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Wyoming Valley West’s huge rally falls short in loss at Scranton

Youth serves Wyoming Area well in win

HAZLETON &#8212; In a staredown of defensive domination, Evan Klinger made Hazleton Area blink.With a wink, Alex Force finished his first high school start with a game-sealing touchdown.And by the end, Berwick was bright-eyed once again.Klinger intercepted a pass, recovered a fumble and rumbled for a key touchdown Friday as opportunistic Berwick held off Hazleton Area, 24-10 in a sloppy Wyoming Valley Conference high school football season opener at Harman Geist Field.&#8220;You&#8217;ve got to keep fighting,&#8221; Klinger said.The Berwick senior running back and linebacker certainly did.He picked off a Hazleton Area pass and returned it 37 yards, setting up Berwick&#8217;s first touchdown late in the first quargter. Then Klinger blasted into the end zone with a one-yard touchdown run on fourth-and goal in the third quarter, after teammate Tegan Wilk picked off a pass.In between, a bad snap gave Berwick prime field position for Ken Marshman&#8217;s 24-yard field goal in the second quarter, as Berwick cashed in on three Hazleton Area miscues to forge a 17-3 lead.&#8220;Every team has to,&#8221; Klinger said. &#8220;Turnovers win you games. They had more turnovers, they lost the game.&#8221;The Cougars won some respect, though.They pulled within 10-3 by halftime when Will Barrientos connected on a 29-yard field goal with a second remaining in the second quarter, then closed within 17-10 late in the third quarter by driving 80 yards and using Damon Horton&#8217;s nine-yard scoring romp to make things interesting.Force, a sophomore forced into the starting quarterback role when senior Jared Marshman suffered a preseason injury, quickly ended the suspense, though.He lofted a pretty 31-yard touchdown toss to Damon Beckhorn with 46 seconds remaining in the third quarter, after rifling a 20-yard completion to Jared Watts to set up Klinger&#8217;s scoring run on the previous Berwick drive.&#8220;He did a very good job, he had a lot of poise,&#8221; Berwick coach Frank Sheptock said of Force. &#8220;That throw to Wattsie is a big-time throw he made, then the one to Damon. He&#8217;s showing us some great leadership. The guys are playing for him. It&#8217;s a neat thing to see.&#8221;The opening half wasn&#8217;t quite so neat, as Berwick wasted Wilk&#8217;s 48-yard kick return and turned the ball over in Hazleton Area territory with a bad punt snap.Neither team managed a first down in the first quarter, and both offenses combined for just 144 yards of offense over the first two quarters. Berwick&#8217;s first touchdown came when offensive lineman Mike Zalutko recovered a teammate&#8217;s fumble in the end zone for a 7-0 lead.&#8220;Opening kickoff was OK,&#8221; Sheptock sighed. &#8220;It was a tough test for us.&#8221;In the end, the Bulldogs passed it, though.Klinger finished with a game-high 82 yards on 13 carries, a big chunk coming when he raced 45 yards with little more than a minute remaining. Force finished 10 of 16 for 99 yards, while Hazleton Area quarterback Sparky Wolk hit for 128 yards on 15 completions.&#8220;Just some holding penalties hurt us,&#8221; Klinger said. &#8220;If we just eliminate the penalties, I think we&#8217;ll be fine. We&#8217;ve got a lot of confidence now.&#8221;Berwick 24, Hazleton Area 10Berwick`10`0`14`0`&#8212;`24Hazleton Area`0`3`7`0`&#8212;`10First quarterB &#8212; Mike Zalutko fumble recovery in end zone (Ken Marshman kick), 4:00B &#8212; Marshman 24 FG, 1:22Second quarterH &#8212; Will Barrientos 29 FG, 0:01Third quarterB &#8212; Evan Klinger 1 run (Marshman kick), 9:09H &#8212; Damon Horton 9 run (Barrientos kick), 2:06B &#8212; Damon Beckhorn 31 pass from Alex Force (Marshman kick), 0:46Team statistics`BER`HAFirst downs`11`11Rushes-yards`34-120`31-41Passing yards`99`150Total yards`219`191Passing`10-16-0`16-26-2Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-14Punts-avg.`4-36.3`4-35.3Fumbles-lost`1-0`2-1Penalties-yards`8-77`10-100INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING &#8212; BER, Klinger 13-82, Owen Shoemaker 11-49, Force 4-7, Damon Beckhorn 1- (minus 1), TEAM 5- (minus 17). HAZ, Horton 7-40, Adrian Otero 10-12, Sparky Wolk 10-5, Josh Zukoski 2-1, Matt Fisher 1-0, TEAM 1- (minus 17).PASSING &#8212; BER, Force 10-16-0-99. HAZ, Wolk 15-24-2-146, Fisher 1-1-0-4, Horton 0-1-0.RECEIVING &#8212; BER, Beckhorn 4-55, Jared Watts 2-28, Klinger 2-4, Jacob Seely 1-6, Shoemaker 1-6. HAZ, David Smith 5-73, Jacob Hunsinger 5-39, Otero 3-20, Horton 2-12, Zukoski 1-6.INTERCEPTIONS &#8212; BER, Klinger 1-37, Teagan Wilk 1-6.Team statistics`BER`HAFirst downs`11`11Rushes-yards`31-127`31-41Passing yards`99`132Total yards`226`173Passing`10-16-0`16-26-2Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-14Punts-avg.`4-36.3`4-35.3Fumbles-lost`1-0`2-1Penalties-yards`8-77`10-100<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Opportunistic Berwick turns away Hazleton Area’s upset hopes