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WVC football: Imperfect win keeps perfect record alive for Wyoming Area

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WVC football: Hanover Area, GAR fall; Northwest earns first win

<p>KINGSTON &#8212; Berwick used quality over quantity to build a 10-point lead at halftime Friday night.</p><p>The Dawgs then traded in quality for dominance in the second half to defeat Wyoming Valley West 40-24 in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivisional game at Spartan Stadium.</p><p>Berwick (3-0) ran just 16 offensive plays in the first half compared to 40 by Valley West (2-1). Yet, thanks to a 49-yard TD run by Owen Shoemaker, where he showed remarkable balance to cover the final five yards, and a 82-yard kickoff return touchdown by Aiden Mason, Berwick led 27-17 at the break.</p><p>&#8220;We looked at that at halftime,&#8221; Berwick coach Frank Sheptock said. &#8220;We had 16 plays, but we were productive. I think the offense did a good job when we had the ball. We work very hard on our kickoff return. We ran one back against Abington, and it&#8217;s really been creating field position for us.&#8221;</p><p>Ah, field position. Valley West had none of it in the second half. The Spartans started possession from their 5- (twice), 13-, 18-, 20- and 25-yard lines. They didn&#8217;t cross midfield until 3:25 of the fourth quarter and after the game was in the hands of the reserves.</p><p>Valley West had 182 yards in the first half and 109 in the second, with 87 of them coming on a late fourth-quarter scoring drive by the backups.</p><p>&#8220;They gave us a lot of formations, a lot of things going on,&#8221; Sheptock said. &#8220;They&#8217;re a tough team to defend. They give you so many shifts and motions and they&#8217;re unbalanced. You have to recognize all of those things. And then with the play-action.&#8221;</p><p>Berwick also got a pair of second-half interceptions from Teagan Wilk, who returned his first one 34 yards for a touchdown only to have it wiped out by a penalty.</p><p>Valley West battled back from two seven-point deficits to tie the score 14-14 at 7:30 of the second quarter when quarterback Jake Shusta hit tight end Jorge Pina down the left hashmark for a 24-yard touchdown. Mason, though, answered back with his kick return touchdown.</p><p>Then after the Spartans cut the deficit to 21-17 on a 31-yard field goal by Adam Sivak, Berwick&#8217;s Antonio Baratta returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to set up a four-play, 20-yard drive for a 27-17 advantage.</p><p>&#8220;We basically spotted them two scores in the first half,&#8221; Valley West coach Pat Keating said. &#8220;You can&#8217;t do that against a really good football team. And then in the second half, offensively we couldn&#8217;t get anything going. A penalty, something to pin us deep inside our 5-yard line. We just didn&#8217;t help ourselves out. Against a group that&#8217;s this good, you can&#8217;t keep going second-and-long, third-and-long and be successful.&#8221;</p><p>Berwick scored on its first possession of the third quarter on a 13-yard run by Shoemaker to bump the lead to 34-17. Wilk added a 15-yard TD run on the third play of the fourth quarter for a 40-17 lead. He set up the drive with an over-the-head interception. His first pick came when he raced in a plucked the ball at his cleats.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Berwick 40, Wyoming Valley West 24</strong> </ins></p><p><ins><strong>Berwick`7`20`7`6 &#8212; 40</strong> </ins></p><p><ins><strong>Wyo. Val. West`0`17`0`7 &#8212; 24</strong> </ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>First quarter</strong> </ins></p><p><ins>BER &#8212; Blake Maurer 21 run (Jarret Groshek kick), 6:13 </ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Second quarter</strong> </ins></p><p><ins>WVW &#8212; Carson Canavan 2 run (Adam Sivak kick), 11:00 </ins></p><p><ins>BER &#8212; Owen Shoemaker 49 run (Groshek kick), 10:29 </ins></p><p><ins>WVW &#8212; Jorge Pina 24 pass from Jake Shusta (Sivak kick), 7:30 </ins></p><p><ins>BER &#8212; Aiden Mason 82 kick return (run