10/8/2021 football Edit

Game of the week: A Berks County showdown

Alex Christo • Panther-lair

Recruiting Analyst

There is a big conference matchup in the Berks Inter-County League this weekend with Governor Mifflin (5-0) is traveling to Exeter Township (4-2).

In the past five seasons Governor Mifflin has a 5-0 record against Exeter Township, outscoring the Eagles 179-93. They have been usually close games, but last season was the outlier with the score being 56-14.

Governor Mifflin running back and Penn State commit, Nicholas Singleton, has been on a tear this season. He passed the 1,000-yard rushing mark in Week 5, which led to his fourth straight 1,000-yard rushing season in his career. He has also scored more than 20 touchdowns, and he has set the Berks County career rushing record with more than 4,500 yards and still has a few games left.

Exeter Township linebacker and Villanova commit J.R. Strauss will have his hands full. I was actually surprised when Strauss committed to Villanova because I though he was at least a MAC type player. In six games, he has recorded 31 total tackles, 16 solo stops, 2 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. In last year’s game against the Mustangs he did not do much defensively, with only 3 total tackles and forced fumble.

Exeter Township has one of the top 2023 tight ends in the state in Joey Schlaffer. In the 5 games he’s played, Schlaffer has recorded 20 receptions for 361 yards (averaging 18.1 yards per catch) and three touchdowns. Last season, Schlaffer had two 100-yard receiving games, and while he has yet to hit that number this year, the closest he was to 100 yards was the first game of the season in which he had 97 yards.

Against Governor Mifflin last year, Schlaffer was held to 2 catches for 61 yards and zero touchdowns. He still lines up as a receiver but has shown to lineup at the traditional tight end spot. Schlaffer still lacks physicality when it comes to blocking, so that's an area for improvement.

Governor Mifflin’s best defensive back is junior Ayden Martin who is most likely a Group of 5 player. Martin received his first offer from Temple early September, and he should be all over Shlaffer.