ROBESONIA – Conrad Weiser’s 52-38 victory over visiting Fleetwood on Friday night lived up to every bit of the pre-game billing. The game featured two of Berks County’s best quarterbacks in Weiser’s Logan Klitsch and Fleetwood’s Tanner Maddocks and they did not disappoint. Maddocks gained 293 yards through the air to go along with four touchdowns, only to be out-gunned by Klitsch’s 308 passing yards, 140 rushing yards, and seven total touchdowns.
The first half resembled a track meet more than a football game, as Villanova-bound Maddocks lead the Tigers (2-2, 0-1) to two scores and 141 yards of offense on their first two possessions of the game, doing so in only six plays. Klitsch, likely headed to Dartmouth, was able to keep pace by marching the Scouts (3-1, 1-0) into the endzone on two of their first three possessions.
Both defenses tried to contain the running ability of Maddocks and Klitsch, choosing to play would-be targets shallow and allowing their defensive lines to establish an edge.
Klitsch and the Scouts were able to take advantage of this passivity by focusing on rollouts and draw plays to keep the Tiger defenders at bay, while at the same time opening up crossing routes underneath the safeties.
Maddocks and the Tigers sought to keep the Scouts off balance by hammering the ball through the middle of the line, thanks to the hard-nosed running of Gavin Morris, and connecting for deeper level passes once the linebackers were engaged to stop the run.
Both teams would continue to score at a dizzying pace throughout the first half and would head the locker room with the Scouts holding a 28-24 advantage.
Clearly, something would have to change in the second half.
“We decided to mix it up in the first half, bringing pressure and sitting back,” said Scout head coach Alan Moyer following the game. “At halftime, we decided to do something different and stick with the pressure.”
Slowly but surely, Moyer’s adjustment paid off. Maddocks, who lost a valuable asset in Gage Moyer to an apparent leg injury at the end of the first half, was unable to consistently find any outlets once he dropped back and frequently found himself scrambling in the wrong direction. Maddocks started the second half 3 for 3 and a touchdown and would end it 4-18 with two interceptions.
“I was very proud of our kids in the second half, digging deep,” added Moyer. “That’s what Friday night lights are all about.”
As rough a second half as Maddocks had, Klitsch seemingly got steadier as the game progressed, finding his primary weapon, Aanjay Feliciano for 83 yards and a score over the final two frames while running an efficient and steady offensive scheme.
“We rally around him (Klitsch) and support him,” beamed Feliciano after the game. “We’re never satisfied.”
The Scouts were able to put the game away in the fourth quarter thanks to some hard running from Cole Rothermel and Cameron Jones, which is all their coach wanted.
“We had to be patient and we had to take some time off the clock, The longer the ball is in our hands, the less it was in Tanner’s and that was our plan in the second half,” added Moyer.
