BERWICK — Upon taking the very last snap, Matt Lonczynski stepped back, took a knee and watched the remaining seconds evaporate from the clock.
How fitting the night ended with the ball under his arm.
Because for most of Friday, he put Berwick’s biggest victory of the season in his hands.
Lonczynski ran for three touchdowns, passed for 151 yards and Berwick’s defense turned one of its four sacks into a momentum-swinging touchdown as the Bulldogs bullied previously unbeaten Dallas while dominating a 39-22 victory to celebrate homecoming at Crispin Field.
“Great win,” Lonczynski said. “Great team win.
“This is going to be a spark for us for the rest of the year and into the playoffs.”
There were a ton of big plays by Berwick’s biggest playmakers.
Bo Sheptock zig-zagged his way through a horizontal line of three defenders, then beat everyone down the field on an electric 51-yard touchdown catch-and-run to give the Bulldogs a 20-7 lead early in the third quarter.
Drey Wilk set up a score by weaving his way to a 29-yard catch and knifed through Dallas’ defense for a team-high 65 rushing yards. Ryan Bankes banged his way to 62 tough yards to keep Berwick’s offense in control. And Sheptock picked off a pass deep in Dallas territory to set up Berwick’s second score, before defensive lineman Liam Caroll teamed with two other Bulldogs on a 16-yard sack while forcing a fumble he recovered in the end zone to give Berwick a 32-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“This week, these guys wanted it bad,” Berwick first-year coach Mike Bennett said.
But senior signal caller Lonczynski played as if he wanted the win the most.
He took off for 10 yards on Berwick’s opening possession, leading to his 1-yard touchdown sneak for an early 7-0 Bulldogs lead.
And after Sheptock’s interception, Lonczynski then closed a 32-yard drive with consecutive 7-yard runs, bashing his way through a pile of defenders and into the end zone on the second one to give Berwick early control with a 14-0 lead.
“The middle opened up,” Lonczynski said of his sudden display of consistent dashed into the Dallas secondary. “They were dropping guys up front and I took advantage of it.”
That continued into the second half, when Sheptock’s 30-yard return of the second-half kickoff triggered a 54-yard touchdown drive which Lonczynski closed out with a 16-yard scoring run to give Berwick breathing room with a 26-14 lead.
“Matt is night and day from his last couple years,” Bennett said. “What he did for us today, he saw what they were giving us and he took it.
“He really took this quarterback position to heart.”
The Bulldogs (4-3) had to show a little more heart, though.
After Caroll’s fumble recovery gave Berwick a 32-14 lead with 10:12 to play, Dallas tried to bounce back.
Parker Bolesta got loose for 40 of his game-high 143 rushing yards, then ripped off a 15-yard touchdown run. And when Dylan Geskey took a shovel pass from Brady Zapoticky into the end zone, the Mountaineers were within 10 points with 8:55 on the clock.
Then they got the ball right back when Berwick fumbled the ensuing kickoff at its own 30-yard line.
But Caroll crashed into the backfield for an 8-yard sack, a fierce Bulldogs pass rush forced an intentional grounding penalty and Dallas was ultimately forced to punt.
Then Wilk sealed the win with his 25-yard sprint into the end zone to set the final score.
“Dallas is a hard team, a great team,” Lonczynski said. “I didn’t feel real secure until we took that victory formation.”
Finally, the Bulldogs had a victory they can hang their hats on this season.
“The second half was huge, for this game and this year,” said Bennett, whose team had a halftime lead in all seven of its games this season. “All our games, it was the second half.
“We’re trying to bring Berwick pride back into this year.”
Berwick 39, Dallas 22
Dallas`0`14`0`8 — 22
Berwick 14`6`6`13 — 39
First quarter
BER — Matt Lonczynski 1 run (Luke Peters kick), 4:04
BER — Lonczynski 7 run (Peters kick), 1:01
Second quarter
DAL — Parker Bolesta 5 run (Jace Chopyak kick), 10:13
BER — Bo Sheptock 51 pass from Lonczynski (Kick blocked), 8:17
DAL — Bolesta 4 run (Chopyak kick), 2:38
Third quarter
BER — Lonczynski 16 run (Kick failed), 5:22
Fourth quarter
BER — Liam Caroll fumble recovery in end zone (Conversion pass failed), 10:12
DAL — Bolesta 15 run (Dylan Geskey conversion pass from Brady Zapoticky), 8:55
BER — Drey Wilk 25 run (Peters kick), 3:18Wilkes-Barre 35, Berwick 21
Team statistics`DAL`BER
First downs`10`17
Rushes-yards`25-92`45-198
Passing yards`88`151
Total yards`180`349
Passing`8-21-1`8-15-0
Sacked-yards lost`4-46`1-11
Punts-avg.`4-35.5`2-39
Fumbles-lost`2-1`2-0
Penalties-yards`4-30`5-47
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — DAL, Parker Bolesta 20-143, Brady Zapoticky 5- (minus 51). BER, Drey Wilk 8-65, Matt Lonczynski 14-63, Ryan Bankes 16-62, Bo Sheptock 5-12, TEAM 2- (minus 4).
PASSING — DAL, Zapoticky 8-21-1-88. BER, Lonczynski 8-15-0-151.
WB, Howe 11-14-0-196. BER, Lonczynski 11-22-1-232.
RECEIVING — DAL, Bolesta 3-21, Nick Farrell 2-12, Mark Karcutskie 1-25, Joe Peters 1-18, Archie Stephens 1-12. BER, Wilk 4-68, Sheptock 2-69, Rowan Slabinski 1-13, Spencer Kishbaugh 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS — BER, Sheptock 1-0.
MISSED FGs — None.
