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HAZLETON — 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.

“You’ve got to keep fighting,” 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’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’s 24-yard field goal in the second quarter, as Berwick cashed in on three Hazleton Area miscues to forge a 17-3 lead.

“Every team has to,” Klinger said. “Turnovers win you games. They had more turnovers, they lost the game.”

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’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’s scoring run on the previous Berwick drive.

“He did a very good job, he had a lot of poise,” Berwick coach Frank Sheptock said of Force. “That throw to Wattsie is a big-time throw he made, then the one to Damon. He’s showing us some great leadership. The guys are playing for him. It’s a neat thing to see.”

The opening half wasn’t quite so neat, as Berwick wasted Wilk’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’s first touchdown came when offensive lineman Mike Zalutko recovered a teammate’s fumble in the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

“Opening kickoff was OK,” Sheptock sighed. “It was a tough test for us.”

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.

“Just some holding penalties hurt us,” Klinger said. “If we just eliminate the penalties, I think we’ll be fine. We’ve got a lot of confidence now.”

Berwick 24, Hazleton Area 10

Berwick`10`0`14`0`—`24

Hazleton Area`0`3`7`0`—`10

First quarter

B — Mike Zalutko fumble recovery in end zone (Ken Marshman kick), 4:00

B — Marshman 24 FG, 1:22

Second quarter

H — Will Barrientos 29 FG, 0:01

Third quarter

B — Evan Klinger 1 run (Marshman kick), 9:09

H — Damon Horton 9 run (Barrientos kick), 2:06

B — Damon Beckhorn 31 pass from Alex Force (Marshman kick), 0:46

Team statistics`BER`HA

First downs`11`11

Rushes-yards`34-120`31-41

Passing yards`99`150

Total yards`219`191

Passing`10-16-0`16-26-2

Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-14

Punts-avg.`4-36.3`4-35.3

Fumbles-lost`1-0`2-1

Penalties-yards`8-77`10-100

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — 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 — BER, Force 10-16-0-99. HAZ, Wolk 15-24-2-146, Fisher 1-1-0-4, Horton 0-1-0.

RECEIVING — 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 — BER, Klinger 1-37, Teagan Wilk 1-6.

Team statistics`BER`HA

First downs`11`11

Rushes-yards`31-127`31-41

Passing yards`99`132

Total yards`226`173

Passing`10-16-0`16-26-2

Sacked-yards lost`0-0`2-14

Punts-avg.`4-36.3`4-35.3

Fumbles-lost`1-0`2-1

Penalties-yards`8-77`10-100

By Paul Sokoloski

[email protected]

Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski