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Sokoloski: Berwick wakes up the echoes in stirring debut for DeFrancesco

<p>CLARKS SUMMIT &#8212; The hit or the tip.</p><p>Berwick linebacker Blane Cleaver had a split second to make the decision. Instead, he came up with something better than both.</p><p>Cleaver returned an interception nine yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, finally giving Berwick some breathing room as the Dawgs went on for a 28-6 non-conference win against Abington Heights on Saturday afternoon.</p><p>&#8220;As you can see, our defense made the play to turn the game around,&#8221; Berwick first-year coach Carmen DeFrancesco said. &#8220;It&#8217;s 7-6 and I kept saying to our coaches that we&#8217;re one play away from a really dog flight here.&#8221;</p><p>Instead, Cleaver turned a possible dog fight into Dawg domination over the game&#8217;s final 16 minutes.</p><p>Abington Heights trailed 7-6 and faced a third-and-2 at its 18-yard line. The Comets tried to run a screen pass to the right side, but Cleaver recognized it and chase after quarterback Mike Show. As Show released the pass, Cleaver jumped, caught ball and ran nine yards untouched for a score. The point-after made it 14-6 with 4:06 left in the third quarter.</p><p>&#8220;I blitzed off the outside,&#8221; Cleaver said. &#8220;I had a free shot at the quarterback and I saw the screen coming from behind. It really came up to do I want the hit or do I want the tip? I was like, &#8216;All right, I&#8217;m going to tip the ball and someone is going to have a chance to make a play.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>That someone was Cleaver, who also passed along credit to the rest of the team for the victory, and rightfully so.</p><p>The Dawgs held Abington Heights to negative yards rushing. The Comets&#8217; top ball carrier was running back Julian Blanco, who rushed seven times for 13 yards.</p><p>The dormant running game and the growing deficit forced Abington Heights to throw more than planned. Show was 13-of-36 for 147 yards &#8212; finding some success with receiver Corey Perkins (eight catches, 91 yards) &#8212; in his first varsity start. But he was sacked twice, hurried other times and also had defensive back Shawn Sheptock intercept a pass on the Comets&#8217; fourth possession of the game.</p><p>Sheptock&#8217;s interception set up a 3-yard TD plunge by Eric Montes for Berwick&#8217;s first touchdown.</p><p>After Cleaver&#8217;s pick, special teams played a hand in boosting the lead to 21-6. A mishandled punt snap allowed Berwick&#8217;s Ryan Laubach to force a fumble that teammate Anthony Cisco fell on at the Abington Heights 14-yard line. Montes ended the brief drive with another short TD run, giving Berwick its 15-point advantage with 9:06 left in the fourth quarter.</p><p>Berwick running back Aiden Mason put the game just about out of reach with a 53-yard touchdown run less than two minutes later. But for the most part, the Dawgs were inconsistency on offense. Mason&#8217;s run and a 34-yard run by Blake Maurer produced 87 of the 191 rushing yards.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve got some issues on offense and we&#8217;re going to get them straightened out,&#8221; DeFrancesco said. &#8220;Our defense looked to me like we had 13 guys out there. It looked like 13 hungry dogs after one bone. That&#8217;s what it looked like.&#8221;</p><p>Abington Heights coach Joe Repshis was pleased with the effort of his team, which won just three games total the past two years after winning the District 2 Class 5A championship in 2016.</p><p>&#8220;I feel we did a lot of things well. There were a lot of positives to take from today&#8217;s game,&#8221; Repshis said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll go back and build on those things to get better and work for next week.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Berwick 28, Abington Heights 6</strong></p><p><strong>Berwick`0`7`7`14 &#8212; 28</strong></p><p><strong>Abington Heights`0`6`0`0 &#8212; 6</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Second quarter</strong></p><p>BER &#8212; Eric Montes 3 run (Brandon Hinkle kick), 8:03</p><p>AH &#8212; Corey Perkins 2 pass from Mike Show (kick failed), 2:02</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Third quarter</strong></p><p>BER &#8212; Blaine Cleaver 9 interception return (Hinkle kick), 4:06</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Fourth quarter</strong></p><p>BER &#8212; Montes 2 run (Hinkle kick), 9:06</p><p>BER &#8212; Aiden Mason 53 run (Hinkle kick), 7:46</p><p><strong>Team statistics`BER`AH</strong></p><p>First downs`11`9</p><p>Rushes-yards`39-191`23-(-27)</p><p>Passing yards`72`147</p><p>Total yards`263`120</p><p>Passing`6-12-1`13-36-2</p><p>Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-21</p><p>Punts-avg.`6-37.3`6-33</p><p>Fumbles-lost`4-1`3-2</p><p>Penalties-yards`5-53`4-20</p><p><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong></p><p><strong>RUSHING</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Mason 12-79, Teagan Wilk 5-4, Ryan Laubach 7-37, Blake Maurer 5-44, Montes 7-26, Alejandro Lopez 2-1, team 1-0. Abington Heights, Julian Blanco 7-13, Show 8-(minus-22), Shaine Hughes 1-(minus-1), Casey Knott 1-(minus-10), team 1-(minus-18).</p><p><strong>PASSING</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Laubach 6-12-1-72. Abington Heights, Show 13-36-2-147.</p><p><strong>RECEIVING</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Maurer 1-12, Wilk 3-38, Shawn Sheptock 2-22. Abington Heights, Perkins 8-91, Chris Wickenheiser 1-10, Robby Horvath 4-46.</p><p><strong>INTERCEPTIONS</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Blaine Cleaver 1-9, Sheptock 1-16. Abington Heights, Will Stevens 1-9.</p><p><strong>MISSED FGs</strong> &#8212; none.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Berwick running back Blake Maurer races down the right sideline ahead of Abington Heights&#8217; Griffen Noone for a 34-yard gain to set up a second-quarter touchdown Saturday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL082519HSFB-Berwick-AH_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Berwick running back Blake Maurer races down the right sideline ahead of Abington Heights&#8217; Griffen Noone for a 34-yard gain to set up a second-quarter touchdown Saturday afternoon. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL082519HSFB-Berwick-AH_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick quarterback Ryan Laubach turns to hand off against Abington Heights on Saturday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL082519HSFB-Berwick-AH_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Berwick quarterback Ryan Laubach turns to hand off against Abington Heights on Saturday afternoon. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL082519HSFB-Berwick-AH_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick defensive back Shawn Sheptock intercepts a pass intended Abington Heights receiver Chris Wickenheiser in the second quarter Saturday afternoon. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL082519HSFB-Berwick-AH_3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Berwick defensive back Shawn Sheptock intercepts a pass intended Abington Heights receiver Chris Wickenheiser in the second quarter Saturday afternoon. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Linebacker&#8217;s interception TD helps Berwick pull away for win</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

WVC football: Berwick pulls away in second half to defeat Abington Heights