Nativity's Colt Mason (center), George Shimko (left) and Evan Ritter (right) celebrate after a touchdown against Holy Redeemer on Saturday at Wyoming Valley West's Kingston Spartan Field. The Green Wave beat the Royals 36-0 (Photo by Eli Doyle).

KINGSTON — Nativity entered the 2025 season facing questions about how it would handle the loss of so many key seniors from a year ago. But on Saturday night, the Green Wave showed they may be retooling, but they are doing it with confidence.

Nativity controlled both sides of the ball in a 36-0 rout of Holy Redeemer at Wyoming Valley West’s Spartan Stadium. Quarterback Colt Mason powered the effort, rushing for 98 yards and two touchdowns while also returning an interception 27 yards for another score.

“We lost 16 really, really good football players last year and returned one starter,” Nativity coach Pat Mason said. “You know, that was exactly what I thought it was going to be. You saw me on the sideline, I was grinding until the last play. I’m trying to coach these kids every single play, every single snap, every single down. I’m trying to teach them, and listen, they gave me an effort tonight.

“We came here, we showed up, we played. Colt started one game as a freshman — this was basically his first game being our first-string quarterback. And I think we made some mistakes. We had a touchdown called back, but we’re trying to find that right mix right now.”

Sophomore Cooper Felty plunged in the end zone from 13 yards away as the Green Wave piled up 202 rushing yards and rolled to a 22-0 halftime lead before finishing the game under the mercy rule late in the third quarter. Bentley Werez added a 3-yard scamper for a TD later.

The Green Wave (1-0) defense was just as dominant as the offense. Mason’s pick-six was one of the highlights, but the pressure up front was constant. Evan Ritter produced a safety in the second quarter by sacking the Royals’ quarterback in the end zone, linemen George Shimko swatted down several passes at the line of scrimmage and Aidan Richard added a sack to shut down any attempt at a Redeemer passing attack. Nativity limited the Royals (0-1) to 11 rushing yards and 94 yards of total offense while forcing two turnovers.

Holy Redeemer hurt itself with penalties throughout the night. The Royals were flagged nine times for 115 yards, with many of those infractions wiping out rare positive plays or extending Nativity drives. They finished with just five first downs and were unable to find any rhythm.

For Nativity, the win showed that while the roster looks different than it did a season ago, the results can be just as convincing. New contributors stepped into bigger roles, the line controlled the trenches, and the defense proved capable of closing down an opponent for four quarters.

The Green Wave travel to Pine Grove (0-1) on Friday as the Schuylkill-Colonial League schedule begins.

Game Summary

Nativity 36, Holy Redeemer 0

Nat (1-0) 14  8  14  0 — 36

HR (0-1)  0   0   0  0  — 0

Nat — Mason 1 rush (kick failed)

Nat— Cooper Felty 13 rush (Mason rush)

Nat — Safety, QB tackled in end zone

Nat — Mason 16 rush (kick failed)

Nat — Mason 27 interception return (Con. Felty rush)

Nat — Werez 3 rush (kick failed)

Team Statistics

Nat-HR

First Downs — 12 5

Rushes-Yards — 35-202  24-11

Passes — 1-9-1  6-18-1

Passing Yards — 2  83

Total Yards — 204  94

Fumbles/Lost — 2-0 3-0

Penalties — 9-65  9-115

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Nativity — Mason 10-98, Werez 5-36, Conner Felty 6-28, Cooper Felty 6-23, Trezsie 3-15, Williams 1-9, McCormick 1-3, Cole Felty 1-3, Team 2-(-13). Holy Redeemer — Council 9-9, Orlando 9-21, Shrader 1-4, McDermott 2-(-9), Sage 2-(-5), DeFrancesco 1-(-9).

PASSING: Nativity — Mason 1-9-1, 2. Holy Redeemer — McDermott 4-11-1, 68; Council 2-6-0, 15; Kreider 0-1-0, 0.

RECEIVING: Nativity — Werez 1-2. Holy Redeemer — Arroyo 3-41, Grochowski 1-31, Shrader 1-6, Zbierski 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS: Nativity — Mason. Holy Redeemer — Arroyo.