Pope John Paul II picks apart Berks Catholic in 49-28 win
UPPER PROVIDENCE >> Pope John Paul II picked apart the Berks Catholic defense with short passes
play after play early in Saturday afternoon’s non-league contest. That and a solid performance by the
offensive line and running backs led to a 21-point lead seconds into the second quarter.
And though the visiting Saints managed to get their offense moving in the second half and make things
interesting a couple of times, PJP still had plenty of points to spare in a 49-28 win.
Sophomore quarterback Luke Terlesky completed 19 of 26 pass attempts for 294 yards and three
touchdowns and Boyd Skarbek ran for 93 yards and two scores for the Golden Panthers (3-0). Josiah
Jordan rushed for 106 yards and three TD’s for Berks Catholic (0-3).
“My offensive line, they were great all game,” said Terlesky. “The receivers were getting open. But
mostly my offensive line.”
“We took advantage of a couple things,” said Golden Panther coach Scott Reed. “The run game set up the
pass and Luke did a nice job of delivering the football.”
Terlesky completed 12 of his first 13 passes, including 11 in a row at one point. Among them was a 50-
yard toss to Brent Mitala that opened the scoring three minutes into the contest.
Skarbek ran 10 yards for a score a few minutes later and Mitala hit the end zone again on a 2-yard run for
a 21-0 lead just 17 seconds into the second quarter.
Berks Catholic got on the board late in the half when Devin Garcia rumbled up the middle for 89 yards to
the PJP eight and Jordan ran in from the six on a fourth down play.
“They picked us apart with their passing game,” said Saints coach Rick Keeley. “We regrouped a little bit.
If it was 21-7 at halftime, we could make it a ball game.”
But that was not to be as the Golden Panthers countered with two touchdowns in the final minute before
the break on a 39-yard TD pass from Terlesky to Mitala, an interception by Chris Lucci and a quick 36-
yard strike from Terlesky to Skarbek for a much more comfortable 35-7 advantage.
Jordan scored on a 42-yard run for the first TD of the second half. Midway through the fourth quarter,
Jackson Haas scooped up a fumble and returned it to the PJP one yard line, setting up a 1-yard sneak by
quarterback William Hess to pull the Saints to within 42-28.
But PJP clinched the win with an 80-yard drive, topped off by a 1-yard sneak by Terlesky with 2:20
remaining in the contest.
“They’re a good program and so you know they’re not going to go away,” Reed said concerning the
Saints. “They have phenomenal running backs who can break it at any time. We wanted to take control of
the football.
“I was really proud of our offensive line today. Every time they scored, we controlled the line of
scrimmage.”
Mitala finished with five catches for 110 yards and two scores, Skarbek had four receptions for 90 yards
and Brendan Kenning caught six passes for 77 yards. The Golden Panthers racked up 432 total yards.
“We’ve been learning our offense since coach Reed took the job,” said Terlesky. “Everybody’s been doing
a great job and been in the play book.”
Keeley was happy with his team’s effort after the halftime break.
“We talked about coming out hard in the second half, instead of putting our heads down and quitting like
some teams might do,”he said. “I liked the way we played in the second half, but it was too little, too
late.”
Pope John Paul II 49, Berks Catholic 28
Berks Catholic 0 7 6 15 – 28
Pope John Paul II 14 21 7 7 – 49
PJP-Mitala 50 pass from Terlesky (Bosio kick)
PJP-B Skarbek 10 run (Bosio kick)
PJP-Mitala 2 run (Bosio kick)
BC-Jordan 6 run (Kurtas kick)
PJP-Mitala 39 pass from Terlesky (Bosio kick)
PJP-B Skarbek 36 pass from Terlesky (Bosio kick)
BC-Jordan 42 run (kick failed)
PJP-B Skarbek 1 run (Bosio kick)
BC-Jordan 12 run (Garcia run)
BC-Hess 1 run (Kurtas kick)
PJP-Terlesky 1 run (Bosio kick)
Team Stats Berks Catholic Pope John Paul II
First downs 9 20
Rushes-yards 40-224 29-138
Passing yards 31 294
Total yards 255 432
Passes 4-8-1 19-26-0
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Punts-avg 2-34.5 NONE
Penalties-yards 8-64 3-15
Individual Stats
Rushing: Berks Catholic: Jordan 20-106, 3 TD’s; Garcia 5-96; Armistead 7-27; Blythe 3-3; Olivier 1-2;
Hess 4-(-10), 1 TD. Pope John Paul II: B Skarbek 12-93, 2 TD’s; Mitala 7-39, 1 TD; Reed 4-20; Terlesky
6-(-14), 1 TD.
Passing: Berks Catholic: Hess 4-8-31, 1 INT.: Pope John Paul II: Terlesky 19-26-294, 3 TD’s.
Receiving: Berks Catholic: Mace 2-12; Polinsky 1-16; Geddio 1-3. Pope John Paul II: Kenning 6-77;
Mitala 5-110, 2 TD’s; B Skarbek 4-90,1 TD; Reed 4-17.
Interceptions: Pope John Paul II: Lucci.
Sacks: Berks Catholic: Haas.
