Berks Catholic pounds Boone, 49-7, on special night
Berks Catholic celebrated the memory of former teammate Anthony Myers in the proper fashion Friday night, routing Dawniel Boone 49-7 at Forino Sports Complex.
The Saints (1-0, 2-1) made their Berks Football League Section 1 debut on a night they recognized their 18 seniors, including Myers, who died in December from brain cancer.
Berks Catholic retired Myers’ No. 17 jersey in front of his family, friends and teammates in a pregame ceremony.
The Saints rushed for 381 yards and four touchdowns against the Blazers (1-1, 2-1) and saw Brad Hoffman throw for three firstquarter touchdowns, two to Connor Gundersen.
“It’s absolutely incredible to win like that and know that you did it for him,” said Gundersen, one of Myers’ classmates. “He would get everybody excited to practice, even on the days nobody wanted to be there. He put everything into what he did.
“He’s still herewith us. Everyone knows he’s in our hearts.”
Justin Small, also a senior, rushed six times for 114 yards and one touchdown and Christian Cacchione had 109 yards and two scores on five carries for Berks Catholic.
The Saints held Ashton Hofer, the Berks County rushing leader, to 66 yards on 20 carries.
Carter Speyerer completed 16-of31 passes for 197 yards for Boone and ran for its only touchdown.
Berks Catholic built a 35-7 halftime lead behind Hoffman’s three touchdown passes and two Boone turnovers. Hoffman completed 4-of-6 passes for 65 yards, three toGundersen for 54 yards and two scores.
On the Saints’ first drive, Hoffman rolled right from the Blazers’ 25-yard line and threw a strike to Gundersen at the front corner of the end zone. They connected again on the second drive, Hoffman looking one way and then throwing to Gundersen in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard score.
The Saints converted two Blazers turnovers into touchdowns on their next two possessions. Cacchione forced James Woodcock to fumble after a reception and Trace Brown recovered, returning it to the Boone 17. Three snaps later, Cacchione scored from the 11 to make it 21-0.
Seconds later, Alex Witmer recovered the ball at the Boone 10 after Speyerer couldn’t handle a high snap. That set up Colby Newton’s 1-yard run early in the second quarter.
After the Blazers went threeand-out on their next series, Cacchione scooted 44 yards on a reverse to make it 35-0 with 9:29 to go in the half.
Boone responded by putting together a 17-play, 95-yard drive, a 7½-minute possession that Speyerer capped with a 1-yard quarterback sneak. The Blazers then recovered an onside kick and had a chance to score again, but Nathan Millardmisseda35-yardfieldgoal.
The Saints had the ball for just three snaps in the second quarter and scored two touchdowns.