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H.S. Football: Hazleton Area ready for another crack at DelVal

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Wyoming Area trying to match best football season in school history

<p>The strategy is simple. Hold onto the ball.</p><p>Now, it&#8217;s going to take more than just that for Berwick (9-2) to defeat Dallas (10-1) in the District 2 Class 4A semifinals. But it sure would help.</p><p>Kickoff is 1 p.m. Saturday at Dallas. The game was postponed from Friday night due to the strong chance of inclement weather.</p><p>The winner faces the winner of the other semifinal at 1 p.m. Saturday &#8212; West Scranton (7-4) at Valley View (11-0) &#8212; next Friday for the championship. If Valley View wins, it will host the game. If West Scranton wins, then the Berwick-Dallas winner will be the home squad.</p><p>Go back to Week 9 of the Wyoming Valley Conference season. Berwick opened the third quarter with a solid 10-play, 54-yard drive. Quarterback Ryan Laubach finished it off with a 4-yard TD run for a 10-3 lead.</p><p>Dallas came back to tie the score 10-10 on an 18-yard burst by Danny Meuser, but then Berwick was bit by the turnover bug.</p><p>The Dawgs drove to the Dallas 9-yard line only to fumble. After holding Dallas, a misguided attempt to field a punt over the shoulder resulted in another fumble. Then after moving into Dallas territory late in the fourth quarter, Berwick lost its third fumble of the second half. Dallas converted one of the turnovers into the game-winning field goal in the 13-10 victory.</p><p>The four turnovers were one short of Berwick&#8217;s most in a game this season. The 202 rushing yards were also its second lowest of the year. Running back Owen Shoemaker, who finished with 1,241 rushing yards, was held to a season-low 71 on 17 carries.</p><p>Dallas&#8217; first TD came after an interception by Matt Maransky, who returned it 29 yards.</p><p>&#8220;Dallas did a great job creating the turnovers,&#8221; Berwick coach Frank Sheptock said. &#8220;The interception and then the return the young man makes creates a lot of field position for them. And then when (Lenny) Kelley makes the strip down at the 5-yard line, I thought that was a significant momentum swing because both teams in the second half had sustained drives and each offensive line was controlling the line of scrimmage.</p><p>&#8220;And then we muff a punt return and that gives them tremendous field position.&#8221;</p><p>The Mountaineers, though, had issues with their passing game, which finished with a season-low 23 yards. Most of the offense came via workhorse running back Kelley, who carried 29 times for 156 yards.</p><p>&#8220;As always, we have to have balance,&#8221; Dallas coach Rich Mannello said. &#8220;When you&#8217;re playing against a great defense like they are, you&#8217;ve got to avoid letting them get dialed in. You have to have balance with playcalling and execution and balance with formations.&#8221;</p><p>The game ultimately gave Dallas the second seed and Berwick the third seed in the D2-4A playoffs. Ironically, Dallas ended up with the tougher quarterfinal matchup. The Mountaineers survived a scare from three-win Honesdale and its huge front, 23-16. Berwick rolled past Pittston Area for a second time this season, this time 42-0.</p><p>&#8220;(Honesdale) played very well,&#8221; Mannello said. &#8220;A lot of the mistakes and things we avoided all season long, we seemed to get them in doses on Friday night and we were able to overcome that. The kids really stayed calm during the entire game and just kept playing. They did a nice jobs getting through that and getting through the adversity and mistakes that were made and the penalties. We had a turnover at a costly time and were able to overcome that and win.&#8221;</p><p>Berwick has advanced to a district championship game six consecutive years, but has won just once &#8212; defeating Abington Heights 35-28 in the D2-3A championship in 2013. Dallas&#8217; win over Honesdale marked the first time in its last five tries the Mountaineers won a district playoff game. They last played for a championship in 2011 when they lost 18-12 to Valley View in the D2-3A title game.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dallas defensive back Matt Maransky returns a interception against Berwick in Week 9. The turnover led to a field goal in Dallas&#8217; 13-10 victory. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_dal_ber3_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dallas defensive back Matt Maransky returns a interception against Berwick in Week 9. The turnover led to a field goal in Dallas&#8217; 13-10 victory. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams file photo | for Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Berwick, Dallas go at it again for title game berth</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>DISTRICT 2 CLASS 4A SEMIFINAL</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Berwick (9-2) at Dallas (10-1)</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>1 p.m. Saturday</strong></p><p><strong>Admission: </strong>$7 adults; $4 students</p><p><strong>What&#8217;s At Stake:</strong> The winner plays the winner of the West Scranton (7-4) at Valley View (11-0) winner next weekend for the D2-4A championship. If Valley View wins, it will host the game. If West Scranton wins, it will play the the Berwick-Dallas winner.</p><p><strong>The Coaches:</strong> Berwick&#8217;s Frank Sheptock (27-10, 3rd year); Dallas&#8217; Rich Mannello (25-19, 4th year)</p><p><strong>Last Meeting:</strong> Dallas 13-10 in Week 9</p><p><strong>All-Time Series:</strong> Berwick leads 16-5</p><p><strong>Quick Fact:</strong> Berwick has advanced to a District 2 championship game for six consecutive years.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

H.S. Football: Berwick, Dallas to meet in D2-4A semifinals