WEST PITTSTON — Wyoming Area neutralized one of Pittston Area’s biggest weapons Friday night with a series of well-placed kicks in a 41-22 victory.
Lucas LoPresto, arguably the most dangerous return man in District 2 with three special teams and three defensive touchdowns this season, touched just one kick.
The Warriors sacrificed yardage on Hudson Sharpe’s three punts to get them to the sideline and keep them from being returned.
Wyoming Area caused even more trouble with its kickoffs.
Sharpe’s first kickoff, early in the second quarter, was an on-side kick that he followed as it rolled up field then jumped on after it passed the necessary 10 yards.
“To be able to continue to hang on to that momentum at that point in the game was important to us and we were able to capitalize,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “That was a big moment.”
When Sharpe set the ball sideways on the ground on the next kickoff, Pittston Area burned a timeout to adjust.
Enter Ava Musinski, the girls soccer standout, who looped kicks down the sideline away from LoPresto and in front of the other deep backs, who had trouble fielding them.
“Ava Musinski, I can’t say enough about her,” Spencer said. “They just won a (soccer division) championship game. They have a district game (Saturday) and she comes in and the job she did kicking our extra points and her job placement on kickoffs was such an impactful aspect of the game.
“ … For her and Hudson Sharpe to not give Lucas LoPresto an opportunity to return was an outstanding job for us.”
Pittston Area gained yardage on just one kickoff return, lost yardage on one return and another where they touched the ball and it continued bouncing back toward their goal line before going out of bounds. Two other kickoffs were simply downed where they landed with no return.
Largely because of the kicking game, Pittston Area started drives at its 6, 12, 14, 15, 20, 22 and 23.
NUMBERS GAME: Pittston Area gained 197 yards on its first eight offensive plays (22.1 per play), then just 135 on its remaining 40 (3.4 per play). The Warriors held the Patriots to a loss, no gain or just one yard on 29 of their 48 plays.
Wyoming Area had just 25 yards after 10 plays, then gained 375 on its remaining 46 plays (8.2), with 25 plays gaining at least five yards.
When the Warriors were recovering from an early 15-0 deficit, they did so by picking up at least seven yards on nine straight plays, two of which produced touchdowns.
An expanded look at the other numbers in Friday’s game:
SCORING SUMMARY
Wyoming Area 41, Pittston Area 22
Pittston Area`15`7`0`0`—`22
Wyoming Area`6`13`15`7`—`41
First quarter
PA — Brody Spindler 1 run (Spindler run), 8:52
PA — Lucas LoPresto 75 run (Cole Baldwin kick), 4:58
WA — Nick Ciampi 10 run (pass failed), 1:50
Second quarter
WA — Jack Gravine 15 run (Ava Musinski kick), 1:52
PA — Spindler 1 run (Baldwin kick), 9:52
WA — Luke Kopetchny 15 pass from Jack Gravine (kick failed), 0:42.3
Third quarter
WA — Ciampi 2 run (Musinski kick), 8:45
WA — Ciampi 17 run (Donavon Miller pass from Kopetchny), 4:13
Fourth quarter
WA — JGravine 1 run (Musinski kick), 4:02
TEAM STATISTICS
`PA`WA
First downs`12`17
Rushes-yards`41-235`47-346
Passing yards`97`54
Total yards`333`400
Passing`3-7-1`3-9-0
Sacked-yards lost`4-29`1-9
Punts-avg.`3-30.7`3-21.0
Fumbles-lost`4-2`1-0
Penalties-yards`5-35`7-32
Time of possession`20:19`27:41
Third-down conversions`2-10`3-9
Fourth-down conversions`2-5`0-3
Average field position`PA 26`WA 44
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
RUSHING — PA, Spindler 20-154, LoPresto 7-75, Santino Capitano 7-22, Jude Ferentino 2-3, Deondre Miller 1-2, Kayden Bailey 1-1, Paulie Ferentino 3-minus 22. WA, Ciampi 25-228, Trustin Johnson 5-59, JGravine 14-52, Donavon Miller 2-8, Team 1-minus 1.
PASSING — PA, Capitano 2-4-1-88, LoPresto 1-2-0-9, PFerentino 0-1-0-0. WA, JGravine 3-9-0-54.
RECEIVING — PA, Billy Dessoye 1-45, LoPresto 1-43, Malkolm Blackshear 1-9. WA, Drew Mruk 1-26, Kopetchny 1-15, Johnson 1-13.
INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
Tackles-Assists — PA, Chance Radzewicz 7-0, Victor Narsavage 6-6, Zak Ridgely 6-3, Aidan Brody 5-0, Stephen Barnic 4-4, Matt D’Aiello 3-3, Spindler 2-5, Gunnar Zaledonis 2-3, Dominick Salvo 2-1, Blackshear 2-1, Deondre Miller 1-4, Brian Hankey 1-2, Landon Kendzor 1-0, PFerentino 1-0, Bailey 1-0, Capitano 1-0, Nico Cielo 1-0, JFerentino 0-1, Jaylen Hart 0-1, Brandon Lockett 0-1, Dessoye 0-1, WA, Donavon Miller 7-5, Trustin Johnson 5-1, Drew Keating 3-4, Cayden Reynolds 3-4, Ciampi 3-3, Josh Mruk 3-2, Ben Gravine 2-3, Kopetchny 2-0, Ronald James 2-0, Jordan Rosario 1-2, Tyler Lanunziata 1-2, JGravine 1-1, Max Getzie 1-1, Hudson Sharpe 1-0, Jamari Yates 1-0, Ricky Rowles 0-1.
Sacks-Yards — PA, None. WA, Mruk 1-13, Donavon Miller 1-5.
Tackles for Losses-Yards — PA, Radzewicz 2-5, Hankey 1-1. WA, Reynolds 3-6, BGravine 2-5, Mruk 1-13, Donavon Miller 1-5, Ciampi 1-2.
Fumbles Forced — PA, Ridgely. WA, Keating, Mruk.
Fumbles Recovered — PA, None. WA, Hudson, Reynolds.
Interceptions-Yards — PA, None. WA, Hudson 1-19.
Quarterback Hurries — PA, None. WA, BGravine 3, Rowles.
Passes Broken Up — PA, Hankey, LoPresto. WA, Kopetchny 2, JGravine 2.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Punts-Average — PA, Jordan Talaraico 3-30.7. WA, Sharpe 3-21.0.
Punt Returns — PA, None. WA, Ciampi 1-0, FC.
bPA, LoPresto 1-22, Deondre Miller 1-minus 3, Bailey 1-minus 11. WA, James 3-43, Johnson 1-16.
Missed Field Goals — None.
