Fall sports season hits the postseason.
Fleetwood regains Hall of Fame Trophy, gets first win at expense of winless Kutztown
KUTZTOWN » Wins have been hard to come by for the football programs in Kutztown and Fleetwood this season.
Heading into Friday’s matchup both teams were seeking their first win of the season.
Thanks to a strong running performance by Fleetwood senior running back Mike Wilkinson and a stout defensive performance, the Tigers were able to come out on top by a final score of 59-6.
The Tigers scored on every offensive possession they had in the game, with the exception of the last possession when they would take a knee to end the game. After taking their lumps against the rest of Berks Football League Section 1, Fleetwood, which is returning to Section 2 next season, welcomed the chance to play an opponent
“I told the kids all week long that we were in Section 1 and we got beat down for 17 weeks and the kids were tired of it,” said Tigers’ head coach Sean Gaul. “I told them this is where we belong and this is where we get back to next year so we have to set the bar high.
Fleetwood finished the season 1-10 while Kutztown dropped to 0-10 with the loss.
The scoring started when Alex Rubino took a sweep play of the left side 44 yards for a touchdown, his first of three on the day.
After the Cougars turned the ball over on downs in their own territory, Wilkinson scored his first of four touchdowns of the day on a 25-yard dive play up the middle of the Cougars’ defense.
Rubino and Wilkinson would each add a rushing touchdown before the quarter to bring the score to 30-0 after one.
Wilkinson would score his third touchdown of the game in the second, capping off an eight play, 52-yard drive with 3-yard touchdown.
“Mike’s a hell of a player he busts his tail in the weight room and on the practice field,” said Gaul.
The Cougars would get on the board late in the second quarter, when sophomore running back Caleb Riegel rumbled his way
through the Tigers’ defense for a 19-yard touchdown.
Fleetwood’s offense would waste no time answering the touchdown after Benjamin Leister punched in a 3-yard touchdown to bring the score to 45-6 at the half.
The Kutztown defense would come out strong to start the second half, however were unable to get off the field giving up a 12 play, 55-yard drive which was capped off by Rubino for his third and final touchdown of the game.
Wilkinson would get his fourth touchdown later in the quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run to make the score 59-6.
Rubino finished his night with 76 yards on six carries including his three touchdowns, while Wilkinson had 194 yards on 20 carries with four touchdowns.
The Tigers’ defense was able to come up with stop after stop all game long, forcing five turnover on downs and two interceptions (Wilkinson and Seth Wagner) of Cougars’ quarterback Charlie Maddocks Jr.
Riegel finished his night with 120 rushing yards on 17 carries including the one touchdown and added 64 receiving yards.
Kutztown head coach, Charlie Maddocks, was proud of the way his team came out to compete in the second half.
“They really work hard,” said Maddocks. “We have 17 guys from 9th grade to seniors so some of them should be playing freshman football and others should be playing JV but it is what it is.”
Kutztown now looks to build off the experiences their young core of players received this year.
“We gotta go forward to next year,” said Maddocks. “For our younger guys they’re getting experience that normally they wouldn’t have.”