SCRANTON — Wyoming Area’s offense hasn’t been able to generate any consistency this season. And a sweltering Saturday afternoon at Scranton Memorial Stadium certainly wasn’t going to be the place to find it.
Instead, unbeaten Scranton Prep posted its fourth shutout of the season, defeating Wyoming Area 24-0 and keeping the Warriors off the scoreboard for the first time in their last 97 games.
“To be honest, we don’t worry about the shutouts and all that stuff,” Prep coach Terry Gallagher said. “We expect those guys to learn from the guys who played the positions in the past and to be disciplined, play fast, play smart and get to the football.”
Prep (5-0) checked all those boxes Saturday as Wyoming Area was shut out for the first time since a 39-0 loss to GAR in Week 5 of the 2008 season.
Wyoming Area (1-4) entered the game off three consecutive three-point losses where the offense produced just 15 second-half points. The running game was averaging 3.2 yards per carry and that stat was reduced as the Warriors rushed 19 times for 19 yards, with a run in the third quarter by quarterback Dominic Deluca accounting for 16 of them.
Delucca’s carry at 11:07 of the third quarter also gave Wyoming Area its first trip inside Prep territory. The drive, though, died on downs at the Prep 31-yard line. The Warriors never got closer than that to the end zone the rest of the game.
“That’s our focus offensively. We have to get some consistency running the ball, throwing the ball,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “We did some good things, we created some plays, we had some opportunities. But you can’t have a positive play followed by a negative play.”
Defensively, Wyoming Area played reasonably well. Prep standout running back Matt Gilmartin had 108 yards rushing, but 48 of them came on a TD run on a fourth-and-one play to begin the second quarter. Gilmartin’s other 23 carries averaged 2.6 yards. He had just 26 yards on 10 rushes in the second half.
“I think our defense is what’s supported us through the first five games,” Spencer said. “We’ve played very, very well defensively, and it’s put us in situations to possibly win games. I think we did a similar job today. But like you said, it was a couple big plays and that comes at times having to play aggressively.”
The schedule eases up for the next two weeks as Wyoming Area plays at home against Hanover Area (0-5) on Friday followed by a road game at GAR (0-5).
Scranton Prep 24, Wyoming Area 0
Wyoming Area`0`0`0`0`—`0
Scranton Prep`7`7`3`7`—`24
First quarter
SP — Sam Dixon 6 pass from Leo O’Boyle (Alec Buttner kick), 5:02
Second quarter
SP — Matt Gilmartin 48 run (Buttner kick), 11:52
Third quarter
SP — Buttner 26 FG, 0:00
Fourth quarter
SP — Ivan Balavage 4 pass from O’Boyle (Buttner kick), 5:45
Team statistics`WA`SP
First downs`7`15
Rushes-yards`19-19`40-160
Passing yards`133`142
Total yards`252`302
Passing`13-24-2`13-18-1
Sacked-yards lost`1-9`1-11
Punts-avg.`5.27.4`1-19
Fumbles-lost`2-0`2-0
Penalties-yards`7-70`2-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WA, Marc Minichello 5-(minus-3), Dominic Deluca 6-12, Darren Rodney 3-6, Donovan O’Boyle 5-4. Prep, Gilmartin 24-108, L.O’Boyle 7-19, Balavage 2-2, Brayen McAllister 6-29, Joe Walsh 1-2.
PASSING — WA, Deluca 13-24-2-133. Prep, L.O’Boyle 13-18-1-142.
RECEIVING — WA, Brian Williams 4-38, Robbie 3-10, Minichello 2-21, Rodney 1-36, Steve Yordy 2-29, Shane Eslick 1-(minus-1). Prep, Lucas Stage 2-7, Matt Para 1-34, Dickson 3-37, Luke Johnson 1-21, McAllister 2-16, Balavage 2-15, Gilmartin 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS — WA, Deluca 1-0. Dickson 2-0.
MISSED FGs — none.
