Reading shuts out Daniel Boone, 21-0
READING >> It was a wrinkle that had considerable impact on the game’s complexion.
Reading High tweaked its defensive plan for Friday’s contest with Daniel Boone. The Blazers tried to adjust to the change, but it didn’t happen in time to avert the Red Knights’ 21-0 victory at Shirk Stadium on the Albright College campus.
“They ran a defense they only run in a goal-line situation,” Boone head coach Ryan Contento observed. “We weren’t prepared for it. It was something we scrambled to adjust to, but it took a little while to get going.”
The scramble left the Blazers with just a combined 119 yards total offense in this Berks League (Section 1) pairing. Reading, in the meantime, made its defensive might play big through a 7-0 first half before adding touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to put the game out of Boone’s reach.
“Our guys responded to playing up front in the open field,” Red Knight head coach Rob Flowers explained. “They stepped up to the physical challenge.”
Reading (2-1 Berks, 2-5 overall) got the eventual game-winning touchdown on just its second possession, capping a seven-play, 59-yard drive with quarterback Thomas Perez running 11 yards off his right tackle with 2:11 left in the first quarter. That 7-0 score remained unchanged — the Red Knights missed two field-goal tries later in the first half — until they hit the end zone with 3:19 left in the third. Perez added another rushing touchdown with 5:53 left in the game, and he finished Boone’s last-ditch drive for a score with a pass interception at the 3:42 mark.
“The guys talked about their ‘tip drill’ all year,” Flowers said, “and they finally got one.”
Boone’s defensive play in the early going played a part in keeping Reading at bay.
The Blazers (2-2, 2-5) stalled two Reading drives in the final six minutes before halftime. The continued the surge deep into the third quarter, the Red Knights ultimately breaking out with Kelvin Toro’s one-yard push up the middle.
“Our defense played real well,” Consento said. “Defensively, I couldn’t be more happy.”
Reading exhibited a unique quarterback-tandem of Perez and senior Jeffrey Seaman. Perez was in for running plays, amassing a team-high 127 yards on 11 carries, while Seaman ran the passing game, going 5-for-6 for 25 yards.
Sean Zamichieli’s interception of a Seaman pass attempt stemmed the Knights’ first drive off the second-half kickoff at the Boone 37. But the Blazers drew no charge from it, getting into Reading territory on just three of its nine possessions.
“I was looking at how our kids handled it up front,” Flowers said. “They got at it.”
Boone’s passing game accounted for a majority of its offense. Ehst completed seven of 18 passes for 68 yards, going to Chase Lacey five times for 34 yards and making a 27-yard connection to Dylan Walker (two receptions, 34 yards) on what would be its last possession of the game.
Ehst was Boone’s leading rusher with 30 yards on 14 carries. Behind Perez, the Red Knights got 50 yards from Toro, 29 from Amaury Concepcion and 24 from Marlowe Bowen.
NOTES >> Kelvin DelCid, who got the conversion kicks on all three Reading touchdowns, tried field goals of 48 and 27 yards, both of which went wide of the goal posts. “Field goals are never a sure thing,” Contento said. “If you can make a team kick instead of getting touchdowns, it’s a sure way to win.” … Reading honored the senior members of its marching band during halftime ceremonies.