failed), 7:24 </ins></p><p><ins>WVW &#8212; Sivak 31 FG, 3:20 </ins></p><p><ins>BER &#8212; Shoemaker 4 run (Groshek kick), 1:37 </ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Third quarter</strong> </ins></p><p><ins>BER &#8212; Shoemaker 13 run (Groshek kick), 10:37 </ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Fourth quarter</strong> </ins></p><p><ins>BER &#8212; Teagan Wilk 15 run (kick blocked), 11:05 </ins></p><p><ins>WVW &#8212; Darius Redguard 30 run (Sivak kick), 1:50 </ins></p><p><ins><strong>Team statistics`BER`WVW</strong> </ins></p><p><ins>First downs`13`14 </ins></p><p><ins>Rushes-yards`40-299`37-153 </ins></p><p><ins>Passing yards`18`138 </ins></p><p><ins>Total yards`317`291 </ins></p><p><ins>Passing`2-7-1`10-19-2 </ins></p><p><ins>Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-11 </ins></p><p><ins>Punts-avg.`1-37`4-33.3 </ins></p><p><ins>Fumbles-lost`4-2`2-1 </ins></p><p><ins>Penalties-yards`5-53`3-27 </ins></p><p><ins><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong> </ins></p><p><ins><strong>RUSHING</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Shoemaker 16-134, Maurer 6-44, Alex Force 8-74, Mason 4-8, Wilk 2-24, Colin Hill 1-(minus-6), Brandon Spezialetti 2-22, team 1-(minus-1). WVW, Canavan 17-60, Shusta 7-(minus-2), Jonathan Stochla 1-3, Jayden Watkins 4-12, Redguard 5-85, Nah-Syr Garner 1-(minus-4), Josh Kobal 1-4, Zack Tomascik 1-(minus-5). </ins></p><p><ins><strong>PASSING</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Force 2-6-1-18, Hill 0-1-0-0. WVW, Schusta 10-14-2-138, Dontae Rhodes 0-1-0-0. </ins></p><p><ins><strong>RECEIVING</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Wilk 1-7, Jacob Betz 1-11. WVW, Garner 5-89, Dylan Nastanski 3-19, Pine 1-24, Rhodes 1-6. </ins></p><p><ins><strong>INTERCEPTIONS</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Wilk 2-30. WVW, Brandan Woods 1-7. </ins></p><p><ins><strong>MISSED FGs</strong> &#8212; Berwick, 39WL. </ins></p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_TTL091518WVWBerwickFB4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Teagan Wilk is chased by Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Jayden Watkins as he carries the ball for a gain at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_TTL091518WVWBerwickFB4.jpg</photo0><caption0>Berwick&#8217;s Teagan Wilk is chased by Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Jayden Watkins as he carries the ball for a gain at Spartan Stadium in Kingston on Friday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_TTL091518WVWBerwickFB1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West quarterback Jake Shusta throws a short pass against Berwick on Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_TTL091518WVWBerwickFB1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Valley West quarterback Jake Shusta throws a short pass against Berwick on Friday night. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_TTL091518WVWBerwickFB3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West tight end Jorge Pina fends off Berwick&#8217;s Teagan Wilk for a touchdown to help tie the game 14-14 in the second quarter Friday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_TTL091518WVWBerwickFB3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Wyoming Valley West tight end Jorge Pina fends off Berwick&#8217;s Teagan Wilk for a touchdown to help tie the game 14-14 in the second quarter Friday night. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_TTL091518WVWBerwickFB2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick defensive end Mason Laubach sacks Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Jake Shusta. The Dawgs finished with three sacks in Friday night&#8217;s 40-24 win. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_TTL091518WVWBerwickFB2.jpg</photo3><caption3>Berwick defensive end Mason Laubach sacks Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Jake Shusta. The Dawgs finished with three sacks in Friday night&#8217;s 40-24 win. </caption3><photoCredit3>Sean McKeag | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Berwick dominates Wyoming Valley West