Berlin-Brothersvalley vs #10 Claysburg-Kimmel Game Preview
Tagged under: District 5, District 6, Gameday Hub, News, pfn
Baron Dionis | August 21, 2025
Opening week is finally here and tomorrow night marks day one of the high school season. There are a ton of great games to open up 2025 and one in particular that stands out is between Berlin-Brothersvalley and Claysburg-Kimmel. There are a ton of eyes on Claysburg this season as they return nearly their entire starting lineup from last season, leading to ranking them 10th in 1A to open up the season.
Among the returners includes standout quarterback Mason Campagna. The Penn State baseball commit is the top returning quarterback in District 6 this season and his dominant run game will be tough for a young Berlin team to stop. Campagna will be without his rushing partner from last season in Mark Lattieri. Those two combined for 2,660 rushing yards last season and the Bulldogs went into the offseason needing to replace not only on offense, but defense too.
“We’ve got a host of players, sophomores through seniors competing to step in,” Claysburg Head Coach Chuck Kassick explained. “Dustin Slowik has gotten a lot of reps this preseason at linebacker. Kim Piner and Trevor Brown have also.”
“At running back, Trevor Brown and Ayden Soler have shared carries and I expect them to do so all season. They both bring a little different mix to that position.”
Brown rushed for just 40 yards last season and Soler did not account for any. Brown will be a junior while Soler just a sophomore.
Despite the new faces in the run game, Berlin expects a challenge to open up the season. They are a young team and they lack experience entering opening week, but Berlin is not worried about age. Giving 100% effort is what they are looking for and if they can give that, Berlin will be competitive in the long run.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach Kassick and what he’s done down at Claysburg over the last couple years,” Berlin Head Coach Dante Paul commented. “Obviously they are a very good team and Mason Campagna is one of the best QB/Athletes in our conference. Slowing them down will be a major challenge to open our schedule. Heading into week one, my staff and I are looking for guys who want to play with a lot of effort.”
“If we want to be competitive this season, we can’t use our inexperience as an excuse.”
Although they are young, Coach Kassick knows to never count out at a Berlin team. Their physicality year in and year out are constantly one of the best in the ICC and Claysburg knows that they need to match that to fight with them.
“We need to not allow their physicality dictate the entire game,” Coach Kassick described on what Claysburg need to do to walk away with a victory. “They have good athletes returning and the cupboard is not bare in Berlin, by far. They are extremely physical. They bring decades long tradition of success, so we need to start fast, minimize mistakes, and control the tempo of the game.”
Berlin does return a handful of players from last years D5 2A runner up team that lost to Bedford 18-0 in the D5 Championship, but not nearly as many contributors that they lost. Berlin will be without quarterback Mac Foor, running back Cooper Huston, and receivers Hayden Hutzell and Zander Ritenour. Those four were the key pieces on offense and replacing them will be very difficult, but Coach Paul believes in this new group coming in.
“We lost a majority of our offensive from production from a year ago,” Coach Paul explained. “We only return 2 full time starters from a year ago. With that being said, our underclassmen really put in a lot of time in our offseason program. Brady Janidlo will be our QB this season. We want to be balanced and get the ball in our athletes hands. We expect Carter Durst and Seth Kimmel to get carries out of the backfield. Other athletes that we will have on the field include Carson Janidlo, Ryan Janidlo, Marquinn Suber, Dawson Shaffer, Corbin Kordell, and Jack Carter.”
Plenty of new faces and looking at things ahead of the game, Claysburg may have an edge through experience. Regardless of age though, this matchup will account for a great game with both teams having their strengths towards winning. Berlin rides a two game win streak since joining the ICC in 2023. Berlin won 42-14 in 2024 and 45-21 in 2023. This will be their third matchup since joining and Claysburg looks to snap that skid.
Kickoff is set at 7 PM at Claysburg’s new football facility and the Bulldogs look to defend their ICC North title and their ranking at 10. Berlin has the chance to upset their preseason ranking and carry on their historic success, making this out to become a very exciting opener.
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