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St. Paul gained a season-high 165 yards of total offense, getting a big contribution from T.J. Peloquin (26 carries, 103 yards) and QB Dwight hacker (16 carries, 40 yards).
"We’re making improvements and we’re telling the kids that," said St. Paul coach Jude Kelly. "It’s an 11 man team and all 11 players are important."
Four fumbles plagued an otherwise solid effort by the Falcons, looking more and more aggressive as the season wears on.
"(St. Paul) is a physically team, they’re well coached and we knew we’d be in for a battle," said Berlin coach Jon Capodice. "It’s Saturday night, a little different time frame for us kids and it takes time for us to get it going. But the nice thing was as much as the defense struggled, the offense answered the call and did what they had to do."
Berlin got on the board only 22 seconds into the game off a 74 yard run from Liberda that put the Redcoats up 6-0.
The Falcons countered with a long, sustaining drive capped off by a one yard touchdown plunge by Peloquin to knot the score at 6-6 after one complete stanza.
Berlin struck right back with a 17 yard run by Liberda, followed by a two-point conversion via a Connelly pass to an open Liberda that upped Berlin’s advantage to 14-6 with 9:28 left to go in the first-half.
Putting together another solid offensive set midway through the second period, the falcons marched down into Redcoat territory before a fumble relinquished control back to Berlin at the St. Paul 40 yard line.
With just two minutes to go in the half, Berlin made the turnover count with two catches by Schroder, the later a 17 yard reception for another score and a 20-6 halftime edge.
"We have skilled players," said Capodice. "We have a good offensive line, they make the offense go. The production has to come from the offensive line. Then we have some skilled guys that go with (the offense). We like to be balanced, to run the ball a little bit and to throw the ball a little bit to keep everybody honest."
A stingy Berlin defense kept the Falcons from scoring in the second-half, but the Redcoats needed a couple more scores to put the game away.
Going on fourth down midway through the third stanza, Connelly and Liberda connected for a 30 yard strike that resulted in a touchdown and a 28-6 cushion.
Berlin added another touchdown in the final quarter off another Falcon fumble which occurred in the endzone.
"(St. Paul) is a real physical team," said Capodice. "They’re well coached, I knew we’d be in for a battle. I think our kids answered the call and played hard and fortunately, we had a few more scores than (St. Paul)."
