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<p>WEST PITTSTON &#8212; Marred by penalties, errant shotgun snaps and overall ineffectiveness, Berwick needed a jolt Friday night.</p><p>A sophomore whose made some big plays so far this season provided it.</p><p>Teagan Wilk returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown, triggering a fourth-quarter rally as the Dawgs escaped with a 17-14 victory at Wyoming Area in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 4A game.</p><p>Berwick improved to 3-0, while Wyoming Area suffered its second consecutive three-point loss to fall to 1-2.</p><p>Berwick trailed 14-3 midway through the fourth quarter when Wilk fielded a punt on the left sideline and weaved his way for a touchdown.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know if you saw the punt before that,&#8221; Wilk said, &#8220;but I almost took that one to the house. So we had a little conversation after that and I say, &#8216;Yo, you give me one more block and I&#8217;m taking it to the house.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Wilk also leads the team in interceptions with two.</p><p>&#8220;Teagan&#8217;s return, holy cow, talk about the ignition to start the comeback,&#8221; Berwick coach Frank Sheptock said. &#8220;We needed it because offensively we&#8217;re struggling. Teagan has made big plays for us in each game thus far to turn the momentum. There was none bigger than today.&#8221;</p><p>Prior to Wilk&#8217;s score, two of Berwick&#8217;s three possessions had bad shotgun snaps, including one where Wyoming Area defensive lineman Damon Barhight recovered at the Berwick 15-yard line. Four plays after Barhight&#8217;s recovery, one of three fumbles he pounced on, receiver Marc Minichello threw a halfback option pass to quarterback Dominic DeLuca for an 8-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion gave the Warriors a 14-3 lead with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.</p><p>Wyoming Area went three-and-out on its next possession after Wilk&#8217;s touchdown. Two plays later, Berwick was on top. Damon Beckhorn darted 44 yards up the middle on a direct snap and then scored from eight yards out as the Dawgs took a 17-14 lead with 3:02 to play.</p><p>Wyoming Area got one more crack on offense and moved from its 20-yard line to the 27 where DeLuca had to scramble on fourth down and was stopped for no gain.</p><p>&#8220;The game is 48 minutes not 42 minutes,&#8221; Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. &#8220;Our kids played well all game. You get a good punt you have to make the play. We were covering kicks all game. You get a good punt, make the play and finish the game.&#8221;</p><p>The Warriors scored early in the second quarter. A punt skimmed off a Berwick player and Wyoming Area&#8217;s Jesse Cegelka won the dog fight for the ball at the Berwick 22. A DeLuca-to-Minichello connection put the ball at the 1, and three plays later running back Justin Joseph banged his way into the end zone.</p><p>Berwick answered with a nine-play drive &#8212; slowed by two of the Dawgs&#8217; 11 penalties &#8212; and got on the board when Ken Marshman connected on a 32-yard field goal.</p><p>&#8220;We showed a lot of composure,&#8221; Sheptock said. &#8220;Just bang away a little bit, bang away a little bit. To be able to overcome all of that and beat a quality team like Wyoming Area really speaks volumes of the character of this football team.&#8221;</p><p><strong>NOTE:</strong> Wyoming Area held a moment of silence before the game in honor of Stephen Chipolis, a member of the district&#8217;s support staff who died on Monday.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Berwick 17, Wyoming Area 14</strong></ins></p><p><ins><strong>Berwick`0`3`0`14`&#8212;`17</strong></ins></p><p><ins><strong>Wyoming Area`0`6`8`0`&#8212;`14</strong></ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Second quarter</strong></ins></p><p><ins>WA &#8212; Justin Joseph 1 run (run failed), 10:46</ins></p><p><ins>BER &#8212; Ken Marshman 32 FG, 6:56</ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Third quarter</strong></ins></p><p><ins>WA &#8212; Dominic DeLuca 8 pass from Marc Minichello (Shane Eslick from DeLuca), 3:00</ins></p><p style="text-align: center;"><ins><strong>Fourth quarter</strong></ins></p><p><ins>BER &#8212; Teagan Wilk 81 punt return (Marshman kick), 5:43</ins></p><p><ins>BER &#8212; Damon Beckhorn 8 run (Marshman kick), 3:02</ins></p><p><ins><strong>Team statistics`BER`WA</strong></ins></p><p><ins>First downs`9`6</ins></p><p><ins>Rushes-yards`41-192`42-68</ins></p><p><ins>Passing yards`32`58</ins></p><p><ins>Total yards`224`126</ins></p><p><ins>Passing`3-15-0`9-12-0</ins></p><p><ins>Sacked-yards lost`2-19`2-16</ins></p><p><ins>Punts-avg.`2-27.5`8-26.9</ins></p><p><ins>Fumbles-lost`5-3`1-0</ins></p><p><ins>Penalties-yards`11-67`6-40</ins></p><p><ins><strong>INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS</strong></ins></p><p><ins><strong>RUSHING</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Evan Klinger 19-136, Alex Force 6-11, Beckhorn 4-58, Owen Shoemaker 5-17, Alex Sharkuski 1-2, Jared Watts 1-4, team 4-(minus-36). Wyoming Area, Minichello 5-12, Darren Rodney 15-26, DeLuca 8-(minus-5), Joseph 3-5, Corey Mruk 7-23, Donovan O&#8217;Boyle 4-7.</ins></p><p><ins><strong>PASSING</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Force 3-15-0-32. Wyoming Area, DeLuca 8-11-0-50, Minichello 1-1-0-8.</ins></p><p><ins><strong>RECEIVING</strong> &#8212; Berwick, Watts 2-25, Wilk 1-7. Wyoming Area, Minichello 4-14, Brian Williams 1-14, DeLuca 1-8, Rob Trottini 3-22.</ins></p><p><ins><strong>INTERCEPTIONS</strong> &#8212; none.</ins></p><p><ins><strong>MISSED FGs</strong> &#8212; none.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Berwick&#8217;s Damon Beckhorn evades Wyoming Area&#8217;s Damon Barhight during Friday night&#8217;s Wyoming Valley Conference Division 4A game. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL090917HSFBerwickWyoArea1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Berwick&#8217;s Damon Beckhorn evades Wyoming Area&#8217;s Damon Barhight during Friday night&#8217;s Wyoming Valley Conference Division 4A game. </caption0><photoCredit0>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL090917HSFBerwickWyoArea2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick punter Alex Sharkuski runs the ball after a bad snap. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL090917HSFBerwickWyoArea2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Berwick punter Alex Sharkuski runs the ball after a bad snap. </caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL090917HSFBerwickWyoArea3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Berwick running back Evan Klinger is dragged down by Wyoming Area&#8217;s Dominic DeLuca. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_TTL090917HSFBerwickWyoArea3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Berwick running back Evan Klinger is dragged down by Wyoming Area&#8217;s Dominic DeLuca. </caption2><photoCredit2>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Dawgs score two TDs in game&#8217;s final six minutes</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Berwick football rallies to top Wyoming Area, 17-14