MOSCOW — Wyoming Area took Matt Kelly out of the North Pocono running game.

But the senior tailback found another way to hurt the Warriors when it mattered most.

Kelly slipped out of the backfield to pull in a 24-yard touchdown pass from Luke Fetter with 1:02 remaining Friday night, rallying the unbeaten Trojans past the winless Warriors, 26-21, in a non-league game between District 2 Class 3A teams.

Kelly came into the game with back-to-back, 100-yard rushing and multiple-touchdown efforts to begin the season. The Warriors held him to negative yards rushing in the first half and just nine yards in the game.

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“We wanted to try to do a job on their running game and we did,” Wyoming coach Randy Spencer said.

After Wyoming Area scored twice in the final eight minutes to rally from 13 down, however, Kelly produced the winner.

Luke Fetter, who was on the other end of the winning touchdown pass, also recovered from being shut down early by the Warriors. He was 6 for 6 for 184 yards and three touchdowns in the second half after going 0 for 3 in the first half.

The late heroics spoiled the best effort of the season by the Warriors, who ran off 72 plays to 30 by the Trojans.

“It was certainly the fullest football game we’ve played to this point,” Spencer said.

Still, it was not quite enough.

The Warriors led, 7-0, at halftime, fell behind, 20-7, early in the fourth then came back with consecutive scoring drives.

P.J. Angeli completed four passes, including a 24-yard touchdown to Donovan O’Boyle on a 71-yard drive to make it 20-14 with 7:50 left.

Angeli forced a fumble that Marc Anthony Minichello recovered two plays later and the Warriors moved 60 yards for the go-ahead score.

Steve Homza found Angeli with a 14-yard, end around-pass on fourth-and-11. Angeli broke three tackles, including one in the backfield, on a 16-yard run to the 2 and Brian Miles scored from there.

David Klaproth’s third extra point put Wyoming Area ahead, but that lasted just 63 seconds.

Wyoming Area held North Pocono to a single first down in the first half while taking the 7-0 lead.

The Warriors moved into Trojans territory the first four times they had the ball while North Pocono had the ball as far as the Wyoming Area 49 for just one play.

It took Wyoming Area until its fourth drive to produce the touchdown.

Angeli started the seven-play, 50-yard scoring drive with a 16-yard run and finished it with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Kostak on fourth-and-goal.

North Pocono needed two plays and one minute to score in the second half on a 44-yard pass from Fetter to Tim Blaine.

Jake Przywara blocked a field goal attempt and returned it 60 yards to the 4. Fetter put North Pocono ahead with a 3-yard run on third-and-goal.

The win made North Pocono coach Greg Dolhon, a former Wyoming Area quarterback, 2-0 against his alma mater.

North Pocono 26, Wyoming Area 21

Wyoming Area`0`7`0`14`—`21

North Pocono`0`0`14`12`—`26

First quarter

No scoring

Second quarter

WA – Dylan Kostak 4 pass from P.J. Angeli (David Klaproth kick), 7:25

Third quarter

NP – Tim Blaine 44 pass from Luke Fetter (Alec Ciagla kick), 11:00

NP – Fetter 3 run (Ciagla kick), 3:28

Fourth quarter

NP – Thomas Miner 65 pass from Fetter (kick blocked), 11:36

WA – Donovan O’Boyle 24 pass from Angeli (Klaproth kick), 7:50

WA – Brian Miles 2 run (Klaproth kick), 2:05

NP – Matt Kelly 24 pass from Fetter (pass failed), 1:02

Team statistics`WA`NP

First downs`18`8

Rushes-yards`48-202`19-17

Passing yards`122`218

Total yards`324`235

Passing`12-24-1`8-11-0

Sacked-yards lost`1-8`0-0

Punts-avg.`4-31.3`5-38.6

Fumbles-lost`0-0`3-1

Penalties-yards`9-80`6-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — WA, Miles 23-94, O’Boyle 15-73, Angeli 10-35. NP, Kelly 9-7, Fetter 3-5, Michael Kowalski 1-5, Donny Blaine 2-2, Kourtney Harp 1-1, Tyler Musgrave 2-minus 1, Team 1-minus 2.

PASSING — WA, Angeli 11-22-1-108, Homza 1-1-0-14, Team 0-1-0-0. NP, Fetter 6-9-0-184, D. Blaine 2-2-0-34.

RECEIVING — WA, Marc Anthony Minichello 5-24, O’Boyle 2-43, Kostak 2-22, Homza 2-19, Angeli 1-14. NP, T. Blaine 3-63, Miner 1-65, Musgrave 1-32, Kelly 1-24. 1-2.

INTERCEPTIONS — NP, Kelly 1-0.

MISSED FGs — WA, Klaproth 33 (blocked)

By Tom Robinson

For Times Leader

Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports