WEST PITTSTON — Corey Mruk had already run for 190 yards, but he still wanted two more after he appeared to be stopped for the second time on his final carry of the night.
Mruk got them and, with those final two yards, scored his final touchdown of the night, sending the game into the Mercy Rule in the third quarter of Wyoming Area’s 45-6 romp over Meyers in a Wyoming Valley Conference Class 3A/A Division game.
After taking a handoff off left tackle on second-and-five from the 7, Mruk first encountered a Meyers defender near the line of scrimmage. He fought through that and was held up at the 2 by two more would-be tacklers. His forward movement was temporarily halted, but Mruk kept his legs churning and got the pile moving until he could lunge forward into the end zone.
“There was a kid sitting in the hole,” Mruk said. “He stood me up, but I just kept my feet going and kind of got pin-balled around until I saw another hole and kind of dove into the end zone.”
It was Mruk’s fifth trip there on the night, including a two-point conversion run that helped the unbeaten Warriors to their 31-0 halftime lead.
“What a great night for Corey and the offensive line,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “ … I’m so impressed with Corey. He’s so steady and reliable.
“It was great to see him have the kind of night he had tonight behind his offensive line, tight end and fullback.”
Tackles Cameron Carr and Patrick Nelson, guards Matt Wycoski, Michael Amato and Jaryn Polit-Moran and center Bryce Hinkle did much of the work opening the holes.
The interior of the line established its presence early when Wyoming Area went 75 yards in six plays to begin the game. Mruk ran five times for 57 of the yards, going between the guards on four of them and off tackle on the other.
“Coach is always saying, ‘you’ve got to pound the ball’,” Mruk said. “Once you pound the ball, it opens up more options.”
One of them was Dominic DeLuca’s 34-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Derek Ambrosino behind the Meyers defense for a 15-0 lead after one quarter.
DeLuca threw just seven times, but five were completions, all for at least 19 yards.
Mruk sandwiched 52- and 30-yard touchdowns around a safety in the second quarter. The 30-yarder came on a fourth-and-five option pitch that he kept going with around left end until he had the first down, then weaved his way back across the field for the touchdown.
After starting relatively slowly in each of its three previous games, Wyoming Area had its 31-point lead and a 306-15 advantage in total offense with three minutes remaining in the half.
Meyers (4-3) broke the shutout on an 8-yard Kevin Dessoye run midway through the fourth quarter.
Two players who were among those celebrating Senior Night for the Warriors got involved in the last touchdown.
Matt Benton recovered a muffed punt at the 4 and Jevani Sancho scored on second down from the 2.
Meyers`0`0`0`6`—`6
Wyoming Area`15`16`7`7`—`45
First quarter
WA – Corey Mruk 7 run (F.J. Braccini kick), 9:33
WA – Derek Ambrosino 34 pass from Dominic DeLuca (Mruk run), 1:05
Second quarter
WA – Mruk 52 run (Braccini kick), 11:22
WA – Safety (Meyers punt snap through end zone), 5:51
WA – Mruk 30 run (Aleah Kranson kick), 3:43
Third quarter
WA – Mruk 7 run (Kranson kick), 4:57
Fourth quarter
MEY – Kevin Dessoye 8 run (kick blocked), 7:04
WA – Jevani Sancho 2 run (Jayden Rusyn kick), 2:37
Team statistics`MEY`WA
First downs`10`15
Rushes-yards`27-53`32-227
Passing yards`81`153
Total yards`134`380
Passing`10-23-0`5-7-1
Sacked-yards lost`3-19`1-5
Punts-avg.`4-44.8`2-35.0
Fumbles-lost`4-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`5-42`3-23
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — MEY, Kevin Dessoye 7-34, Reese Patronick 2-23, Nazir Dunell 3-16, Darrian Tyson 5-9, Najese Hood 1-3, Tyere Dobson 2-3, Ryan Judge 1-minus 2, Team 1-minus 8, Talee Swinney 5-minus 19. WA, Corey Mruk 18-192, Leo Haros 2-16, Dominic DeLuca 4-15, Jevani Sancho 2-4, Colby Gashi 2-3, Zajquay Williamson 2-2, Vincenzo Giambra 1-0, Jacob Williams 1-minus 5.
PASSING — MEY, Swinney 10-22-0-81, Tyson 0-1-0-0. WA, DeLuca 5-7-1-153.
RECEIVING — MEY, Patronick 4-6, Tyson 3-15, Hood 2-48, Dessoye 1-12. WA, Brian Williams 2-72, Derek Ambrosino 2-53, Dimitri Depietro 1-28.
INTERCEPTIONS — Mey, Tyson 1-18. WA, None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.
