WEST PITTSTON — Lidge Kellum ran for 219 yards and four touchdowns, and the Wyoming Area Warriors grinded out a 42-20 win over a physical Berwick team on Friday night.
Just look at the box score — this was a tighter game than the score might show.
“Berwick came in, they played very aggressively up front, and they’ve got some strong senior players in that mix,” said Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer of the Bulldogs. “I just think the energy and the effort that (Berwick) is playing with is increasing and improving every week.”
Wyoming Area got the scoring started, with Kellum outracing the Bulldog defense down the left side of the field for a 35-yard scamper nine minutes into the contest. In the second quarter, Berwick answered back with a long rushing score of their own, when Ty’Meere Wilkerson took a carry 53 yards to the house.
A failed extra point following Wilkerson’s touchdown kept Wyoming Area in the lead, and they expanded upon their advantage when Kellum plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out in the closing seconds of the first half. On that scoring drive, Kellum carried the ball on all 10 of the Warriors’ offensive plays.
He finished the contest with 25 carries in total, tagging Berwick’s defense for about nine yards per tote.
“He’s a special talent, as you can see up to this point in the year,” Spencer said of Kellum, the team’s standout tailback. “He’s a back that, the more carries he gets, the stronger he runs.”
Wyoming Area blew the game open in the third quarter, scoring on a trio of drives. Kellum scored his third and fourth touchdowns of the evening, and Anthony Delucca hit Luke Kopetchny in the corner of the end zone for an additional score to extend Wyoming Area’s lead to 35-6.
The Delucca-Kopetchny connection was rare but efficient on Friday night, with the duo combining for all 69 of the Warriors’ air yards.
“We’re fortunate to have a balanced attack and some outstanding weapons,” Spencer said of Wyoming Area’s efficiency through the air. “We’ve got all those complementary players, so you kind of have to see how they’re defending you and the opportunities that they’re giving you.”
To Berwick’s credit, the Bulldogs showed some fight in the fourth quarter after Wyoming Area running back Trustin Johnson capped off his team’s scoring to make the game 42-6.
On consecutive drives, the Berwick offense tore through the Warriors’ fourth quarter defense, with Alex Estrella’s 59-yard rushing score on an end-around serving as Berwick’s longest play from scrimmage.
Following Estrella’s score, Berwick tacked on a final touchdown with Ashton Smith scoring on a quarterback sneak from 3 yards out.
Despite Berwick’s impressive day on the ground, finishing with 220 yards in total, a pair of drive-killing interceptions and a fumble recovered by Wyoming Area kept the Bulldogs defense on the field for far too long. By the time Berwick was able to avoid turnovers consistently, the game was out of hand.
Wyoming Area 42, Berwick 20
Berwick`0`6`0`14 — 20
Wyoming Area`7`7`21`7 — 42
First Quarter
WA — Lidge Kellum 35 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 3:02
Second quarter
BER — Ty’Meere Wilkerson 53 run (kick failed), 6:37
WA — Kellum 1 run (Ciampi kick), :46
Third quarter
WA — Kellum 1 run (Ciampi kick), 8:57
WA — Kellum 42 run (Ciampi kick), 4:27
WA — Luke Kopetchny 16 pass from Anthony Delucca (Ciampi kick), 2:43
Fourth quarter
WA — Trustin Johnson 2 run (Ciampi kick), 9:36
BER — Alex Estrella 59 run (run failed), 7:38
BER — Ashton Smith 3 run (Smith run), 1:00
Team statistics`BER`WA
First downs`8`11
Rushes-yards`29-220`37-254
Passing yards`49`69
Total yards`269`333
Passing`6-11-0`3-4-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-5`0-0
Punts-avg.`5-27.8`3-37
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-1
Penalties-yards`5-41`3-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — BER, Wilkerson 14-85-1, Hanson 5-23, Snyder 3-6, Simms 2-33, Roberts 2-8, Smith 2-6-1, Estrella 1-59-1; WA. Kellum 25-219-4, Johnson 6-25-1, Crane 3-9, Delucca 2-2, Jones 1-(-1).
PASSING — BER, Hanson 5-10-2-24, Smith 1-1-0-25; WA, Delucca 3-4-0-69.
RECEIVING — BER, Wilkerson, 3-7, Eisenhauer 1-25, Howie 1-11, Escobar 1-6; WA, Kopetchny 3-69-1.
INTERCEPTIONS — WA, Lefkoski 1-12, Mruk 1-4
Local News
Comments / 0