ALAPOCAS – Before the play is even called, Wilmington Friends quarterback Justin Beneck knows what he’s going to do on fourth-and-short.

He’s going to hand the ball to Andrew Jaworski, and the Quakers are going to get a first down.

The bruising senior fullback converted fourth-down situations on each of Friends’ first three scoring drives Saturday as the Quakers thumped archrival Tower Hill 35-0 to clinch the Independent Conference championship.

“I’ve got a good feeling every time,” Beneck said of calling on Jaworski. “He makes great plays. He’s strong, he’s tough, and our guys on the line make great blocks. Our other backs come up and fill and do a great job.

“It’s pretty predictable. They know it, we know it, but they still can’t stop it.”

The Quakers’ defense stopped the Hillers, holding Tower Hill to just 36 total yards. Friends derived motivation from last year’s meeting, when the Hillers scored a late touchdown and two-point conversion to spoil the Quakers’ undefeated season with a 15-14 victory.

“We all had that running in our minds. We remembered that,” said defensive lineman Daniel Adebi, who batted down two passes Saturday. “Every play, we just channeled that. We just had to stop them every time.”

The Friends offensive line of Dalton Ramsey, Sean Cochran, Jason Saville, Chris Wallace, Matthew Denney and tight end Liam Harron paved the way for 269 rushing yards. Jaworski (15 carries, 62 yards) did the dirty work, while Beneck (11 carries, 64 yards, three touchdowns) and halfback Henry Gise (19 carries, 90 yards, two touchdowns) did the scoring.

“We executed and did a great job,” Beneck said. “Our line did a great job blocking, and our defense shut them out, which was incredible. You can’t lose if they don’t score.”

The Quakers (9-1, 3-0) got on the board after Jaworski gained 10 on a fourth-and-2 from the Hillers 25. Beneck scored on a 7-yard keeper two plays later for a 7-0 lead with 3:16 left in the first quarter.

Two possessions later, Jaworski picked up 3 on fourth-and-2 from the Hillers 23. Gise found smooth sailing on a counter to the left two plays later for a 22-yard score.

After a Tower Hill punt, Jaworski banged out a 2-yard gain on fourth-and-1 from the Hillers 7. Beneck lunged into the end zone for a 7-yard score two plays later to make it 21-0 with 12.6 seconds left in the first half.

“I thought we were going to have to throw more, and we can,” Friends coach Bob Tattersall said. “But it got to the point where we didn’t need to.”

Halfback Owen Sheppard (eight carries, 53 yards) made a nice cutback for a 26-yard gain on the first drive of the second half, and Beneck kept to his right for a 9-yard touchdown.

The Quakers followed with their longest drive of the game, a 13-play march capped by Gise’s 1-yard run for a 35-0 lead that triggered the running clock on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Tower Hill (6-3, 1-2) came in averaging 35.6 points per game, but only managed two first downs. Friends ran almost twice as many plays (62-34) as the Hillers.

“We played a complete game,” Tattersall said. “They’re good. They’ve scored a lot of points. But our defense was terrific.”

Now the Quakers will await their first-round matchup in the DIAA Division II playoffs, which will be announced Sunday. Friends has reached the semifinals two years in a row.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.

Friends senior Owen Sheppard runs the ball against the Tower Hill defense at Friends Saturday.

Friends running back Henry Gise runs the ball in the second quarter against Tower Hill at Friends Saturday.

Friends senior Devonte Church intercepts a pass intended for Tower Hill’s Haryy Quimby in the Quaker’s 35-0 win over the Hillers Saturday.