Letter to the Editor: Nation in need of ‘strong leader’ to put it back on course

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Lehman crushes Old Forge

<p>BERWICK &#8212; All week long, Devon Weidman and his Wyoming Valley West teammates endured the tales about how dangerous Berwick&#8217;s vaunted defense can be.</p><p>He got sick of it.</p><p>Then Weidman decided to do something about it.</p><p>Weidman scored two touchdowns Friday helped put Valley West&#8217;s defense on display, too, when he picked off two passes as the Spartans battered Berwick 34-6 in a battle of Wyoming Valley Conference unbeatens at Crispin Field.</p><p>&#8220;Everybody was talking about Berwick&#8217;s defense,&#8221; Weidman groaned. &#8220;We just came out and showed them we can play, too.&#8221;</p><p>Stunned them, is more like it.</p><p>Less than a minute after Valley West fumbled away its first possession on a punt attempt in its own end zone for Berwick&#8217;s only touchdown, Weidman struck back.</p><p>He sprinted 64 yards down the right sideline foir a toucdown on Valley West&#8217;s fifth offensive play, and the Spartans were off and running.</p><p>&#8220;I saw (receiver Sean) Judge and (tight end) L.J. (Wesneski) blocking,&#8221; Weidman said. &#8220;I was moving. I took it to the end.&#8221;</p><p>It turned out that was the end of Berwick&#8217;s victory hopes for the night.</p><p>Valley West kept stinging the Bulldogs with one big play after another, leaving Berwick&#8217;s vaunted defense looking helpless at times and frustrating two scoring attempts with key defensive stops.</p><p>After a promising 64-yard Berwick march ended with a missed field goal, Valley West came back with Aaron Austin&#8217;s 14-yard touchdown pass to Wesneski for a 14-6 advantage at halftime.</p><p>And when Judge opened the second half by dashing 60 yards for a touchdown, the Spartans were starting to cruise with a 21-6 lead.</p><p>Judge appeared to be stopped at least three times on the play, but he knifed through two Berwick tacklers at the 20-yard line, then ran out of a diving tackle from behind to cover the final six yards of the scoring run.</p><p>Berwick desperately tried to recover, pouncing on Valley West&#8217;s onside kick attempt and promptly taking the ball to Valley West&#8217;s 9-yard line. But a key penalty killed that drive, and when quarterback Austin took off on a 30-yard scramble into Berwick territory, the Spartans were back in business.</p><p>&#8220;I thought he broke out tonight,&#8221; Valley West coach Pat Keating said of Austin, who hit 12 of his 16 passes for 126 yards, threw two scoring strikes and scrambled for 70 rushing yards. &#8220;It&#8217;s only his fourth game as a starter. He made plays &#8212; with his arm, with his legs, big plays.&#8221;</p><p>Austin beat a blitz with a 21-yard pass to running back Bill Davison later in the drive, and Davison capped off the back-breaking 94-yard touchdown drive with a four-yard touchdown run for a 27-6 Spartans lead in the third quarter.</p><p>For good measure, Weidman followed up by interception a Berwick pass from his defensive backfield position, then grabbing a pretty 26-yard strike from Austin in the back of the end zone to close the scoring with 9:24 to play.</p><p>&#8220;Devon&#8217;s a hell of a player,&#8221; said Keating, whose high-powered offensive team stormed to a 4-0 start. &#8220;He&#8217;s a very athletic, very tough kid, very strong. I think he played one heck of a game, both sides of the ball.&#8221;</p><p>Weidman wasn&#8217;t finished leaving his imprint, as he came up with his second interception - catching the ball with his knees while laying on the ground - to thwart Berwick&#8217;s next offensive attempt.</p><p>&#8220;I practice a lot on my backpedaling, my defense,&#8221; Weidman said. &#8220;I just know the way I play. I practice like that, I play like this every time.&#8221;</p><p>That could be scary for the rest of the Wyoming Valley Conference, since Valley West&#8217;s defense held Berwick to 63 rushing yards, 84 passing yards and without an offensive touchdown.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a big win for us,&#8221; Weidman said.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Wyoming Valley West 34, Berwick 6</strong></p><p><strong>Wyo. Valley West`7`7`13`7`&#8212;`34</strong></p><p><strong>Berwick`6`0`0`0`&#8212;`6</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>First quarter</strong></p><p>BER - Luke Fisher fumble recovery in end zone (kick failed), 8:36</p><p>WVW - Devon Weidman 64 run (Jake Gurtis kick), 7:40</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong><strong>Second quarter</strong></strong></p><p>WVW - L.J. Wisneski 14 pass from Aaron Austin (Gurtis kick), 2:15</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Third quarter</strong></p><p>WVW - Sean Judge 60 run (Gurtis kick), 9:24</p><p>WVW - Bill Davison 4 run (kick failed), 0:03</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Fourth quarter</strong></p><p>WVW - Weidman 26 pass from Austin (Gurtis kick), 9:24</p><p><strong>Team statistics`WVW`Ber</strong></p><p style="text-align: left;">First downs`16`10</p><p>Rushes-yards`37-250`27-63</p><p>Passing yards`126`84</p><p>Total yards`376`147</p><p>Passing`12-16-0`9-17-2</p><p>Sacked-yards lost`2-13`4-23</p><p>Punts-avg.