TUNKHANNOCK – Drew Mruk turned four straight carries into touchdowns Friday night, fueling the latest offensive outburst by Wyoming Area in a 35-6, non-league football victory at Tunkhannock.
Mruk covered 137 yards on his four touchdown carries, which came in the final 5:01 of the first half and first 3:18 of the second half to turn a 7-0 game into a 35-0 blowout.
The defending Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state Class 3A champion Warriors improved to 3-1 with 28 points in a stretch of less than 8 ½ minutes just one week after they scored 41 first-quarter points against Holy Redeemer.
“We’re starting to pick it up,” Mruk said.
The sophomore running back/linebacker is a big reason why. He ran for 157 yards on 10 carries and led the defense in total tackles (seven) as well as tackles for losses (three). One of those losses was a sack.
Mruk broke touchdowns runs of 62, 37 and 33 yards up through the middle of the Tunkhannock defense.
“I thought it was a great effort by our entire group up front and our backs tonight,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “The way they were playing, they were bringing a lot of pressure and consistently off the edge. So, even if it is an edge run, we’ve got to find that lane up inside of that edge pressure.
“Again, line did an outstanding job and backs ran exceptionally hard.”
That added up to 285 yards rushing on 36 carries.
The passing game was less consistent, but produced the first touchdown and helped set up the third.
The teams were trading punts to begin the game, but Tunkhannock roughed the kicker, allowing Wyoming Area to maintain possession.
On the first play after the penalty, Keegan Rusyn took a Jacob Williams screen pass 44 yards for a touchdown.
All five Wyoming Area touchdowns were scored by sophomores.
Mruk’s first touchdown, a 5-yard run, completed a 12-play scoring drive in which the Warriors used runs to convert three straight third downs.
Wyoming Area held on downs at the 36 while protecting its 14-0 lead with less than three minutes left in the half.
Williams threw deep, hitting Adam Sigman on a fly pattern down the left sideline for 27 yards. Mruk scored from the 37 on the next play for a 21-0 halftime lead.
Mruk’s 33- and 62-yard touchdown put the game into the Mercy Rule at 35-0 with 8:42 left in the third quarter.
Tunkhannock had just four first downs and 96 yards total offense to that point. The Tigers had eight first downs and 125 yards the rest of the way, scoring a touchdown against the Warriors reserves with 13 seconds left.
BY THE NUMBERS
Wyoming Area’s top three running backs combined to average more than 10 yards per carry. In addition to Drew Mruk’s 10 carries for 157 yards and four touchdowns, Vincenzo Giambra carried eight times for 63 yards and Leonardo Haros carried nine times for 57 yards. … Wyoming Area led in first downs (18-12), rushing yards (285-93) and total offense (373-221). … Tunkhannock led in passing yards (128-88), offensive plays (59-48) and time of possession (25:08-22:52). … Wyoming Area’s Jacob Williams passed for 88 yards and had the game’s only interception while playing defense. … Haros broke up three passes. … Sydney Kruszka went 4-for-4 on extra points.
UP NEXT
Wyoming Area (3-1) hits the road Friday night to face Crestwood, one of three remaining unbeaten teams in the Wyoming Valley Conference. The Comets have outscored their first four opponents, 142-38. Those Crestwood opponents, however, have just a 3-10 record combined. Crestwood is 3-0 for first place in WVC Division 2, one-half game in front of Wyoming Area and Lake-Lehman at 2-0.
