It’s A Quick Win For Dawgs Over Whitehall
By DAVE KONOPKI [email protected]
Saturday, September 04, 2004 Page: 8B
BERWICK – Berwick running back Brant Quick was doing more than just
dragging Whitehall High School defenders on his back Friday night. He was
carrying the weight of his team’s offense on his shoulders.
The speedy junior rushed for 162 yards and scored three touchdowns as
Berwick outlasted the feisty Zephyrs, 23-12, in a non-league game at Crispin
Field. The victory was the 13th consecutive season-opening win for the Dawgs.
Head coach George Curry went almost exclusively to Quick after starting
quarterback Christian Force suffered an undetermined injury to his left ankle
in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Force left the field on crutches
at halftime, but was limping along the Berwick sideline in the second half.
“I knew I would be getting the ball a lot after Christian went down, but I
was ready to accept the challenge,” said Quick, who finished with a
career-high 34 carries. He also caught two passes for 35 yards. “I like
getting the ball, especially in big situations. Our offensive line did a real
good job opening the holes.”
Junior Tristin DiPippa did a solid job filling in for Force at quarterback.
Wearing No. 92, DiPippa completed four of his six passing attempts for 68
yards despite not taking any snaps from center during the week because of a
calf injury.
“We couldn’t go with our game plan after Christian got hurt,” Curry said.
“We were limited to running only two or three basic plays. But DiPippa made a
couple of big plays and Quick was amazing. He’s a phenomenal athlete.”
After a scoreless first quarter, sophomore placekicker Zack Alley gave the
Dawgs a 3-0 lead with a 21-yard field goal, two plays after Force suffered the
injury. Berwick increased the lead to 9-0 with 2:46 remaining before halftime
on one of three 5-yard touchdown runs by Quick.
Quick gave the Dawgs a 16-0 lead late in the third quarter and added his
final score with 2:21 remaining in the game.
The Berwick defense played well, especially in the first half. A blocked
punt gave the Zephyrs the ball at the Dawgs’ 11 midway through the second
quarter, but the Berwick defense didn’t allow a yard on three plays and a
The Zephyrs drove to the Berwick 26-yard line on their next series, but the
Dawgs stopped the drive by forcing three consecutive incompletions in the
final seconds of the first half.
Whitehall quarterback Mike Gnall had a big game in the second half,
throwing for 81 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter against a young
Berwick secondary.
“I thought our defense played tough, except for two plays in the fourth
quarter,” said Curry. “Other than that, I thought our defense did a heck of a
job. We beat a good football team tonight.”
