Key rivalries throughout Berks County highlight Week 4 of the Lancaster-Lebanon Football League
Sep. 14—It should be an exciting weekend of high school football as key rivalries highlight the opening of league play in the Lancaster-Lebanon League.
In Section 4 on Saturday at 1:30 p.m., Wyomissing will host Berks Catholic in this year's edition of the "Backyard Brawl." In what seems to be a perennially close contest, the Spartans (3-0) defeated the Saints 41-24 at Berks Catholic last season after the Saints (1-2) led 10-7 at the half.
"We have a saying over here: 'Respect all, fear none,' " Berks Catholic coach Rick Keeley said. "We're not going to go over there and be afraid to play them.
"It's always exciting. The kids come to play, both teams are well prepared, both teams are well coached, and whoever gets the breaks during the game is going to be the winner."
Gov. Mifflin and Exeter will be featured in another marquee matchup as the two teams from Section 2 will square off at Reiffton Friday at 7 p.m. The Mustangs will look to stay focused and block out the emotions of a rivalry in order to avenge a 36-6 defeat from 2022, according to Gov. Mifflin coach Jeff Lang.
"We got to keep the game in check," Lang said. "It is a rivalry and there's gonna be a lot of hype and all that stuff, but it's still a game. We got to focus on ourselves and worry about us not having any turnovers and us not having the stupid penalties that are going to hurt us."
Wyomissing is coming off a thrilling 35-34 win over Trinity — its 38th straight in the regular season — in which freshman running back Justice Hardy caught a game-winning touchdown pass from quarterback Logan Hyde with 14 seconds to go. The Spartans trailed by as many as 20 points before scoring 21 unanswered in the second half in what was a refreshing victory for Wyomissing coach Bob Wolfrum.
"First half was a nightmare with special team stuff; offensively and defensively we were fair," Wolfrum said of his Spartans, who gave up two touchdowns on blocked punts against the Shamrocks. "So down big in the second half, we took over and pretty much did whatever we wanted. For the first time this year, I thought I saw some enthusiasm during the second half.
"I saw a 'We're not losing mentality,' and they made all the plays."
Hardy, who also plays on defense as a defensive back, is one of many Wyomissing rushers who add to the depth the Spartans have at running back. Wyomissing has recorded 1,169 rushing yards this season and has been using a variety of different players at the position each week, according to Wolfrum.
"He's (Hardy) doing a nice job, but he's one of many," Wolfrum said. "We just happened to have a whole stable of backs right now that can play. We have some young backs who can really run the ball. Actually, our problem now is how do we rotate and get them in the game because I don't think we've had less than eight guys carry the ball in any of our games.
"A lot of guys would love to have that problem."
The Saints fell to Pope John Paul II 35-0 at home in Week 3 in a game that was called with 4:11 left in the first half due to lightning. Berks Catholic recorded a combined 34 yards of total offense (28 rushing, 6 passing).Though the result was not one he wanted, Keeley said the Saints are hungry to have a bounce-back performance against another strong foe.
"Last week, they had too much firepower for us; that's a great football team," Keeley said. "Everything that could go wrong for us went wrong last week. We put that behind us now, we made corrections and now we're looking forward forward to this matchup on Saturday."
The Saints are led on the ground by senior Michael Bradley, who has 169 rushing yards on 17 attempts. Bradley scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter of Berks Catholic's 19-14 win against Executive Education on runs of 6 and 84 yards and showed the explosiveness of a difference-maker.
"He had a run against Executive Education that really, really gave us a spark," Keeley said. "He has the ability when he touches the ball to go the distance."
With plenty of respect between the two, Saturday's game should be another hard-fought battle between the neighboring rivals who treat the meeting like a championship game.
"It doesn't matter who's the better team — over the years we've been better, and same with them — but you always know that this game is like the Super Bowl of the regular season for our kids and for their kids," Wolfrum said. "You're going to get the other team's best effort. There's gonna be no quit and hopefully we can handle that."
