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 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.
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 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.
Berwick’s Peyton Williams picked off a pass on the third play of the Patriots’ next drive. And two plays into Berwick’s next drive, 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.
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.
