Berlin overcame six penalties, early turnovers and an overall slow start on offense to pull away from Northwest Catholic 30-6 Friday night at Sage Park in Berlin.

"In the second half we did things a lot better," said Berlin coach Al Pelligrinelli. "You can't practice not having penalties, you practice doing things the right way. You can't say don't fumble, you have to practice holding on to the ball."

The early mistakes made by Berlin (4-0, 3-0 in NWC play) were washed away, however, by the sparkling performance of senior running back Matt Powell. Powell rushed 29 times for 172 yards and two touchdowns, helping Berlin's offense click after a sluggish first quarter.

"They came out with more emotion than us," Powell said. "We got going as the game went along. We spread out our offense and it opened up the holes for me."

The spreading of the offense was led by junior quarterback P.J. Sanzo (3 for 9, 51 yards), who twice set up Powell scores with long passes.

After a scoreless first half, Berlin opened things up on its first drive of the third quarter. After Powell gained 18 yards on three carries, moving the ball to Berlin's 45-yard line, Sanzo found junior Sam Boccia near the right sideline for 22 yards. On the very next play, Powell broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, then spun left and found running room, going 33 yards and giving Berlin the lead. His two-point conversion run made the score 8-0 Redcoats.

Berlin gave itself some breathing room at the end of the third quarter. After getting the ball with just under six minutes left in the third, Berlin marched 70 yards on 12 plays, with Powell scoring on a one yard run with 33 seconds left in the quarter. The drive was highlighted by a 27 yard run over the left side by Joel Hartunian, and Sanzo's 10 yard strike to Boccia that put the Redcoats on the Indians' eight-yard line.

"I like it as it goes along," Powell said. "I like the fourth quarter, that's my favorite time of the game."

Though it was technically still the third quarter, the result was still the same. Powell and the Redcoats wore down the Indians, scoring twice more against a beleaguered Indians defense in the fourth quarter.

Sanzo scored with 7:24 left on a quarterback sneak from two yards out, and Alex Barwikowski scampered 21 yards to complete the scoring with 30 seconds left.

"Powell did what a Berlin fullback is supposed to do," Pelligrinelli said. "He did a real good job for us. The important thing is that the ball was moving, and it was the red shirts that were moving it. Once we settled down, we were able to do that."

If the yellow flags stay off the field, the red shirts seem to do just fine.