Drip … drip … drip.

Welcome to the Tottenville offense, the manifestation of an ancient water torture for its opponents.

Over the last 30-odd years, the Pirates have had one of the best passing attacks in the city. With quarterbacks such as Tommy Gregorio, Jayson Davis, Frank Messina, Marc Goldberg, Lou Curcio, Brandon Barnes and Peter Calabrese, why wouldn’t you throw the ball?

But this season — with a matched set of explosive backs and an offensive coordinator whose resume is defined by a history of success running the ball — the formula has changed. And Tottenville has capitalized on the new mindset to earn a berth in the PSAL AAAA city championship thanks to Saturday’s 43-15 semifinal victory over visiting Lincoln.

The second-seeded Pirates (8-2 league) will take on No. 1 Erasmus Hall on Dec. 3 at 1:30 p.m. at Midwood HS in Brooklyn. The Dutchmen (10-0 league) rolled past Curtis 43-12 in Saturday’s other semifinal.

“We do what we do — and that’s run, run, run. Of course, when you have two athletic backs, you play to your strength,” said Pirates offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Tom Hensch, who from 2002-14 was the architect of St. Joseph by-the-Sea’s Double Wing, which bludgeoned foes with an array of sturdy interior runners, giving the Vikings an unmistakable identity and more than their share of wins.

However, Tottenville’s top pair of ball carriers — freshman Kory Brown and sophomore Tyshawn Bent — aren’t the bludgeoning type but rather Ginsu knives cutting through defenses like butter.

“Hensch didn’t have toys like these to play with at Sea,” noted Tottenville head coach Brian Neville, whose only other appearance in the city final was in 2019 when the Pirates lost to Erasmus. “[Brown and Bent] are two guys you’ll be seeing play on Saturdays [on TV in college]. They’re elite … two of the best backs in the city, and we’re lucky to have them both.”

“They’re great players and great kids,” Hensch said of the dynamic duo, each of whom scored twice against the No. 3 Railsplitters. “When you have players like that and kids like that, who are respectful, it’s pretty easy to put the ball in their hands.”

One of Brown’s touchdowns was clearly the biggest play of the afternoon. With Tottenville ahead 21-15 in the final minute of the first half, Pirates sophomore quarterback Justin McGuire was picked off at the Lincoln 29 by Jayden Bernard Jr., who returned it 11 yards before being hit by offensive guard James Mulligan. The collision caused the ball to pop up in the air, where Brown caught it and raced 40 yards to paydirt. It was part of 28 unanswered points for the Pirates after a 15-all tie in the second quarter.

“Sometimes, the football gods are looking down on you … to have it end up in the lap of the fastest guy on the field,” said Neville.

“I was just in the right place at the right time. I put my hands out, and I was as surprised as anyone when I caught it,” said Brown, who missed the 13-7 season-opening loss to Lincoln with a high ankle sprain.

As for working in tandem with Bent: “It feels good having Tyshawn back there, so there’s not a lot of pressure on either of us. We trust each other, and it feels good having everyone on the team trust us. And I know we trust our offensive line and our coaches.”

“The offense was sputtering early in the year,” noted Neville. “We told them that if we were going to have a good year that it would have to be because of [Brown and Bent], and they were on board with that.”

“We had some growing pains until we got our reps in, then we improved unbelievably,” added Hensch, whose unit set the tone by running the ball 19 times out of 20 plays in the opening quarter (and 54 times out of 58 plays for the contest). “By midseason, we were humming. When those two kids get going, we’re hard to stop. At Sea, we did a lot of gap running; here, it’s more zone schemes, more on the outside. And the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it.

“The saying goes, ‘You have to be married to it; you can’t date it.’ It’s very nuanced. It’s not easy for high school kids, so a lot of credit goes to the blockers up front. We had some great O-lines at Sea, and this one is right up there.”

NOTES: The Tottenville defense, paced by the non-stop motor of senior Agim Azemi, pitched a shutout after the first quarter. … The win not only avenged the regular-season loss to Lincoln but a 41-35 semifinal playoff defeat last year. … The game was marred (and prolonged) by a bevy of unsportsmanlike and personal foul penalties, not to mention a very brief altercation near the end of the handshake line. … The Pirates’ only other league loss this season was a 35-21 setback at Erasmus on Oct. 21.