WEST PITTSTON – Wyoming Area found the right place to celebrate Senior Night – in the end zone.

Eight different players, seven of them seniors, scored touchdowns Friday night when the Warriors ran away early in a 54-14 romp over the winless visitors from Hanover Area.

“It’s always nice when you have a game like Senior Night if you can spread the ball around a bit and get as many guys as you can a touch,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “But, it’s more about what the kids have potential to do.

“We’ve got guys with playmaking ability, besides some of the guys they’re paying attention to.”

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The Warriors had 11 players combine for 314 yards rushing and six receivers combine for 10 catches and another 227 yards.

It was a breakthrough performance for an offense that has struggled to finish drives at times during a four-game losing streak that included three straight three-point defeats.

“The kids have been playing hard,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “We just struggled with some consistency offensively.

“Tonight, we were able to correct some of that.”

Sophomore Charlie Banashefski joined the seniors in finding the end zone when he ran 11 yards for a second-quarter score on his only carry.

Dominic DeLuca, another sophomore, sent four teammates to the end zone on the other end of his passes. DeLuca hit nine of 12 attempts for 215 yards and four touchdowns while also picking up 44 yards on three carries.

DeLuca had touchdown passes of 42 yards to Robbie Trottini in the first quarter and 41 yards to Shane Eslick in the second. He added a 58-yarder to Marc Anthony Menichello and a 9-yarder to Steven Yordy in the first 4:44 of the second half, completing a stretch of seven straight scoring drives in less than 20 minutes for a 48-0 lead.

Fullback Justin Joseph had a team-high 71 yards on six carries and opened the scoring on a 12-yard run in the first quarter.

Donovan O’Boyle had an 8-yard touchdown run in the last minute of the first half for a 34-0 lead.

Blaise Ciampi ran 2 yards for a score with 12 seconds left. The Warriors then took a knee rather than adding any more points on the conversion.

NUMBERS GAME: Wyoming Area finished with statistical leads of 23-10 in first downs, 314-126 in rushing yards, 227-81 in passing yards and 541-207 in total offense. … The Warriors had at least six yards on 17 of 20 first-half runs while outgaining the Hawkeyes, 370-53. … Darren Rodney ran six times for 54 yards to join Joseph and DeLuca as the leaders of a ground game that also got between 27 and 24 yards from Minichello, Ciampi, O’Boyle, Jacob Williams and Anthony Scalzo. … Minichello (76 yards) and Yordy (49 yards) each had three catches. … Hanover Area had just 10 rushing yards in the first half, but David Fedorczyk ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns in the second half to finish with 138 yards on 15 carries. … Dimitri DePietro led the Wyoming Area defense with three tackles, five assists and a fumble recovery. … Eslick had two sacks while Cameron Carr also had two tackles for losses.

Scranton Prep 24

Wyoming Area 0

SCRANTON — Wyoming Area’s offense had not been able to generate any consistency and a sweltering Saturday afternoon at Scranton Memorial Stadium Sept. 23 wasn’t going to be the place to find it.

Instead, unbeaten Scranton Prep posted its fourth shutout in five games to begin the season, defeating Wyoming Area, 24-0.

Defensively, Wyoming Area played reasonably well. The Warriors held Cavaliers standout running back Matt Gilmartin to a season-low 108 yards rushing, but 48 of them came on a fourth-and-one touchdown run 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,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “We’ve played very, very well defensively, and it’s put us in situations to possibly win games.”

Scranton Prep’s other scores came on a 6-yard, Leo O’Boyle-to-Sam Dixon pass midway through the first quarter, a 26-yard Alex Buttner field goal on the last play of the third quarter and a 4-yard touchdown reception from O’Boyle by Avoca’s Ivan Balavage with 5:45 remaining in the game.

NUMBERS GAME: The shutout loss was the first for Wyoming Area in 97 games since falling to GAR, 39-0, in the fifth week of the 2008 season. … Dominic DeLuca had a 16-yard run in the third quarter, but Wyoming Area otherwise had just three yards on 18 runs. … The opening drive of the second half reached the Scranton Prep 31, the closest the Warriors came to scoring. … Scranton Prep had statistical advantages of 15-7 in first downs, 160-19 in rushing yards, 142-133 in passing yards and 302-152 in total offense. … DeLuca was 13-for-24 for 133 yards passing, but was picked off twice. … Shane Eslick, the team’s season leader in tackles, led Wyoming Area with five tackles and six assists. He was in on two tackles for losses.

Wyoming Area quarterback Dominic DeLuca, shown here in a game against Berwick earlier this season, found four different receivers in the end zone Friday night against Hanover.
http://www.psdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_PSD091017HSFBWABerwick2.CMYK_.jpg.optimal.jpgWyoming Area quarterback Dominic DeLuca, shown here in a game against Berwick earlier this season, found four different receivers in the end zone Friday night against Hanover. Sean McKeag file photo | Sunday Dispatch

By Tom Robinson

For Sunday Dispatch

and John Erzar

jerzar@timesleader.com

UP NEXT …

Wyoming Area plays its second straight winless Class 3A opponent when it travels to Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium Saturday night to face GAR. The Grenadiers, who have been outscored, 243-45, had their “closest” game Sept. 22 at Pittston Area when they scored two touchdowns in the final 5:14, after going to the Mercy Rule, to cut the final margin against the Patriots to 35-13.