Itâ??s just like old times for Dawgs

BERWICK – Friday night seemed like old times at Berwick.

Coach George Curry on the sidelines at Crispin Field and his Dawgs making their opponent look inferior in many ways.

In Curry's first home game back as coach, his grandson C.J. Curry threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, Matt Cashman ran for 110 yards and a touchdown and the defense only allowed 47 total yards in the first half as the Dawgs rolled to a 41-0 win over Pottsville to move to 2-0 on the season.

Curry said he didn't even think about the emotional effect of his return to the Crispin Field sideline because he was too worried about Pottsville. But he admitted it was like usual.

"Felt like I never left," George Curry said. "It was good to coach here. The crowd was nice and it means a lot to our kids."

The Bulldogs got off to a great start. After forcing the Crimson Tide (1-1) to punt on the first drive of the game, Berwick was pinned on its 6. But the Dawgs drove 94 yards in 13 plays, capped by a 25-yard scoring strike from quarterback Curry to Jeff Steeber for a 6-0 lead with 4:41 left in the opening quarter.

A 52-yard pass to Jake Pecorelli set up the scoring play.

The only real concern for Berwick came on Pottsville's next drive when it was forced to punt, but the Berwick returner muffed the catch and the Tide recovered at the Berwick 36. But the Dawgs defense proved its stinginess on the night, making Pottsville turn the ball over on downs.

When Berwick got the ball back, it took just one play as Curry hooked up with Jake Pecorelli for an 81-yard TD toss and a 14-0 lead at the 8:59 mark of the second quarter. Pecorelli ended the night with just two catches, but piled up 133 yards. He also ran for a score later in the second.

Cashman found the end zone after Pecorelli's TD catch with 4:51 left in the half for a 20-0 advantage. Pecorelli's run made it 28-0 at the half.

"I always dreamed of playing for Curry and now we have it. It's a dream come true," Pecorelli said. "We just stuck it to them run and pass. They thought we were overrated and we obviously showed we aren't. We had to come out and punch them in the mouth to get that point across."

The Berwick defense was immovable until Coach Curry put in his backups in the fourth quarter with the score 41-0. Until that point when the Tide drove 75 yards and came up empty, they only managed 72 total yards. Berwick also had a few missed opportunities on defense or the score could've been well out of hand as two interceptions that would have been easy scores the other way were dropped.

"They're playing hard with a new defense. To learn that in two months…" Curry noted.

Up next, Berwick stays at home and welcomes Wyoming Valley Conference Division 3A foe Dallas.

First Quarter

BER – Jeff Steeber 25 pass from C.J. Curry (kick blocked) 4:41

Second Quarter

BER – Jake Pecorelli 81 pass from Curry (Matt Cashman run) 8:59

BER – Cashman 1 run (kick blocked) 4:51

BER – Pecorelli 6 run (Ian Mazonkey pass from Curry) :47

Third Quarter

BER – Steeber 15 run (kick failed) 7:53

Fourth Quarter

BER – Andrew Force 21 pass from Curry (Olivia Seely kick) 11:39

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – POT, Charlie Schuster 5-13, Brett Vandermeer 6-30, Aaron Kupperavage 9-23, Shawn Brennan 4-6, Michael Wythe 3-8, Patrick Keating 5-(minus-11), Billy Robbins 1-(minus-1), Carl Bostick 1-1, James Close 2-10. BER, Matt Cashman 21-110, C.J. Curry 6-6, Jake Pecorelli 3-11, Jeff Steeber 4-69, Kyle Trenholm 2-4, Nate Maczuga 4-23.

PASSING – POT, Keating 7-15-0-68. BER, Curry 7-17-0-252.

RECEIVING – POT, Travis Blankenhorn 3-29, Kupperavage 1-9, Robert Witman 1-15, Keating 1-(minus-8), Dan Doyle 1-25. BER, Pecorelli 2-133, Steeber 2-33, Will Masteller 1-50, Force 1-21, Brandon Dalberto 1-15.