"We're going to have to play our best game to beat them; that's why we play the games," Keeley said. "Man for man, talent wise, they may have a little more talent than we do over there right now, but we're going to come to play."
The Eagles (3-0) and the Mustangs (2-1) are coming off wins as Exeter defeated West York 49-14 on the road and Mifflin won 35-16 against Boyertown at Shillington. The win against the Bears was the Mustangs' in consecutive games since 2021 as they defeated Carlisle 28-21 in Week 2.
For Lang, his team is finding confidence again after finishing the 2022 season at 3-7 .
"We got things going last year right after the season ended in November with kids trying to change what was going on and get kids in the weight room," Lang said. "We had great buy-in with the attendance and being present, doing what they had to do and working hard. When we came out 28-21 (against Carlisle) that was a big turning point for us that our kids are starting to see the success of what we're trying to do.
"And then to go against Boyertown, and they have a very good, athletic backfield, we took care of business and forced them into mistakes. So right now things are really clicking and the kids are starting to get confident in what we're doing."
Leading the charge for the Mustangs on offense are juniors Javien Pletz at quarterback and Grady Garner at running back. The two have accounted for seven of Mifflin's 12 touchdowns. Garner has four touchdowns and 206 rushing yards on 30 attempts, while Pletz has run 10 times for 76 yards and three scores, including the winner against Carlisle.
"Grady Garner is really starting to come through as a guy we can lean on as a running back," Lang said. "Javien Pletz has really come on strong and I think the O-line is starting to jell together pretty well. Our defense is led by Brandon Jones (senior, linebacker). He's playing great football and our defensive line is doing a really nice job holding teams up front."
Lang's defense will face a tough task as the Eagles lead Section 2 in scoring with 127 points while only giving up 35.
"This is an exciting game," Lang said. "We start league play. I think we have our attitude in the right direction again with where we need to be for Mifflin football, and we're looking forward to the test that Exeter is going to give us because we know we're gonna be up against it."
Elsewhere in Berks, Twin Valley hosts Fleetwood in a Section 3 contest. The Raiders (3-0) will look to continue their impressive start after blanking Conrad Weiser 49-0 in Week 3. Ean Winchester, a defensive tackle and tight end, as well as running back Evan Johnson lead Twin Valley in scoring with four touchdowns each.
Johnson has 492 rushing yards on 47 carries and fellow running back Drew Engle has run 38 times for 485 yards to help make up a large share of the Raiders' 1,156 rushing yards. Meanwhile, quarterback Evan Myers is 21-for-33 passing with 347 yards and three touchdowns.
The Tigers (2-1) are coming off a 28-24 loss to Upper Perkiomen in which senior running back Czion Brickle ran 24 times for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Brickle leads the team with 409 rushing yards on 47 attempts.
At West Lawn, the Bulldogs (1-2) will face Reading High in a Section 1 game. Wilson defeated Cheltenham 40-26 on Monday after the game was suspended on Saturday due to lightning. In the victory, senior wide receiver Edison Case caught six passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns in his first game of the season.
The Red Knights (1-2) fell to Red Lion 38-20 their last time out.
Kutztown will host Schuylkill Valley in a Section 5 matchup and Hamburg will take on Annville-Cleona at Hawk Hill in another Section 5 game.
The Panthers (2-1) have had back-to-back wins since falling to Twin Valley in Week 1 with the most recent coming in a 48-14 win against Susquenita, while the Cougars (1-2) lost to Nativity 42-25 in Week 3.
The Hawks (3-0) won 48-28 against Fairfield last week.
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The schedule
(Friday at 7 p.m.)
Reading High at Wilson
Gov. Mifflin at Exeter
Muhlenberg at Lebanon
Daniel Boone at Garden Spot
Fleetwood at Twin Valley
Conrad Weiser at Elco
Schuylkill Valley at Kutztown
Annville-Cleona at Hamburg
Saturday
Berks Catholic at Wyomissing, 1:30 p.m.
