After his Bulldogs rolled over the Bison of Clearfield, George Curry summed up his teams efforts: “You have to be able to run the ball this time of the year.” Berwick, led by C.J.Curry (147 yards, 3 touchdowns) and Dain Kowalski (119 yards rushing and 1 touchdown) plowed their way to the Eastern AAA final with over 300 yards rushing to top the Bison 44-7 at Mihalik Stadium in Lock Haven.
Clearfield took the early momentum stopping Berwick on the first series of the game in three plays. The first Bison drive wasn’t much more successful except that they pinned the Dawgs deep in their own territory on the ensuing punt. Two plays later Ryan Lezzer intercepted a Curry pass at the 40 and returned it to the Berwick 19. Christian Lezzer then called his own number 4 times, going in from 4 yards out to get the early lead. It was the last time the Bison would score, but certainly not their last chance.
Berwick answered with a 61 yard, 12 play drive. Curry took the ball in from four yards out and Olivia Seely tied the score at 7 with 9:30 to go in the second half.
On Clearfield’s next possession Dain Kowalski got his first of 2 interceptions on the night.(Kowalski would also later recover a key fumble for Berwick). Berwick ran 4 plays when Curry found a streaking Andrew Force down the left sideline for a 48 yard pass play to the Bison 5 yard line. Curry carried the ball over the goal line from 2 yards out to give the Dawgs a 14-7 lead that they would not relinquish.
The Bison again got great field position to start its next series at their 48, but on 4th down from the 24 Tyler Stratton was stopped short of the first down and Berwick took over with just 47 seconds remaining in the half. On the third play of the drive Curry was intercepted at the Bison 35. Clearfield had the ball with only 8 seconds to go in the half but it turned out to be a very bad 8 seconds. On the second play of the drive Lezzer launched a deep throw and Dain Kowalski intercepted the pass. Kowalski then zipped up the right side after avoiding a few tackles and 75 yards later Berwick celebrated in the endzone. Seeley’s kick gave the Dawgs a 21-7 lead going into the break. “Man, I saw that opening and just started running. I think that play really helped us get some momentum going into the second half” said Kowalski of the pick and run.
Clearfield received the opening kick of the second half and proceeded to march 66 yards to the Berwick one yard line. Tyler Stratton took the hand off and ran toward the endzone but a crushing hit by Kowalski jarred the ball loose and the DB just scooped the ball out of the air. “That play was a game changer” said Coach Curry. “Those turnovers, we both had them, but that one. Man, did you hear that hit? That one really fired our boys up”.
With some nifty cutback runs Kowalski led the Dawgs on a 99 yard scoring play, taking the ball in himself from 12 yards out for the back breaking score. “They (Clearfield) were biting on the fullback dive every time I lined up in it” said Jordan Stout. “We were able to just run the ball because they were being over aggressive”. Stout ran in the 2 point conversion and Berwick was in total control.
Berwick forced Clearfield to punt after only three plays and Curry padded the Bulldog lead with a 37 yard scoring strike to a wide open Ian Mazonkey. “We really wanted to try and get our tight ends open in the second half and it worked” said Coach Curry.
The Bulldogs closed out the scoring on a 62 yard run from C.J. Curry.
“I think that was my best game of the year. They just kept biting on the dive so I’d just keep it and run. We saw that in the first half and used it in the second” said the senior QB.
“That’s a good team coach (Tim) Janocko has over there that we beat tonight. They never gave up, even when their quarterback got hurt. My hat’s off to them, heck of a ball club” said coach Curry.
Clearfield’s season ends at a respectable 13-1 while Berwick will move on to face Archbishop Wood next week in the AAA Eastern final.
56 Responses
I am not so foolish as to predict which team will win this game, but people who rave on about how talented Archbishop Wood is seem to forget, or be unaware of, how everybody was saying pretty much the same thing about Aliquippa way back in the prehistory of 1988. Aliquippa had 11 players who were recruited by Division one schools (If I remember it right)- including Sean Gilbert who went on to a fine pro career. Final score? Dawgs 13, Quips 0. Will this game be a repeat? I have no idea, but Berwick has George Curry and Wood doesn’t. That could be the difference.
Ill see everybody there friday night! GO DAWGS!
