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Berks Catholic spoils York Catholic's home opener


The York Catholic football faithful came out in full force Friday night to kick off the Fighting Irish’s 2016 home opener.

There was a buzz around the stadium, as fans were excited and anxious to see the duo of Dan Yokemick and Jakkar Kinard in their own backyard.

Like the first two weeks of the season, Kinard got his carries (23) and gained plenty of yards (97) but unfortunately, the offense couldn’t find a rhythm over the 48 minutes of action – falling to Berks Catholic, 34-0.

“They’re a very good football team,” said Irish coach Eric Depew. “They loaded the box on us and forced us to throw. We couldn’t make anything happen.”

The Fighting Irish punted on their opening possession of the game and fumbled on their second which led to the Saints’ first score of the contest – a short run by Cooper Lutz, who ran for 100 yards on the evening.

Late in the second quarter, Berks Catholic added another touchdown thanks to a 1-yard scoring run by Brandon George. A minute later, Berks Catholic regained possession after another York Catholic three-and-out and Saints kicker Jamin Smith knocked down a 30-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

“A lot of kids rose to the occasion tonight,” said Saints coach Rick Keeley. “Our defense saved us when the offense sputtered. I was pleased with the way we played.”

York Catholic didn’t play its cleanest football. The Irish allowed two long punt returns on special teams, muffed numerous snaps from center and couldn’t protect Yokemick when he dropped back to pass.

The Saints strung together eight-minute and five-minute drives in the second half – scoring both times – which wore down the opposing defense and continued to showcase their bullying ground game.

Berks Catholic’s Keeley had nothing but positive things to say about the opposition and the way they played, though.

“York Catholic beat us up pretty good tonight,” Keeley said. “They’re a physical football team and will win their share of football games.”

“My hat's off to them.”

Berks Catholic 34, York Catholic 0
Berks Catholic_ 7_ 10_ 3_ 14_ — _ 34
York Catholic_ 0_ 0_ 0_ 0_ — _ 0
First Quarter
BC
— Cooper Lutz 4-rush (Jamin Smith kick), 4:27
Second Quarter
BC
— Brandon George 1-rush (Jamin Smith kick), 2:35
BC — Jamin Smith 30-field goal, 0:01
Third Quarter
BC
— Jamin Smith 23-field goal, 8:03
Fourth Quarter
BC
— Thomas Molteni 11-rush (Alexander Gunderson kick), 9:29
BC — Matthew Hagelbarger 16-rush (Alexander Gunderson kick), 2:35
Team Statistics
_ BC_ YC
First downs _ 21_ 10
Rushes-yards _ 45-314_ 37-38
Passing _ 2-7-0_ 6-11-0
Passing yards _ 16_ 55
Total yards _ 330_ 93
Punts _2-29.5_ 7-29.6
Fumbles-lost _ 1-1_ 1-1
Penalties-yards _ 7-45_ 6-60
Individual Statistics
Rushing
— BC, Cooper Lutz 9-100, Thomas Molteni 8-56, Terrance Derr 7-20, Marcus Wilson 6-52, Brandon George 6-34, Graham Glueck 6-23, Matthew Hagelbarger 3-29. YC, Jakkar Kinard 23-97, Daniel Yokemick 10-(-31), Andrew Snelbaker 1-7, Kyle Dormer 1-0, Wesley Burns 1-(-17), Nicolas Basile 1-(-18).
Passing — BC, Derr 2-7-16. YC, Yokemick 6-11-55.
Receiving — BC, Brian Tanis 1-8, Brandon George 1-8. YC, Riley Brennan 2-19, Kyle Dormer 1-15, Brendan Kennedy 1-8, Dimitri Amalfitano 1-7, Jakkar Kinard 1-6.