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Wilkes Barre dominates through the air, beats Berwick

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News

| September 23, 2023

  After a 35-21 game a year ago in favor of Wilkes Barre, the Dawgs and Wolfpack met again.

 Wilkes Barre has changed a lot since a year ago, when 2 of their top players Naquan Johnson and Mekhi Nelson departed for Connecticut. Although the Wolfpack are hypothetically less of a threat in 2023 with their two top pieces gone, they should not be taken lightly. They started out in 2023 rough, dropping their first 2 games. A nice rebound in weeks 3 and 4 gave them an even record entering this matchup.

   Berwick got their first win of the year a week ago as they took down Williamsport 21-7. The problem for Berwick so far has been their inability to clean up silly mistakes that eventually cost them the game. Dropped passes, interceptions in costly moments, and stupid penalties are a big reason the Dawgs Land at 1-3.

Under the lights of the Wolfpacks’ new stadium, Week 5 of the Pennsylvania High School football season got underway.

Early into the game, the Passing attack led by QB Jake Howe was the difference. This TD to Evan Laybourn-Boddie got Wilkes Barre in the lead.

Once again, the connection of Jake Howe to Evan Laybourn-Boddie was unstoppable. Not only the connection on the 2nd TD but also the 2PT conversion to give the Wolfpack a 14-0 lead.

Berwick is no stranger to getting down early,  and they usually do a good job to dig themselves out of that hole. Ethan Lear got in with the Sneak to give the Dawgs some life.

Jake Howe was not done slinging it for Wilkes Barre, as he found Treyvon Gembitski. Now the lead stretched to Wilkes Barre by 15

Berwick got into the endzone from a couple of yards out with Tyler Winter to get the game back to 1 possession. This would be the closest Berwick would get the rest of the night.

Wilkes Barre Scored twice in the 3rd Quarter and they took a 34-14 lead in the waning moments. An Ethan Lear TD for Berwick made the final score 34-21 Wilkes Barre. 

Now Wilkes Barre is building momentum as they enter the back half of the season. Matchups against Crestwood, Delaware Valley, and Dallas will test the Wolfpack and show how truly good they are. 

Berwick now falls to 1-4, not an ideal start to the season to say the least. It doesn’t get easier from here either, Crestwood, Dallas, and Danville are notable teams left in the Dawgs schedule.

The use of the Passing attack for Wilkes Barre worked wonders for them and that was their bread and butter in this game. 

Another week another disappointment from Berwick. This week it wasn’t penalties or rough turnovers, the Dawgs just got flat-out Beat.

After the game, I caught up with Wilkes Barre’s Head Coach Ciro Cinti and he this to say, click below.

WILKES BARRE NEXT WEEK @ Crestwood 9/29 7PM

BERWICK NEXT WEEK vs WVW 9/29 7 PM

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