so I got that touchdown…running the ball is more exciting [than playing defense],” mentioned Zudie with a grin. Koller turned twelve carries into 130 yards and a score. The 5’11, 180-pound junior also had a 78-yard TD run wiped out by a holding penalty.

The ensuing possession ended with “Jo Jo” Turman making an interception in the end zone on fourth-and-7 from the 19-yard line. Ditzler was 5-of-8 for 35 yards on the night. Annville-Cleona got the ball back at its 42-yard line with three minutes remaining in the first half. Englehart took an option pitch from Ditzler and raced 58 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown. The Section 5 foes went into the locker room even at 14-14.

Koller went 47 yards on a counter for the tiebreaking touchdown with 7:05 to go in the third quarter. The Saints’ defense forced three consecutive punts. Miller, a 215-pound freshman linebacker, was credited with 16 total tackles. Mace, a junior safety, wasn’t far behind with 14 combined tackles. Zudie was a force off the edge with a dozen tackles.

Only four teams will qualify for the District 3-3A playoffs this year. Berks Catholic entered Thursday at #8 in the power rankings. “If we didn’t win this, there was a chance of not making District’s,” acknowledged Zudie. Stahler knew that it was an important game as well. “I felt a lot of pressure. I try not to tell the kids that there was a lot of pressure. I try to let them just play, but I’m sure they felt it. Matt [Gingrich] does a great job, runs a great program. It’s fun to play teams like that,” said Stahler.