#2 Shippensburg (11-1) vs #1 Berks Catholic (11-1)

​

The Shippensburg Greyhounds will faceoff against the Berks Catholic in the District 3 PIAA AAAA Championship Game. Shippensburg got here by way of a 29-28 stunning comback that featured not 1 but 2 Greyhound touchdowns & a two point conversion in the final 30 seconds of the game.

Like Bishop McDevitt the Berks Catholic Saints are another perennial football powerhouse, having not lost more than 2 games in a season in the last 5 seasons. Berks Catholic is a member of the Berk County Interscholastic Athletic Association - Berks Football League Section 2 and is located in Reading, PA.

​

Berks Catholic Power Ranking 150 (est)

​

The Wizard projects Berks Catholic Power Ranking to be approximately 95 based on their record and the opponents they have faced. Since the Crusaders are not in the Colonial Division, The Wizard does not keep official power rankings for the team. In comparison, Shippensburg's Power Ranking is currently at 130, which is the highest any team in the Mid-Penn Colonial has been at all year.

​

Berks Catholic Schedule

​

The Wins -

​

34-0 over York Catholic (10-2) #1 in AA

42-35 over Lancaster Catholic (9-2) #5 in AAA

21-12 over Wyomissing (8-4) #2 in AAA

63-33 over East Pennsboro (7-4) #8 in AAAA

45-21 over Lampeter-Strasburg (7-5) #5 in AAAA

​

The Loss -

​

20-35 against Exeter Township (8-3) #4 in AAAAA

​

​

Passing - Terrance Derr

​

Sophomore Terrance Derr has been a steady leader for the Saints all season. Derr has accounted for 12 TDs and only 1 INT on the season while completing 65% of his passes.

​

Rushing - George, Wilson & Gluek

​

Berks Catholic has rushed for over 3,500, however no single rusher has broken the 1,000 yard mark. Sophomore Brandon George is 6'3 220lbs and has rushed for 925 yards averaging 8 yards per carry. Senior Marcus Wilson has a similar build at 6'0 200lbs with a bit more speed but similar stats with 895 yards and again averaging 8 yards per carry. Senior Graham Gluek is the smaller of the backs at 5'9 155, but is averaging almost 11 yards per carry on 595 yards.

Defense - Balanced

​

While it is hard to find faults in a defense that has only allowed 187 points on the season, the Saints are certainly a brick wall upfront, having allowed just 1,000 rushing yards on the season, so The Wizard would say the weaker area is the pass defense where in a typically run heavy high school season, Berks has allowed almost 1,500 yards passing, which does tend to be a strength of Shippensburg.

​

Special Teams

​

The Saints have an extra point specialist, Alex Gunderson who has 53 PATs and a field goal specialist Jamin Smith who has 3 field goals. One weak spot for the Saints is their punt game which has only averaged 28 yards per punt, lucky for Berks Catholic, they rarely punt.

​

The Wizards Final Oddz - Shippensburg 41% - Berks Catholic 59%

​

The winner will go on to play the winner of District 7 Champion Thomas Jefferson (12-0) vs District 10 Champion Cathedral Prep (11-0).