WEST PITTSTON — Wyoming Area created a physical presence with a potent running game on offense and the hits it delivered in the secondary and on the rush to stop the Hanover Area passing game Friday night.
The combination produced a 49-14, bounce-back victory over the visiting Hawkeyes in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 football game.
Nick Ciampi ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns while Jack Gravine combined for 220 yards and four scores with his passing and running.
“It was good to see the playmakers kind of get back in gear this week and make those big plays and just continue to build their in-game competitive confidence,” Warriors coach Randy Spencer said of the team’s effort in its first outing since suffering its only division loss in three years. “Getting back to our level of physicality and being able to maintain it throughout the game, I really was happy with that.”
Ciampi ran 24 yards for a touchdown on the game’s fifth play and went 55 yards for the score that started the running clock of the Mercy Rule with 4:09 left in the third quarter.
“Nick is just getting stronger and stronger,” Spencer said. “ … He’s giving us great play on both sides of the ball.”
Gravine completed four of 10 passes with three going for touchdowns and the other completion going for 54 yards on the second play. He rushed for 102 yards on eight carries.
“To see him being able to bring both aspects, with his legs and with his arm, to football games really has been critical for us and will be important going forward,” Spencer said.
Wyoming Area threw for 137 yards, compared to just 118 by Hanover Area in 25 attempts.
Donavon Miller led the defense with five tackles, one of which was for a six-yard loss, five assists and a broken-up pass. Ben Gravine had three tackles, four assists and a pass rush.
The linebackers were supported by a hard-hitting effort from the secondary.
“Trustin Johnson really had a couple of big hits on third and fourth downs to help get us off the field,” Spencer said.
Luke Kopetchny helped stretch the lead from 7-0 to 21-0.
After his interception stopped Hanover Area’s threat to tie the game late in the first quarter, Kopetchny got behind the defense down the middle and extended himself in full stride to reach out and pull in a 43-yard touchdown pass.
Josh Mruk intercepted two plays later and Kopetchny scored again on a 21-yard pass.
Trustin Johnson had three runs for 37 yards to lead to Gravine’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Mruk for a 28-0 lead three minutes before halftime.
Hanover Area answered with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Logan Richardson to Deacon Eisenbach before halftime.
The teams combined for four touchdowns in less than five minutes of the third quarter.
Jack Gravine ran 21 yards and Trustin Johnson ran 1 yard for scores. Following Ciampi’s 55-yard score, Jack Gravine hit Kopetchny for the two-pointer that created the 35-point margin necessary to speed up the remainder of the game.
Dewayne Downey ran 10 yards in the third quarter for Hanover Area’s other score.
The Hawkeyes fell to 1-2 in the division and 3-4 overall.
Up next
Wyoming Area goes to Lake-Lehman Friday night for the game that likely will ultimately determine second place in the division. Both teams are 2-1 in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 play where Berwick is undefeated and has already handled its toughest competition. The Warriors, who won the last two division titles, are 6-1 overall. Lake-Lehman has won four of its last five to get to 4-3. In those four wins, the Black Knights have scored 183 points. Lake-Lehman gave Berwick its closest game, 24-7, on Opening Night. The Black Knights rely almost exclusively on their ground game, which is led by Jaydon Skipalis. After running for 171 yards and three touchdowns in Friday’s 26-13 victory over Tunkhannock, Skipalis has 796 yards and nine touchdowns.
By the numbers
Wyoming Area had statistical advantages of 18-7 in first downs, 353-61 in rushing yards and 490-179 in total offense. … Warriors quarterback Jack Gravine has 12 touchdowns and just one interception in 80 attempts. … Hanover Area’s Deacon Eisenbach had three catches for 75 yards. For Wyoming Area, Luke Kopetchny’s two catches covered 64 yards while Josh Mruk had two catches for 62 yards.
