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H.S Football: Wilkes-Barre Area speeds past Berwick for Division 1 victory

john erzar, the times leader, wilkes-barre, pa.
·4 min read

Sep. 23—PLAINS TWP. — Wilkes-Barre Area already had a variety of playmakers to attack opponents. The Wolfpack added another Friday night.

Evan Laybourn-Boddie, a West Scranton transfer, made his debut Friday night against Berwick. It was a resounding success as he caught seven passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns, scored on a two-point conversion and forced a fumble as the Wolfpack posted a 34-21 victory over Berwick in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game.

WBA improved to 2-0 in the division and 3-2 overall with its third consecutive win. Berwick fell to 1-1 in the division and 1-4 overall.

Laybourn-Boddie was declared ineligible for football and basketball by the District 2 athletic committee after transferring. The PIAA Board of Directors reversed the decision on appeal, but by the time the process played out, he missed the first four games.

"You saw the explosiveness, what he can do," WBA coach Ciro Cinti said. "The kid is dynamic. He's a great kid. He's worked hard in the summer with us. Early in the season he worked hard even though he knew he wasn't playing because of this."

Laybourn-Boddie scored on touchdown passes of 16 and 42 yards to help WBA to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. He forced a fumble late in the second quarter on a short pass and the ball popped into the arms of teammate Max Gregor.

After Berwick quarterback Ethan Lear scored on a 1-yard run to move the Dawgs within 14-7 at 4:34 of the second quarter, WBA quarterback Jake Howe threw his third TD pass, this one 30 yards to Treyvon Gembitski. Howe bought time scrambling to the right before finding Gembitski wide open near the goal line.

Howe finished 11-of-16 for 240 yards. He only threw two passes in the second half, completing both to Laybourn-Boddie. Laybourn-Boddie's 31-yard catch-and-run set up a 1-yard sneak by Howe to give the Wolfpack a 28-14 lead at 2:12 of the third quarter.

"He's getting great vision now," Cinti said of Howe. "He's not forcing things. He's becoming a much smarter quarterback. He's not afraid to zip it into a tight spot because he's got a great arm."

WBA's final scoring drive ate up nearly half of the fourth quarter and boosted the lead to 34-14 with 5:04 remaining. This time it was a mix of power runner Howie Shiner and speedster Davon Underwood. Shiner carried six times, finishing of the drive with a 14-yard TD run.

Berwick added its final touchdown with 1:38 left on a 13-yard scramble by Lear. Lear finished with 113 yards on 17 carries. The rest of the ball carriers produced little.

"Offensively, we had so many kids sick and hurt," Berwick interim head coach Bo Orlando said. "We had probably 30 kids out there fighting and going both ways. I'm so proud of their effort. We'll never stop fighting."

Orlando ran the team for a fourth consecutive game while head coach Mike Bennett deals with a health issue. He said there was no timetable for when Bennett would return.

Wilkes-Barre Area 34, Berwick 21

Berwick'0'14'0'7 — 21

Wilkes-Barre Area'6'16'6'6 — 34

First quarter

WBA — Evan Laybourn-Boddie 16 pass from Jake Howe (kick blocked), 4:21

Second quarter

WBA — Laybourn-Boddie 42 pass from Howe (Laybourn-Boddie from Howe), 11:24

BER — Ethan Lear 1 run (Luke Peters kick), 4:34

WBA — Treyvon Gembitski from Howe (Bobby Delescavage from Ariel Lopez), 2:19

BER — Tyler Winter 2 run (Peters kick), 0:40

Third quarter

WBA — Howe 1 run (kick failed), 2:12

Fourth quarter

WBA — Howie Shiner 14 run (run failed), 5:04

BER — Lear 13 run (Peters kick), 1:38

Team statistics'BER'WBA

First downs'16'17

Rushes-yards'29-141'35-107

Passing yards'91'240

Total yards'232'347

Passing'14-16-0'11-16-0

Sacked-yards lost'2-9'1-14

Punts-avg.'4-30.3'1-29

Fumbles-lost'2-1'1-1

Penalties-yards'3-15'2-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Berwick, Winter 8-14, Lear 17-113, James DeAndrea 2-4, Billy Hanson 1-7, Jake Lisnock 1-3. WBA, Davon Underwood 8-21, Shiner 20-88, Laybourn-Boddie 1-10, Howe 3-(minus-9), team 3-(minus-3).

PASSING — Berwick, Lear 14-16-0-91. WBA, Howe 11-16-0-240.

RECEIVING — Berwick, Ty'Meere Wilkerson 5-31, Hanson 6-21, Josh Kishbaugh 2-38, Caleb May 1-1. WBA, Laybourn-Boddie 7-154, Jovan Goodwin 2-40, Shiner 1-16, Gembitski 1-30.

INTERCEPTIONS — none.

MISSED FGs — none.