BERWICK — In the huddle prior to a key third-down play to start the fourth quarter, Berwick coach Bo Orlando warned his defense to watch for a screen on the ensuing play.
That’s exactly what Valley View coach Scot Wasilchak called for. Valley View won the play.
Cougars fullback Preston Reed side-stepped through a couple defenders and found nothing but open field to escort him to a touchdown which all but sealed Valley View’s ninth consecutive win over Berwick. Reed came up with three massive plays in the second half and ran for a game-high 94 yards in the Cougars’ 34-19 win at Crispin Field.
“We preach to our kids that when you come to Crispin Field and when you play Berwick, you’re playing a premier program,” Valley View first-year coach Scot Wasilchak said. “We look at this like a playoff game and we want to continue to come down and play them, It’s special to beat them because not many teams can say they do that.”
When Orlando, who was filling in for head coach Mike Bennett who was sick, warned his Berwick defense about the screen pass, it was because Valley View was facing a third-and-7 from its own 46-yard line. Berwick was within two scores and had a full quarter to make up the deficit with an offense which was starting to find its footing.
Reed, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound fullback who looks like an out of place lineman, caught the screen pass from Casey Malsberger in traffic. But a quick step to his left allowed the Bulldogs defense to overrun Reed and leave a wide open field to run to. Reed won the foot race to the pylon and gave the Cougars and all but game ending 54-yard touchdown reception.
It was one of four long-distance downs in which the Valley View offense converted a first down Friday night. All four drives ended in touchdowns.
“We clamped them on first and second down and they gashed us on third down,” Orlando said. “That’s a good team. You can’t play teams like that and make mistakes.”
Reed has been coming along slowly early in the season because of a preseason hamstring injury. But Wasilchak unleashed the junior Friday night and it paid dividends.
Reed not only finished with a game-high in rushing yards, his two biggest runs came on back-to-back plays after Berwick had cut the Valley View deficit to just one score in the third quarter. Reed ripped off a 39-yard run on first down after Berwick cut the Cougars’ lead to one score. He ran for another 28 on the next carry. Cam Higgins scored his second touchdown of the game on the next play, a 12-yard scoring run.
That three-play drive covered 79 yards and stole any momentum Berwick had gained when Ethan Lear scored on a sneak just 71 seconds prior.
“The hamstring is fine. I’m sure it won’t hurt anymore after tonight,” Wasilchak said of Reed. “Last year I thought we should have run him more and we didn’t. But I think he’s ready to be a premier back now.”
“We gave up those chunk plays last week too,” Orlando said. “They keep running off our tackles and ends. We keep pinching down. We thought we had coached them up, but we gotta go back to the drawing board and look at it because teams are going to keep doing that against us.”
Valley View took control of the game in the first half by making the most of some Berwick mistakes. The Cougars recorded gains of 35 and 30 yards on a drive which ended with the first of Zach Cwalinski’s two touchdown runs. Cwalinski added a second touchdown run with just 33 seconds left in the half to take a 20-6 lead to the locker room.
Valley View ran 11 more plays than Berwick in the first half and gained nearly 100 more yards. Berwick got some of the momentum back when Chase Schuckers blocked a punt which led to Lear’s touchdown run, but the momentum was short-lived.
“We’re inexperienced, and it shows at times,” Wasilchak said. “But we’re resilient. I thought if we could win these first two games that we can have a real nice season. We’re happy with what we’ve done.”
Valley View 34, Berwick 19
Valley View 7 13 7 7 – 34
Berwick 0 6 7 6 – 19
First quarter
VV—Cam Higgins 3 run (Jacob Bekele kick), 7:49
Second quarter
B—Billy Hanson 41 pass from Ethan Lear (kick blocked), 10:04
VV—Zach Cwalinski 1 run (kick failed), 8:44
VV—Cwalinski 4 run (Bekele kick), :33
Third quarter
B—Lear 1 run (Luke Peters kick), 5:14
VV—Higgins 12 run (Bekele kick), 4:03
Fourth quarter
VV—Preston Reed 54 pass from Casey Malsberger (Bekele kick), 11:47
B—Tyler Winters 1 run (kick blocked), 7:14
VV Ber
First downs 15 10
Rushes-yds 41-244 32-80
Com-att-int 6-10-0 10-24-0
Pass yards 119 126
Total yards 363 206
Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 3-15 6-58
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Valley View, Preston Reed, 10-94; Cam Higgins, 15-71, 2 TDs; Zach Cwalinski, 8-69, 2 TDs; Nick Kucharski, 5-14; Casey Malsberger, 3-(-4). Berwick, Tyler Winters, 14-41, TD; James Deandra, 3-20; Ethan Lear, 14-15; Ty’Mere Wilkerson, 1-4.
Passing—Valley View, Casey Malsberger, 6-10-0, 119 yds., TD. Berwick, Ethan Lear, 10-24-0, 126 yds., TD.
Receiving—Valley View, Kyle Rupp, 2-42; Chris Savkov, 2-18; Preston Reed, 1-54, TD; Gianni Marino, 1-5. Berwick, Billy Hanson, 6-92, TD; Ty’Mere Wilkerson, 3-21; Tyler Winters, 1-13.
RECORDS: Berwick (0-2); Valley View (2-0).
