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BERWICK — Frank Sheptock had just begun to sing the praises of Logan Leiby when the Selinsgrove quarterback came over to shake his hand after the game.

“What’s difficult to defend about Logan Leiby is that he’s got a great football IQ,” the Berwick coach said as he greeted Leiby, who had just led the Seals to a 17-6 win over the Bulldogs Friday at Crispin Field. “He’s smart, he knows where to go with the football. You see before the snap that he’s looking and reading coverages, and then he knows where to go with the football. He throws it very accurately.

“That’s tough, and when he’s a dual-threat — what they’re doing with him now — makes it more challenging.”

Leiby figured in on both of the game’s touchdowns, leading the Seals (4-1) back from a 6-3 halftime deficit with a 19-yard scoring strike to Josh Nylund to open the third quarter and then icing the game on a 1-yard sneak in the fourth.

More than that, Leiby was able to consistently extend plays for his offense, escaping more than a couple Berwick sacks to find an open receiver for a big gain. The senior finished with 174 yards through the air and 22 on the ground.

By contrast, Berwick’s injury woes at the position continued.

Already without senior Jared Marshman, the Dawgs (4-1) lost junior Alex Force late in the first half, as sophomore Ryan Laubach took over the rest of the way.

Sheptock didn’t have an immediate update on Force after the game.

“I don’t know,” Sheptock said. “I met with the trainer, and we’re still waiting on what it is. Obviously it was a tough loss for us to lose Alex. I mean, he’s playing well.”

The offense as a whole was beginning to hit its stride after a 56-0 dismantling of Crestwood a week earlier. And that continued over to the opening drive on Friday, as the Dawgs quickly marched into the red zone, reaching the Selinsgrove 9 before a holding penalty derailed the drive.

Berwick wouldn’t get that close to the end zone for the rest of the night. Yet the Dawgs led 6-3 in the final minute of the first half on a pair of strong kicks from Ken Marshman from 38 and 36 yards out.

They had a chance to add to the lead when the Seals elected not to run out the final 30 seconds of the half and Teagan Wilk made them pay with an interception return to the Selinsgrove 23.

Force wasn’t able to come back out for the ensuing shot at the end zone, and the Seals’ Ben Swineford answered with an impressive pick of his own at the goal line to keep it a 6-3 game.

Leiby was able to rally his offense after the break, while Berwick managed just one first down in the second half without Force and wideout Damon Beckhorn, who was serving a one-game suspension.

The shorthanded Dawgs finished with just 118 yards of total offense.

“It’s a next-man-up deal,” Sheptock said. “But it’s definitely very challenging. As you work with kids, obviously there’s only so many reps to go around at practice. I thought Ryan Laubach went in there and showed some poise, showed some execution. And that’s something that I think (is important) when we’re playing with a lot of sophomores out there today, dealing with some injuries.

“We’re gonna learn from that, and we’re going to get better from it. We battled a very good football team in Selinsgrove.”

Selinsgrove 17, Berwick 6

Selinsgrove`3`0`7`7`—`17

Berwick`3`3`0`0`—`6

First quarter

BER — Ken Marshman 38 field goal, 9:23

SEL — Tyler Klose 34 field goal, 5:56

Second quarter

BER — K. Marshman 36 field goal, 0:30

Third quarter

SEL — Josh Nylund 19 pass from Logan Leiby (Klose kick), 10:10

Fourth quarter

SEL — Leiby 1 run (Klose kick), 6:22

Team statistics`SEL`BER

First downs`18`9

Rushes-yards`37-120`24-42

Passing yards`174`76

Total yards`294`118

Passing`15-26-1`10-23-1

Sacked-yards lost`2-12`3-27

Punts-avg.`5-28.2`7-36.1

Fumbles-lost`0-0`0-0

Penalties-yards`3-40`8-67

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — SEL, Joe Kahn 18-78, Logan Leiby 11-22, Hunter Croman 4-20, Josh Nylund 1-4, TEAM 3-(minus-4). BER, Evan Klinger 9-46, Owen Shoemaker 4-3, Joe Lynn 3-1, Ryan Laubach 5-(minus-3), Alex Force 3-(minus-5).

PASSING — SEL, Leiby 15-26-1-174. BER, Force 8-14-0-56, Laubach 2-4-1-20.

RECEIVING — SEL, Jarrett Inch 4-96, Thomas Kerstetter 4-34, Nylund 3-31, Tony Dressler 2-10, Connor Vanzijl 1-7, Kahn 1-(minus-4). BER, Jared Watts 3-27, Teagan Wilk 3-22, Lynn 1-15, Eric Montes 1-12, Klinger 1-5, Ralph Norce 1-(minus-5).

INTERCEPTIONS — SEL, Ben Swineford. BER, Wilk.

MISSED FGs — None.

Sheptock
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL082516HSF-Berwick-Preview-spt_2.jpg.optimal.jpgSheptock

By Derek Levarse

[email protected]

Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse