Dominic DeLuca was the most recent winner of the Falcone Award, winning after the Warriors shut out Pittston Area last season.
Dominic DeLuca did a little bit of everything for Wyoming Area in its state’s championship run in 2019.
That was true in the fourth-quarter comeback in the state final in Hershey and it was certainly true in the performance that made him the 42nd winner of the Carmelo Falcone Award, presented annually since 1978 to the Most Valuable Player in the Pittston Area-Wyoming Area football game.
DeLuca needed just eight carries and nine pass attempts to produce 234 yards and four touchdowns. He ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns while passing for 142 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Derek Ambrosino in a 45-0 rout of Pittston Area.
Along the way, DeLuca also had a 36-yard punt return and was in on three tackles.
“It’s a great honor,” DeLuca said after the game. “ … It’s a big award to achieve and to follow in that legacy is great.”
The Falcone Award was not the only honor for DeLuca. He went on to earn Pennsylvania Class 3A Offensive Player of the Year honors from state sports writers.
Recent Falcone Award winners have put up some big offensive numbers in the game.
Corey Mruk carried 36 times for 239 yards in 2018 when Wyoming Area won, 40-0.
Pittston Area’s most recent winner, Walter Coles, was 20-for-31 for 305 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-21 victory in 2017.
Mruk’s workhorse effort was similar to Jeff Skursky’s 2014 game in which he ran 39 times for 236 yards and four touchdowns.
In between, another tough inside runner for the Warriors, Brian Miles, became the third player to earn the award twice by rushing for a combined 311 yards in 2014 and 2015.
Wyoming Area’s Jim Pizano and Nick O’Brien won the award as sophomores and came back to do it again as seniors.
The Warriors also had the only two brothers to win the award, Gary and Greg Dolhon in 1980 and 1988.
The award was created in 1978, a year after Carmelo Falcone’s death. The Falcone Beverage owner enjoyed spending time around and offering his support to high school football teams.
Charlie McDermott from Wyoming Area completed 11 of 14 passes for 207 yards and made a late end-zone interception to earn the first award.
Along with Coles, some of the top Pittston Area performances included two of the best defensive efforts in the series.
Jim Norris was credited with 17 tackles in a 2000 overtime victory and Charlie Kabalka had 15 in 1989.
Coles was not the first Patriot to reach 300 yards in the series.
Tony Avvisato received the Falcone Award after rushing for 300 yards in the 2003 game.
