The Wyomissing Spartans Magical Run Ends

Tagged under: District 3, Gameday Hub, News, Playoffs

Anthony Franklin | December 6, 2022

The Wyomissing Spartans entered the 2022 season with lofty expectations after a great 2021 season saw them earn a state title appearance where they narrowly were defeated by Central Valley. They came into this season with an experienced team and a very large offensive line led by mammoth Penn State commit J’ven Williams (6-4 295). The other 4 starters along the line were center Issaac Focht (5-11 230), tackles Pacen Ziegler (6-4 275), Cooper Young (6-0 240) and guard Jack Gartner who is listed at 5-10 180 pounds. They use TE Caleb Brewer (6-4 275) and Evan Blickley (6-3 185) for extra blockers. The Spartans run the traditional Wing T offense which relies on precision, movement, technique more so than just size. Jack was a perfect fit in the offense and as a junior and senior named to the all-league 2nd team for his offensive line play. Saturday, he helped the Spartans jumped out to an 10-0 lead late in the 2nd quarter and then helped them momentarily recapture the lead late in the game 17-14 with his blocking for QB Ben Zechman and FB Matthew Cramer, RB Charlie McIntyre and RB Chase Eisenhower. Unfortunately for Jack and the Spartans, Neumann Goretti would pull out a miraculous last second score to win the game 20-17 and advance to the state finals. The Spartans season would end with them finishing 13-1.

Jack stated that “The line was incredibly special this year. The size is what a lot of people talk about but what gets overlooked is the general smarts and effort of each person in our line group. Every person can play multiple positions & worked incredibly hard to improve week in and week out which speaks volumes on their character. The fact that we could help our team score over 400 points this year is such an amazing milestone and I think I speak for us all that we are happy and take a lot of pride in helping our team to succeed. Jack believes that the wing t offense perfectly suited him with his size and abilities being a quick and nimble lineman which are important aspects of a wing t guard. He attributes most of his success to lots of hard work along with his team and coaches pushing him daily and keeping him motivated to get better. He stressed he learned a lot practicing with teammates like Jven, Pacen & Caleb who are a lot bigger than him which in turn helped him against larger targets in games.

“Looking back on this season the main things I’ll take away is the fond memories with my teammates which I enjoyed playing every second of and playing under an elite group of coaches who I have a huge amount of respect for. The message; don’t take anything for granted will stick with me as everything you think you have can be taken away very quicky so it’s important to enjoy what you have while you have it”. As Jack’s high school playing days have come to an end, he has garnered some college football attention at the Division 3 and sprint programs (Mansfield, Chestnut Hill, Alderson Broadus) and is unsure which level he would prefer to play at the moment. One thing for certain is he plans to attend college and major in a field related to computer science.

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