![\"Gov.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/TMC-L-PerkiomenValleyMffflinFootball0438.jpg\")
Gov. Mifflin\u2019s Patrick Steuer rushed for 978 yards and scored nine touchdowns last season. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\nThe air is starting to cool, the beach trips are slowly coming to an end, and another school year is upon us, which means football is back in Berks County.<\/p>\n
During every offseason, players, coaches and fans eagerly wait for the spring and summer workouts to pass so we can get to the real, hard-hitting part of the greatest show on turf.<\/p>\n
And it is officially here, with a trio of Berks County rivalries and a couple of familiar powerhouses kicking off.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s Game of the Week will be for the Gurski-Linn Trophy, as the Wilson Bulldogs travel down the road to Shillington to face the Gov. Mifflin Mustangs.<\/p>\n
Named after Berks County\u2019s legendary former coaches John Gurski, who coached at Wilson from 1964-82, and Ray Linn, who had two stints at Mifflin from 1956-73 and 1985-87, the trophy has plenty of history behind it.<\/p>\n
Doug Dahms\u2019 Bulldogs have won four straight, dating back to 2022, winning by an average margin of 20 points in not-so-close victories.<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll be Louisville commit Justice Hardy\u2019s debut in the red and white since transferring from Wyomissing in January.<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs are loaded with talent, which is hard to ignore in a game against a Mustangs squad with a lot of new faces and inexperience.<\/p>\n
Still, the intensity and rivalry feel to the game will certainly be there, especially with each team trying to build something special with a Week 1 victory.<\/p>\n
Both Dahms and third-year head coach Nick Morrissey know anything can happen in a matchup where the players and coaches have known each other since their youth days, with the \u201crecord books thrown out the window.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is plenty of optimism in West Lawn for not only a section and district title, but a run in the PIAA Class 6A state playoffs. The roster is that talented.<\/p>\n
Senior Cole Peterson takes over at quarterback. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how he plays in his first official action under the lights.<\/p>\n
Dahms said he doesn\u2019t have to light the league on fire, just be smart with the football and get it to their playmakers in Hardy, Michael Glover and brothers Monty and Damian Greer.<\/p>\n
Gov. Mifflin\u2019s Patrick Steuer rushed for 978 yards and scored nine touchdowns last season. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
As for the Mustangs, they\u2019re still running the old-school Wing-T offense, sticking to their roots, with Patrick Steuer being a name to look out for in this matchup.<\/p>\n
After taking the reins from fullback Grady Garner a year ago, the senior adjusted well, becoming Mifflin\u2019s go-to back and rushing for 978 yards and nine touchdowns.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll look to improve those numbers with a year of experience under his belt.<\/p>\n
The Mustangs will need to control the clock and limit Wilson\u2019s offensive possessions as best they can.<\/p>\n
Because if they can\u2019t, with that type of firepower, things could get out of control, and quickly.<\/p>\n
Mifflin\u2019s last victory over Wilson came in 2021, when Nick Singleton set the Berks County all-time touchdown record with three touchdowns, raising his career total to 80 at the time.<\/p>\n
To put that in perspective of how quickly the years go by, Singleton is now a member of the Tennessee Titans, preparing for his first season in the NFL.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Fleetwood takes on Kutztown in the Hall of Fame Trophy game.<\/p>\n
The Tigers have won nine straight over the Cougars.<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll be head coach Mel Fegely\u2019s debut at Fleetwood, while Larry Chester is aiming for the program\u2019s 100th overall victory.<\/p>\n
The two squads have opened the season against each other for the past four seasons, with the Tigers winning by an average margin of 36 points.<\/p>\n
Chase Adams, a former receiver, will start at quarterback for the first time for Fleetwood, while Ryan Walters is the only returning halfback from the Cougars\u2019 trio of 1,000-yard rushers.<\/p>\n
In Robesonia, Schuylkill Valley faces Conrad Weiser.<\/p>\n
With the Scouts transitioning back to Section 4, it\u2019ll be the two teams first meeting since 2020, when Conrad Weiser won 35-0.<\/p>\n
Panthers\u2019 quarterback Alex Aletras returns for his senior season after finishing fourth in the entire Lancaster-Lebanon League in both passing yards and passing touchdowns, with 1,752 yards and 21 touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Aletras should light up Section 5 with his arm after improving this offseason, reading coverages and understanding the game on a more complex level.<\/p>\n
The Panthers are looking to capture their third section title since Bruce Harbach\u2019s arrival in 2021.<\/p>\n
The Scouts also have Connor Sellars back for his final season at quarterback. Conrad Weiser is hoping to reach the heights of 2024, when they won the Section 3 title.<\/p>\n
Outside of Berks-on-Berks matchups, Twin Valley travels to Middletown in what will be a trip down memory lane for head coach Brett Myers.<\/p>\n
Myers led the Blue Raiders to a ton of success from 2013-20, winning three consecutive District 3 Class 3A titles, as well as making three PIAA Class 3A state championship appearances.<\/p>\n
Since his departure, Middletown has not had much success, while it\u2019s been quite the opposite for the Raiders, as Myers has completely turned the program around.<\/p>\n
Friday will start a new journey, with the hope of capturing section, district and state titles in his son Lucas Myers\u2019 final season in Elverson.<\/p>\n
Another enticing matchup will come on the road for Bob Wolfrum\u2019s Spartans, in their third straight season facing Southern Columbia in the early weeks of the schedule.<\/p>\n
Wolfrum, sixth in Pennsylvania coaching wins with 382, faces off against the all-time leader in Jim Roth, who has 581 wins.<\/p>\n
The Spartans have won the last two matchups, including last year\u2019s commanding 49-27 victory. Wyomissing also snapped the Tigers\u2019 65-game winning streak in 2021.<\/p>\n
Since 2012, Southern Columbia has had just two seasons where it lost more than one game.<\/p>\n
For Wyomissing, there will be some familiar faces, but overall, new playmakers will emerge this season in the backfield.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, it\u2019ll be a great first test for both squads.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s schedule<\/p>\n
Friday<\/p>\n
Exeter at Norristown, 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Wilson at Gov. Mifflin, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Fleetwood at Kutztown, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Schuylkill Valley at Conrad Weiser, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Phoenixville at Reading, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Muhlenberg at Cocalico, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Twin Valley at Middletown, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Wyomissing at Southern Columbia, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Lebanon at Daniel Boone, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Berks Catholic at Notre Dame-Green Pond, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Hamburg at Midd-West, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The air is starting to cool, the beach trips are slowly coming to an end, and another school…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,305,28,128,130,129,726,706],"class_list":["post-274328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-high-school-sports","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-sports","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}