…weather may push the game back to Saturday…stay tuned…
hay trad31. they better pull ahead in the first half. Berwick is a second half team. and besides George curry has them figured out already.
my predicted score from.reading this thread
Wood 1,255
Berwick -4
…too late Billy..post 4 beat you to the punch
It’s official, Friday 7 p.m. at J Birney Stadium
Glenn..the Selinsgrove 2009 team was waaaaaaay better than this years Berwick team. So you can’t compare the 2. I’m a D-2 guy but I don’t think Berwick has much of a chance against Wood.
Berwick is playing Friday night at 7 at j Barney scrum stadium in Allentown same place we played Bethlehem catholic
Nice article. I have read 15 posts and not a single one is related to this article. I am unsure who peed in who’s cheerios today but it is redundant.
Hey wait a second!….someone complained about schools recruiting and didn’t mention Imhotep! What is this site coming too?!
RedDawgs77 – My only prediction is there won’t be a mercy rule involved in the Berwick vs Wood game.. which is what you predicted. I know Berwick CAN beat Wood.. and I know Wood CAN beat Berwick. It’s a matter of which team shows up to play, penalties, turnovers, and costly mistakes (as in any football game). This is High School football where anything can happen… As Coach Curry said “It’s going to be a tough game, they are from Philly but it’s not like we have to play the Eagles”.
Yo Dawg, what you talkin bout Willis? What do you mean about taking a shot at you?
…Hey Tristan…go to Bandits for a drink or two on me and check in tomorrow morning for the site of the dawgs v wood game….enjoy
P.S The popcorn is free…
No i am not predicting nothing I know berwick will win
I have one brief comment – SELINSGROVE 2009
Rob V
Are you predicting a Berwick win?
so are we tristan, so are we.
Still waiting for the location of the Berwick vs Wood game.. Time and location please!
What are u talking about Jive ? Are u taking a shot at me?
…not so fast Dutch Boy…before the PIAA tackles the Catholic school issue they need to take a look at the brackets…HOW IS IT FAIR THAT A “BYE” EXISTS ANYWHERE IN THE PLAYOFF FORMAT…C’MON MAN!!!!!!!!!!!
@RevTweak,
You are aware that Wood played St Joes Prep and Ryan, right? Both of them teams have Lines that dwarf the lines of Berwick. You are generalizing your idea of what “Philly” kids are. No offense, but you have no clue about D12 football.
@Dawg,
I think the word you are looking for is AND. If you are a graduate of Berwick, you are insulting every person in that town every time you post.
Let the haters and the wanna be HS football analysts say what they want.. I personally like Berwick being the underdog. We bring our A game to these type of games. Also, it makes victories like these so much sweeter. Like when Abington Heights put up their banner at half time… It kinda makes them look silly now doesn’t it? Yes I would say on paper Wood may be the favorite.. but we aren’t crowning paper champions… Berwick has been the underdog many many times and came out on top.. its actually apart of our tradition to make big plays and win big games.. that’s Berwick Football and every single one of us Berwick fans have been foaming at the mouth for a crack Wood.. Go Dawgs!
I can not wait for the Berwick-Wood Match Up.I see a dangerous trend emerging in Pa hs Football.The Piaa needs to crack down on these schools that are recruiting.Hey they had to crack down on UCLA basketball. I AM NOT ATTACKING CATHOLIC SCHOOLS.However when these schools have a unfair advantage over other schools then people need to speak out.Hs sports should be about sportsmanship and fairness.I ask all readers what do you see next week.Look at all the schools in the state semi-finals.You have Wood,Pitt Central,Mcdevitt,Berks Catholic,Cathedral Prep,StJoseph Prep all schools that recruit. Stand Up and be counted Pa. hs football fans we need to keep parity in the game.We should never ever have to see a mercy rule game in the playoffs.Lets have some intelligent feed back on this
As an outside observer, a D2 guy who has seen his share of Philly teams as well, there are two things for sure:
1) Berwick has not seen the athletes all over the field all year long like they will against Archbishop Wood, and
2) Wood has not seen the physicality and toughness on the line all year long like they will against Berwick.
It may just be a generalization, but D2 teams typically have big linemen and are very physical up front on both sides of the ball. D12 seems to have those teams that have so much athletic ability all over the field and can blow by most teams. That’s just the style of play in both regions. Classic football matchup of size vs speed. Should be interesting.