For the second straight season Berks Catholic and East Pennsboro faced off in a District Three playoff game. The Saints had no trouble with the Panthers last year. Fast forward to 2017 and on a five game win streak and a great season from running back Onassis Neely, Pennsboro came in to the tonight’s matchup brimming with confidence. Berks Catholic would have none of that. The Saints excelled in all three phases and sent East Pennsboro packing 48-7 Friday night in Reading.
Cooper Lutz had three rushing TD’s, Brandon George and Tre Dabney had two each to lead the Saints to the resounding victory.
Seniors Lutz and Dabney closed out their BC careers with impressive performances. Cooper said, “I tried not to make it an emotional time for us. It was just another game to do our thing and get out of here.” Tre’s fondest memories of BC were, “Playing on defense with my brothers. We have a great bond with each other. We love each other. We always had each other’s back.” Saints Head Coach Rick Keely praised his team’s defensive effort in throttling Panthers standout RB Onassis Neely. “We were really looking forward to the challenge of shutting down a back of his caliber. The respect that young man deserves and the respect we gave him brought out the best in our defense.”
Berks Catholic went up 13 points without the offense reaching the end zone. Tre Dabney retuned a punt 65 yards for a score. Brandon George then had a stellar pick six on D and it was 13-0 at the 3:16 mark of quarter one. Then the offense kicked in. Cooper Lutz’s first TD was a 28-yard scamper on the first play of the second quarter. Two minutes later Cooper ran through the Panthers for 55 yards. 27-0 Saints 9:56 until half. A short Brandon George TD run with a Lutz two-pointer and it was 35-0. Tre Dabney made it two pick sixes for the D and it was 42-0 Berks Catholic at the half.
Midway through quarter three BC closed out its scoring. A 40-yard romp by Cooper Lutz and it was 48-0.
Oh My Cooper Lutz 40 yards PAT NG @WeAreBC55 48 @EastPennHSFB 0 6:21 Qtr 3 @EPAFootball @WPAFootball @HSFBamerica @AndyBrackets @BPtashinski pic.twitter.com/I4HgS7lPMA
— Bruce Badgley (@BadgleyBruce) November 18, 2017
A late TD by Onassis Neely against the BC second team made the final Berks Catholic 48 East Pennsboro 7.
The victory by Berks Catholic sets up a showdown with Mid-Penn power Bishop McDevitt for the District Three AAAA title. Hershey Park will be rocking at one pm next Friday.
