Berwick uses balance to down Pittston Area

BERWICK – Berwick didn’t have its leading rusher available Friday night, but the Bulldogs had plenty of talent to make up for the absence.

Four different players rushed for touchdowns and Berwick overcame a brief rally attempt by Pittston Area to post a 34-7, Homecoming victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Class 4A Division game at Crispin Field.

Berwick won its fourth straight to improve to 5-3. Pittston Area dropped to 2-6.

Ryan Bankes, who rushed for a career-high 133 yards last week against Wyoming Valley West, didn’t play for the Dawgs. However, his backfield mate, Ben Knorr, rushed 18 times for 92 yards and a touchdown in his most productive game of the season.

Junior Dray Wilk entered the game more of a receiving threat, and he proved that with a 27-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. However, he also ran for a 51-yard touchdown to give Berwick a 21-0 lead.

Sophomore Bo Sheptock had one carry all season before running seven times for 98 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter. Fullback Trystan English scored Berwick’s final touchdown on only his second rush of the season.

“Our skill players can play multiple positions, and that’s a big advantage for us,” Berwick coach Carmen DeFrancesco said. “We have four or five guys on offense we can plug into three or four different positions. That’s a big advantage for us.”

Both teams had touchdowns negated by penalties in a scoreless second quarter. Pittston Area thought it had a touchdown when quarterback Drew DeLucca hit tight end Adam Shovlin for a 7-yard touchdown throw. However, a wideout lined up incorrectly, making Shovlin an ineligible receiver. A fourth-down pass was incomplete.

Pittston Area got into position to score on a 70-yard pass from DeLucca to Kevin Lockett. Lockett caught the ball at the Patriots 35, spun out of a tackle and made it to the Berwick 13.

On Berwick’s first play after the turnover on downs, Knorr raced 88 yards, only to have his touchdown squashed by a holding penalty.

Pittston Area had 55 yards of offense in the first half, but showed some life to start the third quarter. Running back Alex Hoban ran from wildcat formation four times to start a 74-yard scoring drive. Running back Harry Pugliese covered 51 yards by bouncing a run outside. His touchdown cut the deficit to 21-7 at 8:34 of the third quarter.

That was the extend of the Patriots’ offense. They crossed midfield just one more time.

“We made a little adjustment at halftime and started running some wildcat stuff, so it worked for us,” Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri said. “But they adjusted and then we just started turning the ball over again, giving up punt returns and long runs.

“When they have the ball, we really can’t do much. They did a good job of possessing the ball in the first half and after our good drive in the second half, they possessed the ball. We can’t do much on offense when we don’t have it and when we did have it, we didn’t do much with it.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Berwick ran 51 plays to Pittston Area’s 35. … Harry Pugliese ran for 66 yards for Pittston Area, but the rest of the Patriots were a net minus-4 yards on 19 carries. … Berwick had statistical advantages of 12-6 in first downs, 274-62 in rushing yards, 4-2 in pass completions and 305-131 in total offense.

LOOKING AHEAD

Pittston Area is home Friday night in a meeting of 2-6 Wyoming Valley Conference Class 4A Division teams with Crestwood. The Comets lost, 41-12, Friday night at Dallas, a team that won at Pittston Area last week, 28-6. Noah Schultz has rushed for 458 yards for Crestwood in the past two games, 305 last week in a 33-0 win over Abington Heights and 153 more in Friday’s loss at Dallas. Both Crestwood wins have come by shutout and the Comets have also been shut out once.