Crusaders score early and often in rout
Collin Quintano threw three touchdown passes, Matt Frauen scored three touchdowns and Notre Dame added a pair of defensive scores — all in the first half — in a 59-20 rout of visiting Muhlenberg Township in a nonleague game Friday night in Bethlehem Township.
Quintano’s 72-yard strike to Robbie Spirk broke a 7-7 tie, and Frauen’s 40-yard dash sent the Crusaders on their way to a 2-0 start.
Johnny Febbo opened the scoring with a 21-yard interception return for a touchdown, and Jake Hull’s 17-yard scoop and score made it 28-7 with 4:13 still
EPC
Central Catholic 34, Whitehall 13 Colonial League
Palisades 42. Wilson 20
Schuylkill League
Jim Thorpe 22, Blue Mountain 21 North Schuylkill 41, Pine Grove 19 Panther Valley 28, Marian Catholic 7
Mahanoy Area 31, Schuylkill Haven 20
Nativity 27, Pequea Valley 23 Williams Valley 54, Shenandoah Valley 0
Non-League
Berks Catholic 56, Northwestern 35
Notre Dame GP 59, Muhlenberg 20 to play in the first quarter.
The Crusaders recovered three more fumbles in the first half and locked down their defense after Aaron Shuker stunned them with a 78-yard touchdown run to draw Muhlenberg Township (0-1) even after Febbo’s interception.
Quintano’s other TD passes went to Frauen for 44 yards and Nasir Sanders for 10 yards. Frauen finished with 81 yards on 7 carries, and Quintano was 4-for-9 for 130 yards.
Notre Dame’s reserves played most of the final three quarters.
—Corky Blake
Berks Catholic 56,Northwest
ern Lehigh 35: Northwestern Lehigh was on the right side of a shootout in Week 1.
The Tigers were on the other end of a high-scoring affair in Week 2.
Berks Catholic outscored Northwestern 56-35 Friday night in a matchup of PIAA Class 4A programs at Tiger Stadium.
Saints senior running back Colby Newton rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns and Justin Small contributed 119 yards and a score. Quarterback Brad Hoffman ran for two 1-yard TDs and passed for another one for Berks Catholic.
The Saints rolled up 13 first downs and 287 yards of offense over the first 24 minutes of game action.
They finished with 26 first downs and 507 yards. Berks Catholic scored touchdowns on five of their six first-half possessions.
Coach Josh Snyder’s Tigers totaled 11 first downs and 181 yards of offense before halftime.
The game’s biggest play came just prior to intermission. Out of timeouts with 10 seconds remaining, Berks Catholic opted for a seemingly conservation screen pass. Instead, Christian Cacchione sprinted through Northwestern’s defense for the 37-yard touchdown from Hoffman.
Newton’s 2-point conversion run increased the Saints’ advantage from 26-21 to 34-21 at halftime.
Berks Catholic maintained a two-touchdown lead over the Tigers for the remainder of the contest.
Northwestern is one of only three teams from the Colonial League to play two games by mid-September.
The Tigers, who topped Palisades 36-28 in Week 1, open the league portion of their schedule on Sept. 25 at Bangor.
Berks Catholic, which finished with an 8-5 overall record last year, has played in seven straight District 3 championship games. Coach Rick Keeley’s Saints won a Class 4A title in 2017 then lost in the final the past two seasons.
Friday night’s matchup was the first between Northwestern and Berks Catholic.
The contest was arranged within a two-hour window on Wednesday morning, according to Northwestern athletics director Jason Zimmerman, after Pen Argyl officials notified Zimmerman that the Green Knights had to cancel the originally scheduled game between the Colonial League schools.