For the longest time Friday, Berwick had the momentum, full control and the lead.
In a matter of minutes, Hazleton Area snatched it away.
Austin Wilson dashed for three touchdowns, Xavier Heck returned an interception for a score and Hazleton Area bounced back from a slow start to beat Berwick 27-10 at Crispin Field.
Locked in a 7-7 defensive struggle at halftime, the Bulldogs dominated most of the third quarter and allowed Hazleton Area just two offensive plays through the first 10 minutes of the period while taking a 10-7 lead on Caleb Yost’s 28-yard field goal.
But the Cougars struck quickly.
Quarterback Wilson raced around the left edged and rolled to a 77-yard touchdown sprint to give the Cougars a 13-10 lead with 1:56 to play in the third quarter.
Things snowballed for Berwick from there.
Heck stepped in front of a Bulldogs pass and charged 34 yards for a defensive touchdown that boosted Hazleton Area’s lead to 20-10.
Wilson added a 41-yard touchdown run to ice the game and set the final score with 3:41 remaining in the game.
Both teams struggled to move the ball in the opening half, but Berwick finally broke the ice when Gavin Galutia burst through the center of the line and took off on a 39-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
Hazleton responded with a 72-yard drive, which Wilson capped with a 2-yard scoring surge to even the score at 7-7 just 21 seconds before halftime.
It was the second consecutive road win for Hazleton Area, which evened it’s record at 2-2.
Berwick fell to 0-4.
Hazleton Area 27, Berwick 10
Hazleton Area`0`7`13`7 — 27
Berwick`0`7`3`0 — 10
Second quarter
B — Gavin Galutia 39 run (Caleb Yost kick), 6:41
H — Austin Wilson 2 run (Jack Mariano kick), 0:21
Third quarter
B — Yost 28 FG, 7:00
H — Wilson 77 run (Kick failed), 1:56
H — Xavier Heck 34 int. return (Mariano kick), 0:11
Fourth quarter
H — Wilson 41 run (Mariano kick), 3:41
Team statistics`HAZ`BER
First downs`8`11
Rushes-yards`21-119`32-181
Passing yards`91`56
Total yards`210`237
Passing`8-13-0`7-18-2
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-17
Punts-avg.`2-31`2-34.5
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`7-75`16-111
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — HAZ, Austin Wilson 10-96, Hunter Johnson 5-15, Sam Miller 2-6, Jose Lopez 1-2. BER, Gavin Galutia 15-112, Billy Hanson 11-67, Brock Simms 2-9, Caleb May 1-4, Ty’Meere Wilkerson 1-3, TEAM 2- (minus 14).
PASSING — HAZ, Wilson 8-13-0-91. BER, Hanson 2-6-1-9, Ashton Smith 5-12-1-47.
RECEIVING — HAZ, Yohansel Moran 5-71, Johnson 1-15, John Carlos Peralta 1-3, Carlos Gonzalez 1-2. BER, Gabe Decker 2-23, Alex Estrella 2-20, Shiloh Escobar 2-12, Galutia 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS — HAZ, Xavier Heck 2-36.
MISSED FGs — BER, Yost, 31 yds., Short.
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