Meeting for the first time in Section 5 of the Lancaster-Lebanon League, the Schuylkill Valley Panthers earned a hard-fought 20-14 victory that will have major implications for both the section title as well as the District 3 playoffs.
Heading into the game, the Panthers were ranked sixth in the District 3 Class 3A power ratings and the Saints were No. 7, and only the top six make the playoffs.
For Berks Catholic, two league losses creates a tough hill to climb going forward, while Schuylkill Valley is positioned to make a run at the Section 5 title.
A 68-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Logan Nawrocki to fellow senior Kowen Gerner broke a 14-14 tie with 47 seconds left in the game after the Saints scored 14 unanswered second half points to tie the game with less than two minutes to go. It was Gerner’s only catch of the night and the Panthers extra point was blocked on the ensuing play.
“I just trust him (Gerner) so much,” Nawrocki said. “I can throw it and he’ll go get it.”
Nawrocki who finished 12-for-17 passing with 170 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception, made another momentum-shifting play just before halftime on fourth down. On fourth and one from their own 38, Nawrocki connected with Luke Spotts deep down the left sideline for a 50-yard pass and a first down. Moments later, Nawrocki found Logan Cammauf for a 12-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 with 1:57 left in the half.
“We try to isolate him (Gerner) one on one and throw the post pattern to him,” Schuylkill Valley coach Bruce Harbach said, “and we knew if we got behind them, we could float the ball in there for a touchdown. Before they were double teaming him and we finally got him open a couple times, and that was the play call.
“The biggest play was right before the end of the first half on fourth and one and we threw the pass to (Lucas) Spotts for the long completion that led to a touchdown.”
After a back and forth first quarter in which neither team was able to find a big play, with 9 minutes remaining in the second quarter, John Kowalski intercepted Berks Catholic quarterback Zachary Suski for a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown to open the scoring for the Panthers.
After stopping the Saints in their own territory on fourth and long from their own 29, Schuylkill Valley (4-2, 3-0 LL Section 5) made the most of their own fourth down attempt with the 50-yard pass to Spotts.
A sack by Tristan Goda on Suski ended the half at the 50 yard line as Berks Catholic was unable to find a score in the first half.
“They played lights out,” Harbach said of the defense. “For a couple of big plays there, they caught us, but for the most part, they played lights out. They were working their butts off this week, really working hard and we knew we had a tough time stopping them, but, they did a great job. We had to do things that we had to do, you know, that’s a mark of a good football team.”
The Saints’ ground game was strong in the second half and dominated most of the time of possession. Berks Catholic ran 71 plays while Schuylkill Valley ran 32 and the Saints recorded 18 first downs to the Panthers 6.
A fourth down proved advantageous for Berks Catholic (2-4, 1-2 LL Section 5) in the third quarter. Bryce Gumby scored a 2-yard touchdown run for the Saints and Gumby caught a 43-yard pass from Suski on fourth and 3 to set up the play, putting Berks Catholic on the board with 7:58 left in the third.
Gumby finished with 95 rushing yards on 25 carries as well as three catches for 60 yards, and Nathaniel Rose led the Saints in rushing with 126 yards on 20 carries. Berks Catholic outrushed the Saints 225-6.
On the Panthers’ first drive of the second half, Nawrocki threw an interception on first down to Gumby who returned it to the Schuylkill Valley 43. From there, the Saints ran a 12-play, 49-yard drive that ended with an incomplete pass on fourth and goal from the nine.
Though Berks Catholic controlled the time of possession, turnovers were a factor as Suski finished with two interceptions and the Saints lost two of their three fumbles.
“Our kids compete on offense,” Saints coach Dave Stahler said. “We made mistakes and couldn’t stay out of our own way. Every time I felt like we got something going, we did something foolish. Their kids made forced us into mistakes and did a great job and they were prepared and ready to go.
“Their kids, play really, really hard. And hats off to them the whole night. We did too many things to hurt ourselves to have a chance to win a football game, so we were lucky to be in it at the end with the number of mistakes we made.”
The Saints tied it on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Suski to Gavin Welker on fourth and three from the Schuylkill Valley 13 with 1:36 left. The score completed a 9-play, 70-yard drive.
The Panthers had just one first down in the second half until Gerner broke through with the game-winning touchdown 47.1 seconds left in the game. Nawrocki connected with Gerner on second and 11 from their own 38 for a 68-yard touchdown pass. Gerner got behind the defense and Nawrocki floated the ball perfectly to Gerner in stride over the middle to make it 20-14 after the ensuing extra point was blocked.
On Berks Catholic’s final possession, the Saints advanced to the Panthers’ 30 but failed to score on the game’s final pass.
Source: Berkshire mont
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