Berlin senior Spochart signs to play football at California (Pa.)
Mar. 6—BERLIN — Will Spochart has been on the sidelines, in the huddle or on the field with the Berlin Brothersvalley varsity football team for more than a decade.
The Mountaineers' three-sport standout won't be there next season, a fact Berlin football coach Doug Paul noted on Friday after Spochart signed a letter of intent to attend California (Pa.) University and play NCAA Division II football in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
"He was a manager from the time he was in second or third grade and he came up through," Paul said, noting Spochart helped the team as a youth until he actually could put on the pads. "He's just always been around the program.
"Just watching him develop and mature over the years. ... A great three-sport athlete. We could be doing this signing for basketball or baseball, too. The thing that set Will apart is his work ethic. He's such a great student of the game."
Spochart was named to the Pennsylvania Football Writers All-State Team in Class 2A after becoming the Mountaineers first player to record 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in the same season in 2020.
The 6-foot-3 senior completed 63.8% of his passes for 1,139 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 1,106 yards and 14 TDs as the Mountaineers finished as District 5 Class 2A runner-up.
"Two 1,000-yard segments with the football team," Spochart said when asked about special memories he had with the Mountaineers. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates. (Also) Last year's basketball team, we made WestPAC champs, District 5 champs and Elite Eight against Vincentian."
Spochart was part of Berlin's 28-1 team that had just beaten Vincentian, one of the state's top teams, and was headed to the PIAA quarterfinal round when the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the rest of the postseason.
This year, he is among a strong senior class that has helped the Mountaineers to a 23-1 record with a berth in Wednesday's District 5 Class 1A title game against Shade.
Spochart also was strong on the baseball diamond with a .344 batting average, 21 hits, 20 runs and nine RBIs as a sophomore in 2019. Last year's baseball season was canceled due to the pandemic.
"He's probably one of the best three-sport athletes we've had here with what he's been able to do in all three sports," said Tanner Prosser, the Mountaineers' boys basketball and baseball coach. "He's a special kid. He's committed a lot of time and energy to making himself a college-type athlete.
"He could probably play college in any one of the three sports he plays. He's that good. Not only that, he's a completely unselfish kid who puts his teammates first. A great leader. Super kid."
Spochart said he liked the campus and football facilities at California, and he felt the coaching staff, led by Gary Dunn, was interested in both the academic and athletic paths he'd follow.
Spochart said he also will be a part of the U.S. Navy Reserve.
"They said they'd work with my football schedule," Spochart said. "I've always wanted to serve my country. My grandpa served. My uncle serves. It's something I always wanted to do since I was young."
The son of Steve and Julie Spochart, Will has connections to current California players with ties to the region.
"I talk to Noah Dillow of Chestnut Ridge a lot and he really helped me out a lot," Spochart said. "And Jake Ardary from (Bishop) McCort. He's going down the same path I'm doing. He's doing the Army Reserve. I'm doing the Navy Reserve.
"He really helped me out answering all the questions I had for him. To do both, football and the military at the same time, it was just great talking to them."
Prosser, who also is Berlin's athletic director, has seen Spochart excel for many years. He believes Spochart is ready for the next step, especially on the football field.
"He's got those athletic instincts you just can't teach," Prosser said. "He has them in all three sports."
