TUNKHANNOCK — Wyoming Area combined hard hits on defense with quick strikes on offense Friday night.
Drew Mruk was a big factor in both.
Mruk scored on four consecutive carries during a stretch of 8:19 of the second and third quarters as the Warriors ran away for a 35-6 victory.
The sophomore running back/linebacker had touchdown runs of 5, 37, 33 and 62 yards to finish with 157 yards and 10 carries despite not getting the ball for the final 20:43. On defense, Mruk made seven tackles, including a sack and two other tackles for losses.
When Mruk scored twice in the first 3:18 of the second half, those points forced the remainder of the game into the 35-point Mercy Rule. Tunkhannock broke the shutout with 13 seconds left.
“We were looking for consistency in terms of execution offensively,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said after his team ran for 285 yards on 36 carries. “I’m pleased with our running game. Tunkhannock brought a lot of pressure, so there was a lot of pressure on our offensive line, tight ends and fullbacks, as far as being able to block through their gaps and pick up people.
“I thought our backs did a nice job, too, because it wasn’t just short runs. We had a couple long runs broken by those backs.”
Mruk went off left tackle for his first touchdown to complete a 12-play, 51-yard drive in which the Warriors converted three straight third-down situations.
The rest of Mruk’s touchdowns were on plays that went right up the middle and the rest of the Wyoming Area scores happened in a hurry.
Wyoming Area’s first-quarter touchdown came on the first play after a Tunkhannock roughing-the-punter penalty ruined what would have been a three-and-out for the Tigers defense.
Keegan Rusyn, another sophomore running back, took a Jacob Williams screen pass 43 yards for the touchdown.
Mruk scored on the second play of a possession with 2:21 left in the half, the fourth play of the second half and the first play of the next possession. His 37-yard touchdown run followed up a 27-yard Williams pass to Adam Sigman. The 33-yarder came one play after Vincenzo Giambra’s 23-yard run converted a third-and-three.
“Our linemen really picked it up this week,” Mruk said. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Wyoming Area’s secondary came up with several big hits to prevent completions or stop Tunkhannock immediately after making catches in an 11-for-30 night passing by the Tigers.
“Physicality was another thing,” Spencer said. “The secondary, our safeties, Leo Haros and Jake Williams, and our corners, Rocco Pizano and Adam Sigman and also we got Drew Mruk out there in space in our even fronts. I thought those guys did a great job as a group.”
Jhamal Zacharias, the third quarterback Tunkhannock used, led the Tigers down the field for a late score against the Wyoming Area reserves. He completed a 35-yard pass to Garrett Yuhas, then kept on a rollout for a 5-yard touchdown on the next play.
Wyoming Area 35, Tunkhannock 6
Wyoming Area`7`14`14`0 — 35
Tunkhannock`0`0`0`6 — 6
First quarter
WA – Keegan Rusyn 44 pass from Jacob Williams (Sydney Kruszka kick), 9:19
Second quarter
WA – Drew Mruk 5 run (Rusyn kick), 5:01
WA – Mruk 37 run (Kruszka kick), 2:21
Third quarter
WA – Mruk 33 run (Kruszka kick), 10:26
WA – Mruk 62 run (Kruszka kick), 8:42
Fourth quarter
TUNK – Jhamal Zacharias 5 run (bad snap), 0:13
Team statistics`WA`TUNK
First downs`18`12
Rushes-yards`36-285`29-93
Passing yards`88`128
Total yards`373`221
Passing`4-12-0`11-30-1
Sacked-yards lost`1-8`1-4
Punts-avg.`2-35.5`6-35.3
Fumbles-lost`1-1`0-0
Penalties-yards`6-39`7-75
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WA, Drew Mruk 10-157, Vincenzo Giambra 8-63, Leonardo Haros 9-57, Colby Gashi 3-16, Rich Hyzinski 1-2, Team 2-minus 2, Jacob Williams 3-minus 8. TUNK, Zacharias 4-20, Connor Elgin 5-17, Bobby Schultz 3-16, Mason Roccograndi 3-11, Ty Konen 4-11, Ben Chilson 1-9, Garrett Yuhas 1-8, Colin Madan 1-2, Jack Chilson 4-0, Brian Christ 3-minus 3.
PASSING — WA, Williams 4-12-0-88. TUNK, JChilson 9-27-1-89, Zacharias 1-2-0-35, BChilson 1-1-0-4.
RECEIVING — WA, Adam Signan 2-31, Rusyn 1-44, John Morgan 1-13. TUNK, BChilson 4-42, Nathan Lord 3-27, Riley Jones 2-6, Yuhas 1-35, Michael Sickler 1-18.
INTERCEPTIONS — WA, Williams 1-0. TUNK, None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.
