Berwick standout Ty’Meere Wilkerson battles through Lake-Lehman defenders Robert Gregor (50) and Devon Albee during the first quarter.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman running back Jayden Skipalis dives for a first down during the second quarter to keep the Black Knights’ drive alive against Berwick.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman running back Chris Yetter gains ground in the second quarter against Berwick.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman’s Alex Smith scores in the second quarter against Berwick.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Lake-Lehman takes the field against Berwick to open the season Friday night in Lehman Township.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Berwick kicker Caleb Yost delivers with a field goal to get the Bulldogs on the board in the first half.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
On a gorgeous late August evening under the Friday night lights, the visiting Berwick Bulldogs spoiled Lake-Lehman’s unveiling of their new black turf field with a come-from-behind 24-7 victory in a season opener.
The star of the ball game was Berwick’s standout senior Ty’Meere Wilkerson, as he led the way rushing for a game-high 126 yards on 19 carries, scored two touchdowns on the ground and added a 13-yard reception for good measure to account for his squad’s only receiving yards in the contest.
Wilkerson was happy to see his team show poise after going down early on the road, only to score 24 unanswered points to earn the road victory.
“We said what we had to do in the halftime locker room and we did it, Wilkerson said. “We had to grind and get right back into it. I saw a couple of nice holes, my linemen and my fullback made good holes and blocks for me all game long, and I just cut off them and ran off them and did what I had to do.
“Our offense and defense just kept grinding and grinding to get the job done.”
After being held scoreless on their first possession, the Black Knights got on the scoreboard first when they forced a Wilkerson fumble on the Bulldogs opening drive and capitalized on the turnover right away when junior wideout Alex Smith converted on fourth-and-goal with a direct wildcat snap and scampered into the end zone from 4 yards out to give his team the early 7-0 advantage with 5:32 remaining in the first quarter.
From there, Berwick would answer by getting some much needed points right before the halftime whistle, as sophomore kicker Caleb Yost connected on a 29-yard field goal to cut Lehman’s lead to 7-3 with 56 seconds left in the stanza.
The Bulldogs would continue their momentum early in the second half, as Wilkerson scored from 3 yards out to give his team its first lead of the game at 10-7 with 9:29 left in the third.
Wilkerson would barrel his way into the end zone from the 1-yard line for his second score about five minutes later, as Berwick took a 17-7 advantage with 4:46 remaining in the third quarter.
For Berwick’s final points of the night, freshman signal caller Brady Cleaver took the snap and sprinted down the right sideline for a 62-yard touchdown run to up his squad’s lead to 24-7 with 10:58 left.
Now coach C.J. Curry and his 1-0 Bulldogs will look to continue their winning ways and build back up the proud football tradition at the school when they have their home opener at Crispin Field next Friday night against Mid Valley.
“We’ve just got to build off this and not get complacent and just take it one practice at a time,” Wilkerson said. “We just have to put the grind into practice and keep doing what we have to do going into next week.”
Meanwhile, long-time head coach Jerry Gilsky and the Black Knights will look to bounce right back from this defeat next Friday evening when they face off on the road against Shamokin.
Berwick 24, Lake-Lehman 7
Berwick `0`3`14`7 — 24
Lake-Lehman`7`0`0`0 — 7
First Quarter
LL- Alex Smith 4 run (Aiden Gallagher makes extra pt.), 5:32.
Second Quarter
BE- Caleb Yost 29 yard FG, 0:56.
Third Quarter
BE- Ty’Meere Wilkerson 3 run (Caleb Yost makes extra pt.), 9:29.
BE- Ty’Meere Wilkerson 1 run (Yost makes extra pt.), 4:46.
Fourth Quarter
BE- Brady Cleaver 62 run (Yost makes extra pt.), 10:58.
Team statistics`Berwick`Lehman
First downs`13`12
Rushes-yards`30-237`46-184
Passing yards`13`23
Total yards`250`207
Passing`1-1-0-0`4-4-0-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-10
Punts-avg.`0-0`1-23
Fumbles-lost`4-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`4-25`6-49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING- BE, Ty’Meere Wilkerson 19-126, Gavin Galutia 7-26, Brady Cleaver 2-57, Ashton Smith 1-25, Conner Roberts 1-3. LL, Jaydon Skipalis 13-92, Chris Yetter 21-84, Alex Smith 4-neg.1, Anthony Magnotta 4-7, Cordyn Harris 4-2.
PASSING- BE, Brady Cleaver 1-1-13-0-0. LL, Anthony Magnotta 4-4-23-0-0.
RECEIVING- BE, Ty’Meere Wilkerson 1-13. LL, Alex Smith 1-5, Chris Yetter 2-15, Devon Albee 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS- none
