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Berwick Holds on Against Hazleton in Senior Night Thriller

Tagged under: District 2, Gameday Hub, News

| October 27, 2023

This is it, the last regular season week across High School Football in Pennsylvania. A pair of 2-7 teams with not much on the line would make many lose interest, but it turned out to be a classic football game.

With this being the last week, the visiting Hazleton Cougars will play their last game of the season, and the Seniors will play their last game ever. With Hazleton being in the daunting 6A, they stood way back from any playoff hopes, but they wanted to end the season off with a W.

This would not be the last game of the season for Berwick, but the last opportunity to prepare for the playoffs. The Dawgs sit at the 7 seed. and with a win, they would lock up that seed heading into the playoffs. This will be the last home game for Berwick, and the last time the Seniors get to play at Crispin Field, they had their eyes set on grabbing a win to end it.

After 3 straight losses where Berwick got in a big hole early, they needed to start strong. Tyler Winter scored to give Berwick an Early lead.

Entering the 2nd Quarter, it was Winter again. Berwick quickly led by 14.

Early into this game, Berwick looked dominant. That observation was further proven with this Ethan Lear sneak to give Berwick a 3-score lead.

 

Hazleton, however, would not be denied the scoreboard and they got within 2 scores.  Then, Jimmy DeAndrea took a 4th down run 66 yards and gave Berwick a comfortable 20-point lead. It went from bad to worse for Hazleton when Berwick blocked a Hazleton punt and led by 26 entering the break.

In their last game of the season, Hazleton was not going to let Berwick off the hook. Although they trailed by 26, the Cougars came out with some fight and gave Berwick a run for their money and then some.

After no score for 8 minutes into the 2nd half, Hazleton had life and cut the lead to 19.

Hazleton had gotten to the first checkpoint but still was a long way to the summit. Hazleton would need to be perfect and get some luck to have a chance, and they got both.

The aerial attack got going for Hazleton and within 4 minutes they took the deficit from 26 to 13.

After a good return, Hazleton was the scent of the endzone again, and this time it was a one-score game.

Crispin Field was shocked, a once 26-point game was now a 6-point game. Berwick needed a response to calm the charging Cougars. After he threw an interception, Ethan Lear led a commanding drive and Tyler Winter capped it off with a score, Berwick had more breathing room.

The Special teams for Berwick had been a struggle all year, and this game they were at its worst. After just scoring a TD, Berwick allowed a huge return all the way to their 27-yard line. Hazleton was on the doorstep again.

In the waning moments, Hazleton found themselves within a score again, now it came down to the onside kick.

Luckily for the home Berwick Bulldogs, they successfully recovered and survived a heart attack of a game.

Hazleton finishes a disappointing 2-8 after a great season a year ago. The passing attack was nonexistent in the first half, but they found their rhythm and chopped up Berwick in the 2nd half. All in all, a hard-fought game is all you can ask out of Hazleton. Watching them fight, you could tell it was their last game of the year.

It wasn’t pretty, but Berwick got a win in the end. The first half was near perfect, the 2nd half was near disastrous. They ran the ball very effectively and were able to hold on. The special teams play was a rollercoaster. On the good side, a blocked punt for a TD, on the bad side, plenty of good returns for Hazleton and missed XPs for Berwick. They will play either Dallas, Valley View, or Wyoming Area, depending on the result of Valley View and Scranton Prep tomorrow along with Dallas and Lake-Lehman.

HAZLETON FINAL RECORD:2-8

BERWICK FINAL RECORD IN REGULAR SEASON:3-7

 

 

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