FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Bartholomew makes Vikings’ roster, new quarterbacks shine in Week 1
· Yahoo Sports
The first week of action is in the books across the Schuylkill League. Below, you can find notes, key performances, and more from the week that was in the Schuylkill League.
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Former Eagle Gavin Bartholomew makes Minnesota Vikings’ 53-man roster
Schuylkill County’s drought of having a player play in the NFL is no more.
Earlier this week, former Blue Mountain star Gavin Bartholomew made the Minnesota Vikings 53-man roster as one of four tight ends.
Bartholomew was a sixth round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft but missed his entire rookie season with the organization due to injury.
After his standout career with Blue Mountain, Bartholomew played his college football at the University of Pittsburgh. He played in 50 games, recording 105 receptions for 1,257 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The last Schuylkill County native to appear in the NFL was John Flannery, a Pottsville native who played from 1991 through 1998, appearing in 80 games as an offensive lineman including making 47 career starts. Flannery was a 1991 NFL All-Rookie team selection as part of the Houston Oilers. He also played for the Dallas Cowboys and St. Louis Rams.
QBs impress in varsity debuts
Eight Schuylkill League quarterbacks made their first-ever appearances as varsity starters.
Minersville’s Derek Derenzo completed 8 of 12 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns, and ran 9 times for 114 yards and a touchdown in a 27-7 win over Halifax. According to Minersville football historian Shayne Shafer, Derenzo is just the ninth player in Minersville’s history to throw and run for 100 yards in a game.
North Schuylkill’s Brock Holmes threw for 83 yards, but made a bigger impact on the ground with 88 yards and five rushing touchdowns against Jersey Shore.
Schuylkill Haven’s Bradyn Diehl went 11-of-15 for 182 yards and three touchdowns against Mount Carmel.
Two other quarterbacks won in their debuts — Williams Valley’s Caden Witmer and Panther Valley’s Cy Maynard.
Haven adds another weapon
Two of Diehl’s three touchdowns were caught by freshman Noah Runkle, who finished the game with three receptions for 76 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown on the game’s opening drive.
Runkle adds a new threat to an offense that already features running back Colton Reber, who picked up where he left off in 2025 with 312 rushing yards and three touchdowns, along with 48 receiving yards.
The Hurricanes didn’t get the win, but all signs point to them being hard to stop.
Blue Devils snap losing skid
Shenandoah Valley won its first game since 2023, and did it in emphatic fashion with a 56-6 rout of Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech. It also marked the first win for Dave Bench as Shenandoah Valley’s coach.
Joel Nunez, Mike Elchisak and Jonnuel Reyes combined for 146 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just 10 combined carries — all in the first half — and quarterback Ethan Bench threw for two more touchdowns.
The Blue Devils’ defense added two pick-sixes and the special teams joined the action with a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Todd Seiger.
Shenandoah Valley will look to win their second-straight game this Friday on the road against Pine Grove. The Blue Devils haven’t won two games in a season since the 2023 season and haven’t won back-to-back games since the 2015 season when they beat Panther Valley 13-6 on September 25 and Minersville 12-6 on October 2.
Also worth passing along about the Blue Devils is that both RB/DB Mikey Elchisak and kicker Sam Mentusky earned offers from Division III Moravian this week.
Blue Mountain passing game hits new level
Junior quarterback Cohen Kirby threw for three touchdowns in the first quarter of Blue Mountain’s 48-0 win over Jim Thorpe.
He connected with Kole Luckenbill for a 49-yard touchdown pass on the second play from scrimmage and hit Chase Guers for a 45-yard score on the next possession. Guers added another touchdown late 4 yards out late in the first.
Kirby finished the game with 161 yards on 10 completions.
Marian has plenty of firepower
The Marian Catholic Colts could become one of the area’s more intriguing teams this season.
In their season opener, the Colts saw junior quarterback Gregory Tirpak throw for 255 yards and three touchdowns on 11-of-18 passing, with senior tight end Rocco Griguoli on the receiving end of five of those completions for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Junior tailback Tyler Price also had a big game with 17 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns to go along with five receptions for 105 yards.
Two state champs on the schedule in Week 2
Two Schuylkill League teams will face defending state champions this week. Blue Mountain will travel to face Class 5A champ Southern Lehigh, and Williams Valley will host Southern Columbia, winner the Class AA title.
Other notable Performances:
■Williams Valley running back Fletcher Thompson had 24 carries for 160 yards including the game-tying touchdown in overtime and the game-winning two-point conversion.
■Minersville wide receiver Jordan Bowers was excellent in the win over Halifax with three receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Running back John Lutsky had 13 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown.
■No Luke Miller for North Schuylkill? No problem. Senior tailback Angel Ortiz had 144 carries on 18 carries against Jersey Shore.
■Tri-Valley’s Parker Hatter had himself a nice day despite a 14-7 loss to Line Mountain, as he totaled 81 yards on 17 carries.