Tunkhannock comeback bid falls short against Western Wayne

Nanticoke rebounds with big win over CMVT

POTTSVILLE &#8212; The first time Berwick&#8217;s defense trotted onto the field told the story.It was one of woe for Pottsville.The Crimson Tide ran three plays, lost nine yards, then lost an errant snap in its own end zone.The series not only provided Berwick with the night&#8217;s first two points. It set the script for the rest of the game.Harrison Kuchka scored two touchdowns Friday, Lenny Wyda broke off a long scoring run and Berwick punished Pottsville, 27-0 at Pottsville High School.But it was a dominating Berwick defense that stole the show by pitching a shutout.&#8220;Feels great,&#8221; Berwick linebacker Randy Miller said. &#8220;It really does.&#8221;It should.The Berwick defense never came close to surrendering a score and allowed Pottsville past midfield just three times all night. The first two times came on a poor Berwick punt that never made it across the 50-yard line near the end of the first half and on Pottsville&#8217;s 51-yard kick return to open the third quarter. The last time Pottsville made it into Berwick territory came when Pottsville&#8217;s Darion Jacoby ripped off a 33-yard run in the game&#8217;s final two minutes.All three of those Pottsville drives into Berwick terrain ended three plays later, or less.&#8220;That&#8217;s what we&#8217;re going to try to accomplish week to week,&#8221; Miller said, &#8220;trying to get a shutout.&#8221;Even with Jacoby&#8217;s late-game run, the Crimson Tide managed just 48 rushing yards against Berwick, with eight of Pottsville&#8217;s 22 carries winding up in yardage lost.Berwick was even more impressive on the pass rush, led by hard-charging defensive lineman Sean McCole. Under constant pressure, Pottsville&#8217;s passing game completed just four passes for a total of 27 yards.That smothering defensive display helped carry a Berwick offense that was sporadic, at best, when starting quarterback Jared Marshman left the game early in the second quarter with an apparent ankle injury. But the Bulldogs&#8217; offensive attack clicked enough times that the outcome wasn&#8217;t in jeopardy.&#8220;I don&#8217;t want our offense to rely on us,&#8221; said Miller, part of a defense that shut down Crestwood&#8217;s vaunted running game in last week&#8217;s season opener and limited the Comets to 14 points. &#8220;But we&#8217;re going to come every week and play our tails off.&#8221;It showed right from the start Friday.After Pottsville&#8217;s first two plays failed to produce a yard, Berwick linebacker Kyle Roberts burst through the line and delivered a nine-yard sack on third down. That set up an errant snap that sailed from Pottsville&#8217;s 11-yard line into the end, and the Crimson Tide was forced to cover it for a safety.Berwick then cashed in even bigger when Marshman rifled completions of 29 and 29 yards on a 60-yard scoring march, capped by Alex Koch&#8217;s one-yard blast into the end zone for an 8-0 Berwick lead.In the second quarter, Lenny Wyda broke off a 63-yard touchdown run, then Kuchka went to work to provide the final cushion.He broke free for an 18-yard touchdown pass from Mike Force with 8:26 to play, then scored again by taking an end-around 16 yards for the game&#8217;s final score.Not that the Bulldogs defense needed much more.&#8220;We work real hard every practice,&#8221; Miller said. &#8220;And we&#8217;ve got a good amount of seniors that are good leaders.&#8221;BOX GOES IN AGATEBerwick 27, Pottsville 0Berwick`8`7`0`12`&#8212;`27Pottsville`0`0`0`0`&#8212;`0First quarterB &#8212; Pottsville high snap into end zone for safety, 4:59B - Alex Koch 1 run (kick failed), 0:49Second quarterB &#8212; Lenny Wyda 63 run (Luke Fisher kick), 6:29Fourth quarterB &#8212; Harrison Kuchka 18 pass from Mike Force (kick blocked), 8:26B - Kuchka 16 run (conversion run failed), 7:27Team statistics`Ber`PotFirst downs`19`3Rushes-yards`45-217`22-48Passing yards`113`27Total yards`330`75Passing`10-20-0`4-16-0Sacked-yards lost`3-20`1-3Punts-avg.`4-36.5`6-35Fumbles-lost`1-0`1-1Penalties-yards`8-54`5-76INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING &#8212; BER, Lenny Wyda 8-81, Mike Force 6-44, Daquan Hellenthal 10-44, Harrison Kuchka 4-16, Anthony Cicini 3-15, Matt Shannon 5-15, Alex Koch 3-5, TEAM 2- (minus 2). POT, Hunter Futchko 4-35, Darion Jacoby 9-31, Sam Siminitus 1-1, Tyler Timberlake 1-2, Coby Williams 1- (minus 9), TEAM 2- (minus 13).PASSING &#8212; BER, Jared Marshman 4-6-0-76, Force 6-14-0-37. POT, Derick Watinsky 4-16-0-27RECEIVING &#8212; BER, RObbie Harter 3-56, Kuchka 3-34, Fisher, 2-29, Kyle ROberts 1-5, Trent Kowalski 1-(-1). POT, Jacoby 2-8, Cory Klechner 1-10, Brian Heckler 1-9.INTERCEPTIONS &#8212; NoneMISSED FGs &#8212; None.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Defensive dominance carries Berwick