Powers has ‘Yeah, baby’ moment for Wilson
He led his team in tackles, recorded a sack and caught a couple passes, but the play Corey Powers will remember most from Wilson’s 27-12 win over Hempfield Friday — the moment he’ll likely cherish most from his high school football career — came on his first pass attempt.
The 6-3, 195-pound Powers, a linebacker and tight end, played quarterback as late as his sophomore season. He still wears a QB number: 19.
He finally got a chance to throw a pass Friday and it was a big one, a third-quarter touchdown that helped the Bulldogs break open a tight game that clinched the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 1 title.
“Wewere at a point where we weren’t exactly steamrolling anybody,” said Wilson coach Doug Dahms of the 21-yard TD pass to Sean Dendall after the Black Knights had pulled within 13-12. “It was a big play.”
The left-handed Powers lined up on the right side at tight end, showed a block, then stepped back to take a pitch from running back Mason Lenart, who was coming from the left slot.
Hempfield’s cornerback bit on the Jet Sweep just enough so that Dendall got a step and came clear heading toward the end zone. Powers lofted a high-arcing pass that Dendall, a junior wide receiver, dove for at the back of the end zone, cradling the ball as he hurtled out of bounds.
“He didn’t throw a perfect spiral, but he put it
where only Dendall was gonna get it,” Dahms said, “and he made a diving, fingertip catch. It was pretty well-executed.
“We’re not big on gadgets, but we thought: ‘Hey, why not?’ We’ve got a tight end who used to be a quarterback, and he’s a lefty. Who’s gonna expect your tight end to throw the ball?”
Bill Belichick, maybe, but only after Super Bowl LII.
Surprisingly, it’s a play the Bulldogs added to the playbook last week and ran only a few times in practice.
They call the play “Austin,” a takeoff on the Austin Powers movies and on Corey’s last name.
The only thing to say after watching the Bulldogs run it to perfection is, “Yeah, baby!”
That was the feeling after the game, which completed Wilson’s perfect run through Section 1.
It didn’t look so good for the Bulldogs when they were beaten 48-7 by Gov. Mifflin in the season opener, or when they went to play Manheim Township the next week without Brown, Lenart and Troy Corson, their top receiver, each of whom was injured.
All three are prominent parts of Wilson’s defense and key special teams players, but the Bulldogs somehow pulled out a 31-28 victory against their top league rival. It’s been clear sailing since.
“After that win we were like, ‘We can do this,’ “Powers said. “That (loss to Mifflin) was pretty rough but like any other game you’ve just gotta go past it. You’ve just gotta keep moving forward.”
The net result is Wilson’s first outright Section 1 title since 2016 and its record 28th Lancaster-Lebanon League championship (27 in Section 1, one in Section 2).
“We worked all year to get this,” Power said. “We just pounded away all year, and it feels good to really win it.”
Unchallenged Spartans
Granted, the competition hasn’t been great and the sample size is small, but what Wyomissing has accomplished in its abbreviated five-game regular season is still staggering.
The Spartans have four shutouts, have outscored opponents 249- 9 overall and 169-3 in the first half. That’s with the starters playing a half or less in most games.
Their average margin of victory is 48.0, which easily would be a Berks record if extended over a normal full season.
The highest margin of victory ever by a Berks team in the regular season is 41.3 by Berks Catholic in 2017.
Gov. Mifflin is having a similarly dominant season, winning by an average of 42.8 points.
100 and counting
Berks Catholic’s 47-14 win over Muhlenberg was the 100th for the program, now in its 10th season.
The Saints are 100-23, an .813 winning percentage, and have five league titles and four district championships.
No Berks football program has reached 100 wins so quickly or has achieved a winning percentage this high. Few programs in the state have enjoyed such immediate and sustained success.
This will be the first year since their inaugural season (they went 6-4 in 2011) that the Saints won’t make the district playoffs. They’re 4-2 heading to the Berks Section 1 title game next week against Gov. Mifflin.
Bounce-back win
Fleetwood f ootbal l games are not for the faint of heart. One week after losing the longest game in Berks history — four overtimes — the Tigers pulled out a 43- 42 win at Upper Dauphin when freshman Mason Musitano broke up a two-point conversion pass in the final minutes.
“I’m not gonna make it to (age) 61 if they keep doing this,” joked first-year coach Steve Beatty, who is 60. “We’re thrilled to pull it out. Last week was a heartbreaker. The kids needed this.”
The Tigers fell to Hamburg 55-49 last week.
“They just kept plugging away,” Beatty said of the Tigers. “It was the same last week against Hamburg. They kept digging and it paid off for us.”
Raiding party
Twin Valley enjoyed a record-setting offensive night in its 42-38 Berks 2 win over Hamburg.
The Raiders amassed 525 total yards, second-most in program history.
Trey Freeman had a couple records by halftime — he became the first player in program history with three touchdowns receptions in a game and tied the program record with four TDs.
Junior quarterback Ryan Scheivert matched the program record with four TD throws.
Oh, and junior Dominic Caruso rushed for 208 yards — 1 less than his career high set last week. He became the program’s career rushing leader with 2,329 yards.
Freeman, a junior, became just the second receiver in program history to top 1,000 career yards; he’s at 1,019.
The 525 total yards is topped only by the 574 yards in Twin Valley’s 4714 win over Central Catholic in 2007.
In a rush
Quarterback Kaleb Brown rushed for a careerbest 198 yards in Wilson’s 27-12 win over Hempfield. He’s now the Bulldogs’ leading rusher, is averaging 11.2 yards per carry and tops all Berks QBs in rushing yards.
“He’s a threat to be reckoned with, with his speed,” said Wilson coach Doug Dahms. “He’s more confident (as a runner) this year. He’s got the confidence that his speed is good enough and he’ll take off.”