Franklin hands Berwick a road loss

Berwick played its first road game of the season in Franklin on Friday, while also collecting their first loss 20-0. This is the second time this season the two teams have faced off, and also the second time the loser finished with 0 points.
The week before this game was essentially a “bye” week for the Panthers. Leading up to the Week 2 matchup against the Kaplan Pirates, Hurricane Francine hit Berwick, leading to power outages, no school and Berwick’s week 2 game being canceled.
The main issue for the Panthers in this contest was the offense. Berwick could not establish any offensive rhythm. No success was had rushing or throwing the football.
The Panthers had four straight three-and-outs to start the game. The first time the sticks moved was because of an unnecessary roughness penalty. This penalty gave the Panthers some momentum because following the call, the offense, led by senior quarterback Evan Crappell, started to move the ball down the field, but the success barely moved them into Hornet territory as the drive was cut short due to the end of the second half.
The three-and-outs continued to haunt the Panthers in the second half. Outside of a botched punt from Franklin, which resulted in the Panthers one and only red zone trip, Berwick could not move the ball inside Hornet territory. The Panthers’ one chance at putting points on the board was unsuccessful, as the 0 on the final score indicates.
The performance on defense was much better for Berwick. They started off rough. The first quarter play on defense saw Franklin score two touchdowns on back-to-back drives, both being 20-plus yards. On top of the long touchdowns, Franklin had runs of 45 and 25, and a fourth-and-12 conversion.
After the first two drives, the Panthers defense seemed to get settled in. The defense finished the game with two red zone stops, along with a fumble recovery in the red zone and an interception by Layf Bella.
One goal-line stand came following a fumbled kick return by freshman Jayden Gibson. The defense wasn’t perfect but gave the Panthers plenty of opportunities to put points on the board and win this game.
For Berwick, Maddox Sampay was the leading rusher with only 19 yards on six carries. Cole Morris had 17 yards on nine carries. Franklin trapped Crappell for -11 yards on six attempts.
Crappell was 5 of 14 passing for 56 yards with two interceptions. Carter Whipple caught three passes for 28 yards, Carter Dupuis two for 25 and Jason Mathews one for 3 .
"We had a slow start to the game in all three phases," Berwick coach Mike Walker said. "Hats off to coach [Tremayne] Johnson and the coaching staff at Franklin. It was a night and day difference from the jamboree to week 3.
"They outplayed and outcoached us. We hope to be able to bounced back this week."
Next week the Panthers will make another trip to Franklin, this time against the Hanson Tigers (0-2).