Warrior Luke Kopetchny walks in for a touchdown run after Western Wayne defender RJ Walton slipped on the turf.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Jack Gravine scampers in for a 28-yard touchdown run for the Warriors with Western Wayne’s Patrick Donahoe attempting the tackle.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Wyoming Area wide receiver Luke Kopetchny catches a 30-yard touchdown pass from quaterback Jack Gravine in first half action against Western Wayne.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Western Wayne’s Patrick Donahoe (8) is smothered by the Warriors Trustin Johnson, left, and Nick Ciampi, right, on Friday night.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Warrior junior Luke Kopetchny, right, busts up a Western Wayne pass intended for Patrick Donahoe, left.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
WEST PITTSTON — Wyoming Area dominated the second half last Friday against Dallas.
That domination carried over to the Warriors’ third game of the season.
The first-team offense scored on four consecutive possessions and the first-team defense didn’t allow a first down as Wyoming Area shut out Western Wayne 50-0 Friday night in a non-conference game.
Even when things went awry on special teams — like on a bad snap on an extra point — the Warriors (3-0) were able to turn the mistake into a two-point conversion pass.
It was that kind of night.
“We made some big plays, explosive plays which was great to see,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “But again, some of the mental errors and the things that are self-inflicted, we still aren’t playing as clean as we’d like to play, especially in the beginning of the game.”
The game was a rematch of last year’s District 2 Class 3A semifinal game won by Wyoming Area in overtime. While both teams lost significant talent to graduation, Western Wayne (1-2) was hit particularly hard. The Wildcats lost their entire starting offensive lineup and it showed.
Wyoming Area’s first-unit defense surrendered no rushing yards on 16 attempts and just 16 yards through the air. Western Wayne’s only first down before the game was handed over to the reserves came on a fake punt.
“I was very impressed and happy with the defensive effort,” Spencer said. “Initially some things on the back end with our corners gave them a little space, but then we tightened it up. I thought we did a good job with our pressure. We got situational pressure and were able to make plays.”
As for the offense, quarterback Jack Gravine had his hand in four touchdowns as he passed for 120 yards and two TDs and ran for 127 more and two scores.
Gravine sandwiched TD passes of 30 and 8 yards to Luke Kopetchny around his 28-yard scoring run as Wyoming Area took control with a 21-point second quarter.
Gravine’s 53-yard touchdown run at 8:15 of the third quarter brought about the 35-point mercy rule. Nick Ciampi added a 36-yard TD run and the ad-lib two-point pass from Luke Kopetchny to Josh Mruk gave the Warriors a 43-0 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Trustin Johnson opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 1-yard run.
Nicholas Kondrosky had a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.
BY THE NUMBERS
Caden Reynolds led the Wyoming Area defense with four tackles and three assists, one of each coming on plays where the Warriors threw the Wildcats for losses. … Wyoming Area had a 16-2 lead in first downs. The Warriors rushed for 294 yards. … Jack Gravine hit six of his seven passes with Kopetchny catching three for 50 yards. … The Warriors went 6-for-6 on extra point kicks with Gavin Feeney making the first four, then Ava Musinski and Teagan Meier connecting on one each.
UP NEXT
Wyoming Area visits Lakeland for a Friday night non-league game that could be much different than a year ago when the Warriors led 42-0 at halftime on the way to a 56-6 rout. Both teams are 3-0 this year and the Chiefs are tied with North Pocono as the highest-scoring teams in District 2 at 46 points per game. Lakeland is coming off a 33-23 road victory over state-ranked Riverside, a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 2A state semifinalist last season, after scoring more than 50 points in each of its first two games. Veteran quarterback David Naniewicz is off to a highly efficient start and connecting again with Chase Rosenkrans as well as impressive freshman Jackson Pochas.
