LAKE ARIEL-In an old-fashioned defensive struggle where big plays and points were hard to come by, Western Wayne was finally able to finish off one of several long drives the Wildcats put together against a valiant Berwick defense. Early in the fourth quarter, Sean Owens crossed the goal line from three yards out following a long run by Josh Vinton. The touchdown ended up being the only points of the night, as the Western Wayne defense made it enough to stand up in a 7-0 win. No. 2 seed Western Wayne (10-1) will host No. 3 seed Wyoming Area (10-1) next week in the District 2 semifinals. It will be a rematch of a Week 3 game won by the Wildcats.
“Defense made plays when they had to make plays, and they made them,” Western Wayne coach Shane Grodack said. “They stood up and made some good plays, especially in the second half of this game when our offense stumbled a little bit at certain times. The defense had to stand up and the defense played well.”
No. 7 seed Berwick (4-7) denied Western Wayne twice when the Wildcats got inside the Bulldogs’ 30-yard line. However, the third time proved to be a charm in a game where possessions were limited. Vinton broke loose on a 46-yard run that gave his a team a first-and-goal. It looked like Berwick was about a force a field goal attempt, but the Bulldogs were flagged for a roughing the passer call on third-and-goal from the 6. On the next play, Owens took a snap out of the wildcat formation and worked his way into the end zone.
“Brutal,” Berwick coach C.J. Curry said. “That’s been the story of our season. Just not to being able to take our foot out of our mouth, so to speak, when it comes down to big plays and us just making the big mistake. Same thing down there, but our guys, I just can’t credit them enough for how hard they fought and that they made tough plays. Unfortunately, the ball has to bounce your way in the playoffs a little bit, and credit to (Western Wayne). Unbelievably coached team, great players, Vinton is a stud. They have a lot of studs on that team. Wishing them the best of luck, but I’m proud of our guys.”
Vinton was an absolute workhorse for Western Wayne. The senior carried the ball 37 times for 154 yards, and had the Wildcats in position to get on the scoreboard a couple of times. A 17-play drive that saw Vinton touch the ball on 12 of those plays came up short following three straight incompletions. Vinton also ran the ball on the first eight plays of the second half, before the Berwick defense stopped him for a loss on third down, forcing a punt. Finally, after converting a third-and-11 to keep what ended up being the game-winning drive alive, Vinton got into the secondary to set the scene for Owens.
“I’ll tell you what, No. 28 is a tough football player, and he’s done a lot of that throughout the course of his high school career to get to here,” Grodack said. “This was a great opportunity for him, and he’s worked for this. I’m proud of him, and I’m proud of the team. I’m proud of my assistant coaches who really stepped it up and helped out tremendously to get this game won.”
Despite struggling to consistently move the ball all night, Berwick put together its best drive of the game following the Western Wayne touchdown. Quarterback Ashton Smith connected with Billy Hanson twice on passes that totaled 22 yards. On 4th-and-1, Gavin Galutia powered his way for 15 yards to get the Bulldogs into the red zone for the first time. Facing a 4th-and-12 at the 17, Smith’s run came up a yard short, and the Wildcats declined a holding penalty on Berwick to take over on downs.
“We just needed to be able to sustain drives,” Curry said. “We said we wanted to be able to sustain drives tonight, and it was something that we struggled with all year, we kind of relied on the big play. I think we were able to get a couple drives going. Getting down in the red zone was our Achilles’ heel, kind of been the story of our season as well. I wish we could have a couple of plays back where we could punch a couple in there, and it’s a different ballgame. Once again, we were able to put some things together, but we’ve gotta be able to finish.”
Western Wayne tried to run the clock out by feeding the Bulldogs a heavy does of Vinton. The Wildcats did get one first down, but punted the ball back to Berwick with 1:01 left. On the very next play, Owens intercepted a pass near midfield to prevent any hopes of late-game drama, and finally put away the hard-fought win against a pesky underdog.
“I’ll tell you what, Berwick is a heck of a good football team,” Grodack said. “You know, watching them as the season progressed, first half of the season was one team, second half of the season, Berwick really figured some things out. They’re a great team, and I’ll tell you what, you’ve not heard the last of Berwick next season. Watch out, they’re going to be a great football team.”
