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High school football: Tunkhannock earns back-to-back wins for first time since 2007

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High school football: Valley West has no problems with Dallas defense in rout

WEST PITTSTON &#8212; Berwick used a short field and a long drive to wipe out a halftime deficit Friday night.The Bulldogs returned to their winning ways when the defense held Wyoming Area to 24 second-half rushing yards to clear the way for the offense as Berwick rallied for a 22-10 victory in the Wyoming Valley Conference Class 3A game.Berwick scored the game&#8217;s final 22 points, including 16 in the second half, to improve to 4-2 by breaking a two-game losing streak.The Bulldogs made the most of a field position advantage gained in a third-quarter exchange of punts, then added an insurance touchdown on a drive that first served to take precious time off the clock.Berwick forced three turnovers while not committing any to also end a two-game winning streak by Wyoming Area (2-4).&#8220;You need turnovers,&#8221; Berwick coach George Curry said after his state-record 450th career victory. &#8220;That&#8217;s what happened to us against Selinsgrove.&#8221;The Bulldogs had a late lead get away in last week&#8217;s 17-14 loss to unbeaten Selinsgrove.This time, Berwick finished strong.The Bulldogs took the lead by covering 37 yards with five straight runs in a third-quarter drive that culminated in Daquan Hellenthal&#8217;s 4-yard touchdown. Lenny Wyda added the first of his two straight two-point conversions for a 14-10 lead with 5:22 left in the third quarter.Justin Groshek made a third-down tackle and his fourth-down safety blitz created the pressure needed to force an incompletion to stop a Wyoming Area drive at the Berwick 2 in the final minute of the third quarter.Berwick could not get out of its own end and needed its pass pressure to escape again.Evan Klinger&#8217;s rush forced a Sean McCole interception and gave Berwick the ball at its 21 with 9:13 left.The Bulldogs moved 75 yards in 15 plays, taking 7:37 off the clock to score with 1:36 left. Two bruising Alex Koch runs converted third-and-two, then fourth-and-three.Harrison Kuchka took a third-and-10 reverse 16 yards for the touchdown.Wyoming Area&#8217;s line dominated early on the both sides of the ball and the Warriors scored on their first two possessions for a 10-0 lead.Brian Miles ran for 62 of his 100 yards on 10 first-quarter carries.Miles picked up 21 yards on the opening drive before Dante DeLuca was wide open on play-action to pull in a 39-yard touchdown pass from P.J. Angeli for a 7-0 lead after just 2:26.With Miles carrying nine times for 48 yards, Wyoming Area moved into position for David Klaproth&#8217;s 34-yard field goal with 9:04 left in the second quarter.The Warriors drove the Bulldogs back in three plays, took over at midfield and began moving toward a potential third score.Antonhy Cicini&#8217;s hit on a completed pass forced a fumble that Randy Miller recovered.At that point, Wyoming Area had outgained Berwick, 138-54.The Bulldogs dominated the rest of the way, outgaining the Warriors, 170-74.Sophomore quarterback Jared Marshman hit Luke Fisher with a 29-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 10-6 with 1:14 left in the half.Berwick 22, Wyoming Area 10Berwick`0`6`8`8`&#8212;`22Wyoming Area`7`3`0`0`&#8212;`10First quarterWA &#8211; Dante DeLuca 39 pass from P.J. Angeli (David Klaproth kick), 9:34Second quarterWA &#8211; Klaproth 34 FG, 9:04B &#8211; Luke Fisher 29 pass from Jared Marshman (kick failed), 1:14Third quarterB &#8211; Daquan Hellenthal 4 run (Lenny Wyda run), 5:22Fourth quarterB &#8211; Harrison Kuchka 16 run (Wyda run), 1:36Team statistics`B`WAFirst downs`15`12Rushes-yards`44-154`36-116Passing yards`70`96Total yards`224`212Passing`3-6-0`4-12-1Sacked-yards lost`2-18`1-12Punts-avg.`3-27.3`2-21.5Fumbles-lost`1-0`2-2Penalties-yards`3-25`6-37INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING &#8212; BER, Alex Koch 16-74, Hellenthal 12-66, Wyda 6-31, Kuchka 1-16, Anthony Cicini 1-3, Team 3-minus 16, Jared Marshman 5-minus 20. WA, Brian Miles 25-100, Donovan O&#8217;Boyle 4-8, Angeli 7-8.PASSING &#8212; BER, Marshman 3-6-0-70. WA, Angeli 3-11-1-79, Steve Homza 1-1-0-17.RECEIVING &#8212; BER, Fisher 2-38, Robbie Harter 1-32. WA, DeLuca 1-39, O&#8217;Boyle 1-31, Angeli 1-17, Dylan Kostak 1-9.INTERCEPTIONS &#8212; BER, Sean McCole 1-4.<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Luke Fisher, right, runs through the grasp of Wyoming Area&#8217;s Brian Miles to score a touchdown in WVC football action Friday night in West Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Berwick-WyoAreaFB_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Berwick&#8217;s Luke Fisher, right, runs through the grasp of Wyoming Area&#8217;s Brian Miles to score a touchdown in WVC football action Friday night in West Pittston. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Berwick-WyoAreaFB_2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Area&#8217;s Brian Miles, right, gains yardage as Berwick&#8217;s Justin Groshek and Luke Fisher make the tackle in WVC football action Friday night in West Pittston. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_Berwick-WyoAreaFB_2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wyoming Area&#8217;s Brian Miles, right, gains yardage as Berwick&#8217;s Justin Groshek and Luke Fisher make the tackle in WVC football action Friday night in West Pittston. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom RobinsonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</shirttailMeta></div>

High school football: Berwick rallies in 2nd half to topple Wyoming Area