`2-23.5`2-38</p><p>Fumbles-lost`1-1`2-0</p><p>Penalties-yards`6-60`3-22</p><p><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong></p><p><strong>RUSHING</strong> &#8212; WVW, Sean Judge 9-79, Aaron Austin 11-70, Devon Weidman 1-64, Bill Davison 8-36, Michael Baird 6-25, Zach Davies 1- (minus 2), TEAM 1- (minus 22); BER, Mike Force 7-32, Anthony Cecini 5-28, Len Wyda 4-15, Matt Shannon 5-10, Harrison Kochka 1-0, TEAM 1- (minus 9), Jared Marshman 4- (minus 13).</p><p><strong>PASSING</strong> &#8212; WVW, Austin 12-16-0-126; BER, Force 7-12-0-47, Marshman 2-5-2-37.</p><p><strong>RECEIVING</strong> &#8212; WVW, L.J. Wesneski 5-40, Davison 3-49, Weidman 2-27, Judge 2-10.</p><p><strong>INTERCEPTIONS</strong> &#8212; WVW, Weidman 2-22.</p><p><strong>MISSED FGs</strong> &#8212; BER, Jordan DiVelario, 28 yards, second quarter, wide left</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw01.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s L.J. Wesneski (85) celebrates his touchdown with teammate Bill Davison at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s L.J. Wesneski (85) celebrates his touchdown with teammate Bill Davison at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Bill Davison (44) tries to punt the ball from out of the end zone while under pressure from Berwick&#8217;s Kyle Roberts (99) in the first quarter at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Bill Davison (44) tries to punt the ball from out of the end zone while under pressure from Berwick&#8217;s Kyle Roberts (99) in the first quarter at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw03.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Joe Norce, left, Kyle McMillan and Luke Fisher celebrate their team&#8217;s touchdown in the first quarter at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw03.jpg</photo2><caption2>Berwick&#8217;s Joe Norce, left, Kyle McMillan and Luke Fisher celebrate their team&#8217;s touchdown in the first quarter at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. </caption2><photoCredit2>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw04.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Nick Koch (4) keeps Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Sean Judge from catching the ball in the end zone at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw04.jpg</photo3><caption3>Berwick&#8217;s Nick Koch (4) keeps Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Sean Judge from catching the ball in the end zone at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. </caption3><photoCredit3>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw05.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Anthony Cicini (26) pushes aside Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Devon Weidman during Friday&#8217;s football game at Crispin Field in Berwick. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw05.jpg</photo4><caption4>Berwick&#8217;s Anthony Cicini (26) pushes aside Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Devon Weidman during Friday&#8217;s football game at Crispin Field in Berwick. </caption4><photoCredit4>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw06.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West quarterback Aaron Austin (3) throws a stiff-arm in Friday&#8217;s football game at Crispin Field in Berwick. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw06.jpg</photo5><caption5>Wyoming Valley West quarterback Aaron Austin (3) throws a stiff-arm in Friday&#8217;s football game at Crispin Field in Berwick. </caption5><photoCredit5>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw07.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Nick Koch (4) recovers a loose ball by Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Bill Davison (44) in the end zone in the third quarter at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. Officials ruled Davison crossed the goal line before losing the ball. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_berwickwvw07.jpg</photo6><caption6>Berwick&#8217;s Nick Koch (4) recovers a loose ball by Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Bill Davison (44) in the end zone in the third quarter at Crispin Field in Berwick Friday night. Officials ruled Davison crossed the goal line before losing the ball. </caption6><photoCredit6>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit6></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Paul Sokoloski</p><p>psokoloski@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</p></shirttailMeta></div>

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