BERWICK — When Pittston Area and Berwick met during the regular season, the Patriots held Dawgs’ tailback Owen Shoemaker to less than 100 yards on the ground.
Because of that, Shoemaker asked coach Frank Sheptock for the tape of that game so he could review the film and find the holes that he missed previously in preparation of Friday night’s District 2 Class 4A quarterfinal matchup at Crispin Field.
The tape-watching paid off in a big way for Shoemaker.
The senior had a career night, reeling off 242 rushing yards and five touchdown runs as the Dawgs pounded the Patriots, 42-0, to advance to the semifinals, where they will meet Dallas, a 23-16 winner over Honesdale.
“It just feels great. This may be my last home game ever as a Berwick Bulldog and I wanted to go out with a bang,” Shoemaker said. “I didn’t expect to go out like this, but I feel incredible for helping my team out with a win.”
After a slow start of fumbling the ball away, turning the ball over on downs and having to punt two times on their first four drives of the game, Berwick got going midway through the second quarter.
It wasn’t easy though as the Dawgs started their fifth drive of the game pinned on their own 6.
“Field position in the first quarter, they (Pittston Area) were dominating,” Sheptock said. “They were doing a great job in the kicking game. We were inside the 10 a couple times and we just couldn’t swing it.”
Two plays into the fifth possession, Shoemaker ripped off a 93-yard TD run busting through the line for the second-longest touchdown run in school history. The long score gave Berwick a 7-0 lead with 5:43 to go before halftime.
“I did not expect that happen,” Shoemaker said about his long run. “I just lowered my shoulder and broke one tackle then another guy went for the strip and I broke that. As soon as I broke that one, I looked up and saw a huge gap there and just took off. And prayed no one caught me from behind.”
Berwick’s Peyton Williams picked off a pass on the third play of the Patriots’ next drive. And two plays into Berwick’s next stanza, Shoemaker raced for a 46-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 advantage with 4:15 to go in the second quarter.
Shoemaker added TD runs of 6 and 10 yards in the third quarter, before tacking on a 16-yarder in the fourth quarter to cap his humongous evening.
“That’s what you’re looking for from one of the premier runners in the league and the area, and he really jump-started the offense,” Sheptock said. “Pittston was playing very well up front, giving us multiple looks and that’s one of the things you count on is that he’s gonna break one.
“I think when you have a back that’s hot like that, you wanna ride him and he did a great job tonight. He was very physical, finished runs, yards after contact, all of those running back-type things you’re looking for.”
The Dawgs defense also had a big game holding the Patriots to just 88 total yards; 53 of those came in the fourth quarter after Berwick went up 35-0 to put the mercy rule into effect. Berwick’s defense also piled up three sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception.
“Our D-line is phenomenal,” Shoemaker said. “I think we have one of the best D-lines in the state. We have a bunch of big kids. …Our defense is just incredible. Thank God for them for holding them out in the first quarter because they really stuck it out.”
Berwick 42, Pittston Area 0
Pittston Area`0`0`0`0`—`00
Berwick`0’14`14`14`—`42
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
No scoring
Second Quarter
BER – Shoemaker 93 run (Groshek kick) 5:43
BER – Shoemaker 46 run (Groshek kick) 4:15
Third Quarter
BER – Shoemaker 6 run (Groshek kick) 8:00
BER – Shoemaker 10 run (Groshek kick) :58
Fourth Quarter
BER – Shoemaker 16 run (Groshek kick) 6:30
BER – M. Laubach 67 fumble return (Groshek kick) 2:48
Team statistics`PA`BER
First downs`5`12
Rushes-yards`27-29`39-357
Passing yards`59`25
Total yards`88`382
Passing`4-14-1`2-6-0
Sacks by-yards lost`1-6`3-30
Punts-avg.`7-23.5`2-43.0
Fumbles-lost`2-2`5-2
Penalties-yards`5-41`5-50
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING — PA, Anastasi 4-14-1-59. BER, Laubach 2-6-0-25.
RUSHING — PA, Lukachko 10-5, Atkins 6-37, Anastasi 9-(minus-30), Haas 1-15, Morris 1-2. BER, Shoemaker 20-242, Laubach 12-61, Maurer 3-18, Sharkuski 3-12, Mason 1-24
RECEIVING — PA, Krawczyk 2-51, Atkins 1-(minus-4), Giambra 1-12. BER, Wilk 1-12, Robbins 1-13.
INTERCEPTIONS — BER, Williams.
MISSED FGs — None.
