Reading, PA — By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor Entering the final minute of play Friday, Schuylkill Valley’s all-league wide receiver Kowen Gerner didn’t have a single catch and his team had zero total yards to show for their second-half efforts. Gerner didn’t seem too worried about it. “No, I didn’t have a catch, but our defense was stopping them all game,” he said. “I think that’s what won us the game.” The Panthers’ resilient, bend-but-don’t-break defense kept their team in the game but it was Gerner’s fleet feet and sure hands that won it. He got a step on a couple defenders, streaked down the field and took a Logan Nawrocki heave in stride, the 68-yard catch-and-run with 47 seconds left lifting Schuylkill Valley to a thrilling 20-14 victory over Berks Catholic in a key Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 5 game at Forino Sports Complex. Gerner and Nawrocki have connected a lot over the past two seasons but this was as big, and as clutch, of a throw and catch they’ve come up with. “That’s what those two do best,” said Panthers tight end Luke Spotts. “They made a great throw and a great catch,” said Berks Catholic coach Dave Stahler. “I was concerned about them getting behind us, and they did, a couple times.” The win was critical for the Panthers (3-0, 4-2), who remain tied for first place with Hamburg, which knocked off Lancaster Catholic, which had won its first two league games. “This is a quality win for our program,” said Schuylkill Valley coach Bruce Harbach. “Our coaches game-planned 24-7 this week for this game because we knew we had to win to stay in this section race.” The Panthers earned their first league championship a year ago but it wasn’t a complete victory since they shared the title with Annville-Cleona and Catholic. They want it all this time around and pulling out a win over the Saints (1-2, 2-4) was critical. Panthers’ Kowen Gerner celebrates his last-minute TD catch. (PhilMarPhoto) “This was a big game,” said Spotts. “If we lose this, then we’d have to try for a three-way (tie), but now we’re gonna win it all.” Gerner’s last-minute heroics will leave a lasting memory but as he said it was the Panthers’ defense that contributed mightily to the ‘W.’ They were able to fend off the Saints’ relentless Wing-T attack and kept Bryce Gumby and Nathaniel Rose in front of them the whole night. Gumby and Rose pierced them often, combining for 221 yards, but neither ever broke a big one. Gumby, coming off a record 268-yard performance last week at Catholic, nearly broke one early in the final quarter but Gerner, an outside linebacker, reached out and tripped him up just before he could get free. The Saints ran 71 plays – more than double the Panthers – but they were stopped in some key spots, including at the Schuylkill Valley 9 late in the third quarter when linebacker Logan Cammauf and defensive end Fuad Abdullateef pressured quarterback Zach Suski and forced a fourth-down incompletion. “Our defense is centered around making them drive the ball,” said Spotts, and all-league linebacker. “No big plays. It’s rare for a team to go 20 plays and finish with a touchdown, and I think that’s what we did perfect – we didn’t allow the big play.” The Saints stopped themselves a bunch, turning the ball over four times; the Panthers had just one turnover. The first of those turnovers turned into a touchdown for the Panthers when cornerback John Kowalski collected a pass that skipped off the hands of a Berks Catholic receiver and raced 41 yards for a touchdown. “You can’t turn the ball over like that and expect to win,” said Berks Catholic coach Dave Stahler. “We made a lot of mistakes to put ourselves in that hole and competed our way out of it. You can’t dig a hole like that because you have no margin for error.” The Panthers went up 14-0 when Logan Cammauf pulled down a high pass and took it 14 yards for a score with 1:57 left in the opening half. That touchdown was set up when the Panthers went deep on a fourth-and-1 from their own 38 and got a 50-yard reception from Spotts. “We knew we’d have to take a couple shots (deep),” Harbach said. The Saints controlled the second half and fought back from a 14-0 deficit. They tied it 14-14 on Gavin Welker’s 13-yard TD catch from Suski with 1:36 remaining. The Saints had one last possession in the final minute and got the ball to the Panthers’ 30 before running out of time. The Panthers got key defensive contributions from a number of player. Cammauf had an interception and team-high 23 tackles. Gerner had 21 tackles, three for loss, and forced a couple of fumbles. Defensive end Tristan Goda had a sack, forced a fumble, and had two tackles for loss. Abdullateef had a sack. The Saints piled up 397 yards and 18 first downs but found the end zone just twice. “That’s the best defensive game we’ve played,” Harbach said. “Against a quality offense like that? And with Gumby, and (Rose)? They’re a good football team.” “We dug in when we needed to,” Spotts said. “All week we were locked in; we were focused, Monday through Friday. I think we came to play. This was our best game defensively, against a very good opponent.” Logan Cammauf (34) and Cooper Hohenadel pin down Saints’ Bryce Gumby. (PhilMarPhoto) 1 2 3 4 Final Schuylkill Valley 0 14 0 6 20 Berks Catholic 0 0 7 7 14 Scoring summary 2 Schuylkill Valley Kowalski, 41 interception return (Wamsher kick) 9:00 2 Schuylkill Valley Cammauf, 14 pass from Nawrocki (Wamsher kick) 1:57 3 Berks Catholic Gumby, 2 run (Tripathi kick) 7:58 4 Berks Catholic Welker, 13 pass from Suski (Osorio kick) 1:36 4 Schuylkill Valley Gerner, 68 pass from Nawrocki (kick blocked) 0:47 Team statistics Schuylkill Valley Berks Catholic First downs 6 18 Rushes-yards 14-6 55-225 Passing yards 172 172 Total yards 178 397 Passes 12-18-1 10-16-2 Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-2 Punts-average 4-41.2 0 Penalties-yards 6-45 6-50 Individual statistics RUSHING Schuylkill Valley: Cammauf 3-12, Hohenadel 4-2, Pyle 5-0, Nawrocki 5-(-8). Berks Catholic: Rose 20-126, Gumby 27-95, Suski 7-4, Schalk 1-0. PASSING Schuylkill Valley: Nawrocki 12-18-1–172. Berks Catholic: Suski 10-16-2–172. RECEIVING Schuylkill Valley: Spotts 6-81, Gerner 1-68, Cammauf 1-14, Gehret 1-9, Lackner 1-3, Hohenadel 1-2, Kowalski 1-(-5). Berks Catholic: Gumby 3-60, Schalk 2-48, Kozik 2-24, Welker 2-17, Duffy 1-23. INTERCEPTIONS Schuylkill Valley: Kowalski, Hohenadel. Berks Catholic: Gumby. Panthers’ Kowen Gerner (8) celebrates with Alex Gehret (7) and Dillon Lackner. (PhilMarPhoto) Panthers’ Logan Cammauf stops Bryce Gumby. (PhilMarPhoto) Panthers’ Luke Spotts pulls in a first-half pass. (PhilMarPhoto) Schuylkill Valley’s John Kowalski picks off a pass. (PhilMarPhoto)