Hazleton Area shut down the Berwick passing attack with five sacks and an interception while shutting out the Bulldogs, 20-0, in a Friday night Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 football finale.
The Cougars finished the regular season 8-2, including 4-2 as part of a three-way tie for second place with Dallas and Wilkes-Barre Area, behind first-place Crestwood.
Qay’von Minor made a team-high eight tackles, including one of the sacks.
Evan Matyas, Kevin Guzman, Robert Anderson and Jean Valdez also had sacks while Matthew Cusatis came up with the interception. Zander Coleman made three tackles for losses.
Hazleton Area held five opponents, including four straight during the first half of the season, to seven points each, but this was the first shutout for the Cougars.
Tyler Wolfe helped the Cougars to a 14-0 halftime lead with two touchdown passes. He was 11-for-15 for 159 yards passing and had 4 carries for 44 yards rushing before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury and not returning.
Matthew Buchman scored two touchdowns on a pass reception and a run.
Cusatis had five catches for 91 yards, including the other touchdown.
Hazleton Area heads to the District 2-4-11 Class 6A Subregional playoffs as the fifth seed and plays at Bethlehem Freedom (8-2) in the quarterfinals.
Berwick (3-3, 4-6) is the fourth seed in the District 2 Class 4 playoffs and will host North Pocono (4-6) in the quarterfinals.
