WRIGHT TWP. — Crestwood’s triple threat running the football was a little too much for Pittston Area to overcome in the first game of the high school football season for both teams.
The athletic Comets trio of Lance Blass, Patrick Rother and Owen Grigas combined for 291 rushing yards on 56 carries and accounted for four touchdowns in a 35-28 win over the Patriots.
“As the game went on our young running backs got better,” Crestwood coach Greg Myers said. “They started to see some things. Up front all night long we did a great job.”
Myers said Grigas and Rother have had very limited number of carries during their high school careers, but thanks to the offensive line were able to get the job done against Pittston Area.
The Comets opened the scoring with an 18-yard strike from Blass to Rother late in the first quarter. On Pittston Area’s next play following the kickoff, junior tailback Keemar Woodruff went 72 yards to put the Patriots on the board and knot the game at 7-7.
Crestwood scored the next two touchdowns. The first came on Blass’ 1-yard plunge. On Pittston Area’s following possession, Woodruff fumbled and it was scooped up by Garrett McAfee who returned it 53 yards for a touchdown.
With four minutes left in the first half, Pittston Area’s Walter Coles hit wideout Kevin Krawczyk for a 26-yard touchdown to make the score 21-14 at the break.
While the Patriots continued to fight back every time the Comets scored, Crestwood used a pair of long second half drives to ice the game.
Crestwood used a six minute drive in the third quarter, capped by a Blass 10-yard run, to put itself up 28-14 late in the third quarter. Again, after Pittston Area scored on a 6-yard touchdown from Coles to Krawczyk, the Comets went 80 yards in more than six minutes. The drive resulted in a Grigas 6-yard touchdown run.
“We weren’t patient enough,” Myers said. “It showed there in the fourth quarter when we put the ball on the ground to wear them down.”
Crestwood 35, Pittston Area 28
Pittston Area`7`7`7`7`—`28
Crestwood`7`14`7`7`—`35
First quarter
C — Patrick Rother 18 pass from Lance Blass (Alex Despirito kick) 3:14.
PA — Keemar Woodruff 72 run (Mike Mikitish kick) 3:03.
Second quarter
C — Blass 1 run (Despirito kick) 7:14
C — Garrett McAfee 53 fumble return (Despirito kick) 4:25.
PA — Kevin Krawczyk 26 pass from Walter Coles (Mikitish kick) 3:46.
Third quarter
C — Blass 10 run (Despirito kick) 3:42.
PA — Krawczyk 6 pass from Coles (Mikitish kick) 0:37.
Fourth quarter
C — Owen Grigas 6 run (Despirito kick) 6:22.
PA — John Delucca 4 pass from Coles (Mikitish kick) 2:47.
Team statistics`PA`CRE
First downs`9`25
Rushes-yards`18-114`62-309
Passing yards`123`102
Total yards`237`411
Passing`12-15-0`5-9-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-2`0-0
Punts-avg.`3-30.3`1-37
Fumbles-lost`2-1`3-0
Penalties-yards`3-20`3-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — PA, Woodruff 12-97, Coles 5-16, Dylan Spurlin 1-1, Rich Wallace 1-(-2). C, Grigas 22-108, Blass 16-84, Rother 18-99, Kyle Richards 1-7, Brandon Brozena 3-6, Jacob Barney 1-3, Ryan Black 1-2.
PASSING — PA, Coles 12-15-0-123. C, Blass 4-6-88-0, Richards 1-3-0-14.
RECEIVING — PA, Woodruff 6-75, Krawczyk 3-41 2TD, Delucca 1-4 TD, Wallace 1-2, Matt Starinsky 1-(-2). C, Brozena 1-41, Richards 1-28, Rother 1-18 TD, Blass 1-14, Kevin Klusewitz 1-1.
INTERCEPTIONS — None.
MISSED FGs — C, Despirito 1-32
