WVC leading rusher Ty’Meere Wilkerson had room to run again on Friday night as the Berwick running back topped 200 yards and scored two touchdowns in a win over Wyoming Area at Crispin Field.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Berwick wide receiver Caleb May faces a crowd of Wyoming Area defenders after hauling in a screen pass in the second quarter on Friday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area quarterback Jack Gravine keeps the ball on a run in the first quarter against Berwick.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Berwick quarterback Brady Cleaver keeps the ball himself to give the Bulldogs an early 14-0 lead over Wyoming Area on Friday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Drew Keating braces himself on a kickoff return as Berwick’s Skyler Nevel (26) closes in.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Berwick quarterback Brady Cleaver ripped off a 51-yard touchdown on the ground to open the scoring on Friday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
BERWICK — Wyoming Area was the last team to hold Berwick’s Ty’Meere Wilkerson to under 100 yards rushing in a regular season game.
The Wyoming Valley Conference rushing leader reached the century mark on his last carry of the first half and kept on going.
Wilkerson rushed for 206 yards and put the game out of reach with a 49-yard TD run in the fourth quarter as the Dawgs defeated Wyoming Area 35-13 Friday night in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 game.
Berwick (3-0 Div. 2, 6-0 overall) became the only WVC team still undefeated. The Dawgs joined North Pocono as the only unbeatens in District 2.
Berwick rushed for 349 yards and 7.6 per carry against a Wyoming Area defense that was surrendering 64.2 yards on the ground and 2.4 per rush. Wilkerson went over the 200-yard mark for the fifth consecutive game.
“It’s just being physical,” Berwick coach CJ Curry said. “That’s a very physical team. We felt like we had the horses to run with them.”
Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer concurred as his team fell to 1-1 in the division and 5-1 overall.
“That was the main aspect of the game for sure,” Spencer said.
Berwick used Wilkerson’s running to set up scores by quarterback Brady Cleaver on its first two possessions. Wilkerson carried four consecutive times followed by a 51-yard TD dash up the middle by Cleaver.
It was more of Wilkerson on Berwick’s second possession, which ended with a 13-yard touchdown run by Cleaver for a 14-0 lead after one quarter.
Wyoming Area moved within 14-6 with 5:02 until halftime. Quarterback Jack Gravine launched a pass down the left sideline that receiver Luke Kopetchny speared over his head around midfield. He sprinted the rest of the way to the end zone for an 89-yard touchdown.
The touchdown accounted for over half of the Warriors’ first-half yardage. They got inside the Berwick 10-yard line on their second drive of the game, but turned over the ball on downs. The same thing occurred about midway through the fourth quarter.
Berwick used the same Cleaver-Wilkerson formula to score in the third quarter, with Wilkerson running six consecutive times before scoring. The Dawgs had a scary moment the next time they had the ball as Wilkerson left the field after being twisted down in the backfield. Gavin Galutia replaced him and raced 43 yard for a touchdown on the next play.
Wyoming Area pulled within 28-13 with 10:16 remaining on a 31-yard pass from Jack Gravine to Josh Mruk.
Berwick 35, Wyoming Area 13
Wyoming Area`6`0`0`7 — 13
Berwick`14`0`14`7 — 35
First quarter
BER — Brady Cleaver 51 run (Caleb Yost kick), 9:24
BER — Cleaver 13 run (Yost kick), 3:56
Second quarter
WA — Luke Kopetchny 89 pass from Jack Gravine (kick failed), 5:02
Third quarter
BER — Ty’Meere Wilkerson 2 run (Yost kick), 7:31
BER — Gavin Galutia 43 run (Yost kick), 4:03
Fourth quarter
WA — Josh Mruk 31 pass from Gravine (Gavin Feeney kick), 10:16
BER — Wilkerson 49 run (Yost kick), 8:30
Team statistics`WA`BER
First downs`10`18
Rushes-yards`33-106`46-349
Passing yards`197`31
Total yards`303`380
Passing`6-15-0`1-3-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`3-33.6`2-38
Fumbles-lost`2-1`2-1
Penalties-yards`6-28`3-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Wyoming Area, Trustin Johnson 8-18, Gravine 10-23, Nick Ciampi 13-62, Donovan Miller 1-4, Mruk 1-(minus-1). Berwick, Wilkerson 29-206, Cleaver 10-85, Caleb May 1-4, Galutia 4-45. Everett Snyder 2-8.
PASSING — Wyoming Area, Gravine 6-14-0-197, Ciampi 0-1-0-0. Berwick, Cleaver 1-3-0-31.
RECEIVING — Wyoming Area, Kopetchny 3-150, Mruk 2-35, Ciampi 1-12. Berwick, Alex Estrella 1-31.
INTERCEPTIONS — none
MISSED FGs — none
