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Robert J. Gillespie III named to the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum

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Installation of water main in Dupont will cause traffic detours

<p>Friday&#8217;s District 2 Class 4A semifinal game is more like an amusement park.</p><p>Wyoming Area (9-2) has waited three years to get back on the title ride. Berwick (7-3) is hoping the roller coaster it&#8217;s been riding all season will stop at the top.</p><p>Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Wyoming Area&#8217;s stadium in West Pittston.</p><p>If Wyoming Area wins, it will host the winner of the Valley View (7-4) at North Pocono (8-3) for the district title next Friday. If Berwick wins, it will play at the Valley View-North Pocono winner.</p><p>Both teams are new to the Class 4A bracket thanks to the PIAA&#8217;s new six classifications. Berwick played in the past four D2-3A championship games, winning the title in 2013. Wyoming Area won the D2-2A crown in 2012, but then had three consecutive 3-7 seasons before getting back into the postseason.</p><p>The 2012 Wyoming Area team was blessed with a talented senior class headed by the school&#8217;s all-time leading rusher Nick O&#8217;Brien, who is currently playing at Bucknell University. Since then, the process of becoming a playoff team again has been laborious.</p><p>The Warriors were young the past three years, often using sophomores and freshmen regularly. The results were ugly at times &#8212; including a school-worst 71-13 loss to Crestwood in 2014 &#8212; but promising at others.</p><p>&#8220;We talked at the end of last year that even though our record was 3-7 there were five games where we were three plays away, four plays away from winning those football games,&#8221; Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. &#8220;I think it was the Coughlin game where we were one play away from closing that game and winning.</p><p>&#8220;They were right there last year as sophomore and juniors. This year they&#8217;ve done a great job in finding ways to win those games and playing to their potential. I&#8217;m very proud of them.&#8221;</p><p>Berwick has played to its potential at times. At others, the Dawgs haven&#8217;t. None of their seven victories have come against an opponent with a winning record. The four losses have come against teams still in the postseason, including a 34-20 setback against Wyoming Area in Week 3.</p><p>&#8220;The first game was the first game and obviously there is a lot riding on this game,&#8221; said Berwick coach Frank Sheptock, who is in his first season running the program. &#8220;We&#8217;re trying to be more focused on executing better. Through the last month, we&#8217;ve had a roller coaster ride of up-and-down. We have to try to focus in on execution at this point.&#8221;</p><p>Although Berwick ran one more play than Wyoming Area in the first meeting (60-59), the Warriors controlled the clock down the stretch. They scored twice in the fourth quarter to snap a 20-20 tie, utilizing fullback Dylan Kostak more than expected. Kostak scored the final two TDs, while running back Brian Miles finished with 104 yards on 25 carries.</p><p>Berwick will have to worry about Miles but not Kostak, who was also instrumental in stopping Berwick&#8217;s run game from his inside linebacker spot. Kostak&#8217;s senior season ended the following week when he suffered a knee injury against Coughlin.</p><p>&#8220;When you look at what we did to be successful to win that football game, that&#8217;s similar to what we need to happen on Friday night,&#8221; Spencer said. &#8220;Time of possession, especially at the end of the game, we were able to run the ball and run the clock and score off a couple long drives. That&#8217;s going to be critical.&#8221;</p><p>Berwick was unable to sustain much of a running attack as running back Len Wyda finished with 75 yards after having 350 in the first two games and quarterback Jared Marshman threw a season-high 25 passes. Marshman injured his knee during the game and although he returned he appeared hobbled. He missed the following game against Crestwood.</p><p>Sheptock also believes his team lost the special teams battle.</p><p>&#8220;From a special teams standpoint, I thought they dominated the game from the return game, winning field position,&#8221; Sheptock said. &#8220;Going into the game, we thought that would be one of the critical areas. They performed tremendously well through the course of the game.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Area assistant coach Rich Musinski talks to quarterbacks Dominic Deluca (9), P.J. Angeli (12) and Steve Homza (2) during practice on Wednesday. John Erzar| Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_WARRIORS-PRACTICE1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Area assistant coach Rich Musinski talks to quarterbacks Dominic Deluca (9), P.J. Angeli (12) and Steve Homza (2) during practice on Wednesday. John Erzar| Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_WARRIORS-PRACTICECMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Area assistant coach Rich Musinski talks to quarterbacks Dominic Deluca (9), P.J. Angeli (12) and Steve Homza (2) during practice on Wednesday.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_WARRIORS-PRACTICECMYK.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Area assistant coach Rich Musinski talks to quarterbacks Dominic Deluca (9), P.J. Angeli (12) and Steve Homza (2) during practice on Wednesday.  </caption1><photoCredit1>John Erzar | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>BERWICK (7-4) AT WYOMING AREA (9-2)</p><p><strong>D2-4A Semifinal</strong></p><p><strong>7 p.m. Friday</strong></p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $6 adults; $4 students</p><p><strong>What&#8217;s At Stake:</strong> The winner advances to the D2-4A championship game, playing the winner of the Valley View (7-4) at North Pocono (8-3) semifinal game.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wyoming Area, Berwick battle in Class 4A football semifinals