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Defense propels Berwick football past West Scranton

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MOSCOW &#8212; The last thing Crestwood wanted to do was dig itself a major hole early.Unfortunately for the Comets, the North Pocono offense had other plans.The Trojans racked up more than 300 yards alone in the first half and punched six touchdowns in the end zone as North Pocono rolled, 48-14, in the quarterfinals of the District 2 Class 4A tournament.The victory sends the Trojans into the semifinals against Valley View, a winner over Coughlin Friday. Crestwood, the No. 7 seed, ends its season with a 3-8 record.&#8220;They have a phenomenal team and a great coaching staff,&#8221; Crestwood head coach Greg Myers said. &#8220;We knew that coming into the game. The one thing we could not do is spot them 21 points. You just won&#8217;t come back against a team of their caliber. I thought we settled down and started to move the ball, but we were just too far behind.&#8221;For North Pocono, the start couldn&#8217;t have gone any better.A 6-play, 51-yard drive, all rushes, capped off by a Matt Craig 24-yard TD scamper.Another long drive on the team&#8217;s second possession as Tyler Musgrave punched one into the end zone.And on the ensuing kickoff, Crestwood fumbled the ball &#8211; only to see Trojan Ben Dial recover the pigskin and return it 36 yards for the score.Not even eight minutes in, and North Pocono was out to a 21-0 lead.&#8220;Our kids came out and played great. We have a lot of good players, and they played hard tonight,&#8221; North Pocono head coach Greg Dolhon said. &#8220;We felt that we had to run the football, and we are going to have to run the ball in the next few rounds if we are going to win. When you are in the playoffs, you have to run, and you have to stop the run on defense.&#8221;The Trojans&#8217; offense didn&#8217;t spend much time on the field in the second quarter. As a matter of fact, the team only ran four plays.A good sign for Crestwood (3-8), right? Well, except for the fact that three of them went 60-plus yards to the end zone.Back-to-back 64-yard runs by Craig and Musgrave. And right after Lance Blass&#8217; 1-yard run cut the Trojans&#8217; lead to 35-7 with 54 seconds left before halftime, North Pocono scored on its very next play as Donny Blaine dropped back and found Craig on a screen pass. The back did the rest, cutting past one defender and rumbling 65 yards down the sideline for the 42-6 lead at the break.Give Blass credit because the senior gave his all to keep his team in the contest.The versatile athlete ran for 75 yards, threw for another 59 and caught two passes for 13 yards.The Comets got its other score on a 47-yard keeper by backup quarterback Patrick Rother, who made two defenders miss, and made a pretty cut to a wide-open middle of the field for the fourth-quarter score.&#8220;That&#8217;s Lance. He just does a great job for us,&#8221; Myers said. &#8220;He&#8217;s a great leader, and I wish him the best. I think he was a bright future ahead. For our underclassmen, I hope they saw the intensity that North Pocono played with. That&#8217;s something you either have or you don&#8217;t. You have to play with that intensity and passion.&#8221;Musgrave and Craig combined for 231 yards on just 14 carries. North Pocono (8-3) had nine of its 39 plays go for 10 yards or more.&#8220;For us, it feels good to just be part of the playoffs,&#8221; Dolhon said. &#8220;It&#8217;s good to get a playoff win, but bigger beasts are coming, and we know that. We are really happy, but to be honest, I&#8217;ll start to work on our next opponent tonight. We are on a bigger journey, and I know our kids realize that.&#8221;North Pocono 48, Crestwood 14Crestwood `0`6`0`8 &#8211; 14North Pocono `21`21`0`6 &#8211; 48First QuarterN &#8212; Matt Craig 24 run (Bryce Taylor kick), 9:24N &#8212; Tyler Musgrave 2 run (Taylor kick), 5:08N &#8212; Ben Dial 36 fumble return (Taylor kick), 4:59Second QuarterN &#8212; Craig 64 run (Taylor kick), 10:24N &#8212; Musgrave 64 run (Taylor kick), 6:29C &#8212; Lance Blass 1 run (run failed), 0:54N &#8212; Craig 65 pass from Donny Blaine (Taylor kick), 0:42Fourth QuarterN &#8212; Larry Napolitano 1 run (run failed), 9:05C &#8212; Patrick Rother 47 run (Rother run), 7:02Team Statistics `C`NPFirst Downs `11`13Rushes-Yards `31-173 `34-327Passing Yards `72`75Total Yards `245`402Passing `6-15-1`2-5-0Sacked-Yards Lost `2-10`0-0Punts-Average `4-21`2-30Fumbles-Lost `5-2`0-0Penalties-Yards `0-0`3-15INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING &#8212; C, Lance Blass 18-75, Patrick Rother 2-65, Michael Macri 5-17, Owen Grigas 4-11, Shane O&#8217;Rourke 1-6, Kyle Richards 1-(-1). NP, Tyler Musgrave 8-131, Matt Craig 6-100, Logan Daniels 4-54, Michael Scutt 5-16, Jeremiah Acker 3-13, Larry Napalitano 2-12, Tyler Motichka 3-1, Ricky Kryeski 1-1, JC Gaughan 1-0, Team 1-(-2).PASSING &#8212; C, Lance Blass 6-10-0, 59 yards; Kyle Richards 2-5-1, 13 yards. NP, Donny Blaine 2-5-0, 75 yards.RECEIVING &#8212; C, Kyle Richards 4-44, Lance Blass 2-13, Jimmy Curry 1-8, Brandon Brozena 1-7. NP, Matt Craig 1-65, Dale Moore 1-10.INTERCEPTIONS &#8212; NP, Matt Craig 1.MISSED FG: noneRecords: C 3-8, NP 8-3<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom FoxFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</shirttailMeta></div>

North Pocono cruises past Crestwood