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Waiting for Lester at winter meetings

First Posted: 9/24/2014 Berwick isn&#8217;t panicking right now. Maybe late Friday night the Dawgs will, but right now they&#8217;re not.
Berwick has played for the District 2 Class 3A championship in the two years since George Curry returned as coach, winning the title last year.
Even a 2-2 record &#8212; the team&#8217;s worst start since going 1-3 in 2011 under coach Gary Campbell &#8212; hasn&#8217;t discouraged the veteran coach.
&#8220;I said if we can win two of the three when we were playing Dallas, Valley West and Selinsgrove,&#8221; Curry said, &#8220;and we win the rest of them we&#8217;re going to get in. In fact, if we end up 8-2, we&#8217;ll get a home game because everybody got to play everybody.&#8221;
Curry then went into a theoretical &#8212; and plausible &#8212; scenario where Berwick gets a chance to defend its title.
&#8220;So there&#8217;s going to be a lot of 7-3 teams, so we&#8217;d like to go 8-2,&#8221; Curry said. &#8220;This is a big game this week.&#8221;
Selinsgrove certainly is because Berwick defeated Dallas and lost to Wyoming Valley West. The win-two-of-three concept goes out the window with a loss to the Seals, who are off to a 4-0 start and have outscored their opponents 181-19.
And Selinsgrove coach Dan Hess still thinks there is room for improvement.
&#8220;We&#8217;re due for a big game. We&#8217;re really looking forward to Berwick,&#8221; Hess told Sunbury radio station Eagle 107 after Friday&#8217;s 49-0 win against Shamokin. &#8220;Obviously, our defense played very well. Our special teams for the most part played very well. We made too many mistakes and we&#8217;ve got to clean that stuff up.
&#8220;I really think if we could put a complete game together against Berwick, we&#8217;re going to be OK. I&#8217;m looking forward to playing them.&#8221;
If Berwick defeats Selinsgrove, Curry&#8217;s 8-2 script is very possible. Only one opponent over the final five weeks &#8212; Coughlin (2-2) &#8212; has more than one victory. A loss and then things get a little tense down at Crispin Field.
BEEN A WHILE
Hanover Area had to grind out a 6-0 victory over winless Riverside on Friday minus running back Isaiah Taylor, who injured his shoulder a week earlier against Old Forge. The passing game has also struggled mightily the last two games after showing promise.
The defense, though, has been solid. So solid that the unit posted Hanover Area&#8217;s first shutout in 43 games by blanking the Vikings. The last time the Hawkeyes shut out an opponent was Week 3 of the 2010 season when they defeated Mid Valley 35-0.
BEEN A WHILE PART 2
Fumble seven times and lose four. Throw an interception. Give the opponent short fields to work with. Do all that against Old Forge and the result is predictable.
But Lake-Lehman&#8217;s 33-0 loss to the Blue Devils was a low for an offense that has been strong throughout the years. It marked the first time the Black Knights were shut out in 51 games. You&#8217;d have to go back to Week 9 of 2009 when GAR defeated Lehman 35-0.
RIVALRY REVISION
There was a full house Friday as Wyoming Valley West defeated Berwick 31-21 in a battle of WVC rivals. But the way the PIAA state points system works, each has to be rooting for the other the rest of the way in many games.
Valley West is Class 4A and Berwick is Class 3A. So Berwick would like nothing more than to see Valley West win three in a row against Class 3A Coughlin, Dallas and Crestwood. Meanwhile, Valley West would like for Berwick to knock off Selinsgrove to get 10 state bonus points.
Just like life, sometimes you have to put your differences aside for the betterment of all.
ON TELEVISION
Hanover Area plays at Northwest tonight in a rare Thursday night game. The contest will be televised by WQMY with the kickoff at 7 p.m.
On Friday, Delaware Valley at West Scranton is scheduled to be televised on Channel 21 on Comcast at 7 p.m. Although there is no listing for it, the channel usually carries all home Scranton and West Scranton games. They are repeated a few times during the season.
FIELD GUARANTEE
Dallas Superintendent Frank Galicki said Saturday the synthetic field will be finished in time for the Mountaineers&#8217; Oct. 4 home game against Wyoming Valley West. The team&#8217;s first two home games were played at Misericordia University and Lake-Lehman High School.
Galicki went as far to promise to buy me dinner if the field isn&#8217;t ready by that date. Knowing Frank as long as I have, he&#8217;ll install it himself to avoid paying up.
Just kidding. Galicki is one of the easier superintendents to deal with whether a story about the district has a positive or negative direction. And as a football official, he&#8217;s been helpful at explaining some rules nuances.
MERCY, NO MERCY
Things looked very bleak for Mid Valley on Monday against Western Wayne. The Spartans trailed 41-12 in the third quarter and were a touchdown away from the 35-point mercy rule.
But something odd happened. Mid Valley started to score and score and score. The Spartans fell short, 41-38, but their never-quit attitude was something that should be commended. Even more so when they scored a total of 44 points in their first three games combined.

Berwick not worried about 2-2 start