HAZLETON — Sophomore Xavier Heck put together a four touchdown performance as Hazleton Area stomped West Scranton on Friday night by a score of 40-0. It was Hazleton Area’s first victory of the young campaign.

After a scoreless first quarter, Hazleton Area got on the board with Heck’s first score of the game on a 9-yard run. On the ensuing West Scranton drive, Heck jumped a pass from West Scranton’s Jake DeLuca and returned it 38 yards for his second touchdown in less than two minutes of game time.

Both of Heck’s scores in the second quarter were followed by missed conversion attempts, capping the Hazleton Area lead at 12-0.

Ashton Karlick added onto the Cougars’ lead with a 58-yard interception return off of DeLuca, who threw 28 passes on Friday night.

The interception returns were a

See Full Page