KINGSTON — The Wilkes-Barre Area offense hadn’t scored a touchdown in the past two games. The unit made up for the lack of production early in Saturday afternoon’s game with Pittston Area.
The Wolfpack scored on their first two drives of the game and kept Pittston Area at an arm’s length throughout for a 35-21 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivisional game.
WBA (2-3) also received a career game from running back Howie Shiner. The sophomore rushed 15 times for 185 yards and two second-half touchdowns that put a crimp in a couple comeback bids by Pittston Area (1-4). Known more as a between-the-tackles power back, Shiner’s 65-yard TD run in the third quarter came 14 seconds after the Patriots had their first score.
“He’s a bowling ball, that’s what we call him. He looks like Norm Bulaich,” said WBA coach Ciro Cinti, referring to the 1970s NFL power runner. “He keeps going. His shoulders are low to the ground. He ran hard today. He’s a great kid. Great in the offseason, great in the weight room. He’s a great teammate.”
Shiner was one of five Wolfpack players to touch the ball on a nine-play, 71-yard scoring drive to start the game. Quarterback Javant McClary capped it with an 11-yard run, giving WBA a 7-0 lead at 8:39 of the opening quarter.
The touchdown also gave the offense its first TD since the fourth quarter of a 31-30 loss to Wyoming Area on Sept. 4. The Wolfpack were shut out 45-0 by Dallas the following week and lost 49-10 to Delaware Valley last week, with the only touchdown coming on a defensive fumble return.
WBA needed just four plays to score on its next possession. McClary found Javon Goodwin streaking down the left sideline for a 36-yard touchdown connection. McClary darted up the middle for a 14-yard scoring run at 3:02 of the second quarter to boost the lead to 21-0.
McClary was hurt in the Wyoming Area game and missed the Dallas game. He returned last week vs. Del Val, but big-play threat Mekhi Nelson sat out that game after an injury against Dallas. Nelson returned Saturday and in a limited role rushed four times for 55 yards.
Pittston Area, though, wasn’t interested in WBA medical report. The Patriots had issues of their own. Starting quarterback Jimmy Spindler was hurt in the opener and hasn’t returned. Sophomore Drew DeLucca replaced him and put up some impressive numbers, but he missed Saturday’s game with an injury.
That left the Patriots with Robby Barbieri, normally a wideout, and Alex Hoban, normally a running back, as signal callers.
“We came out today with no quarterback,” Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri said. “We had two kids play quarterback who normally don’t play quarterback and I think our kids just didn’t have the confidence in them. We didn’t play like we played the past two weeks. That’s not the same team that beat Valley West and hung in there with Hazleton.
“I can’t explain what happened to us on defense today. We just weren’t the same team on defense today.”
Pittston Area nearly got on the board at the end of the first half. A 23-yard pass from Barbieri to tight end Adam Shovlin placed the ball at the WBA 5-yard line with 24 seconds left. The Patriots got off two running plays before time expired, netting 3 yards.
Pittston Area, though, opened the second half with a 12-play, 75-yard drive. Running back Harry Pugliese’s 1-yard run cut the deficit to 21-7 at 5:47 of the third quarter. But on WBA’s first play from scrimmage, Shiner broke off his 65-yard TD run.
The Patriots followed with another scoring drive as Pugliese’s 5-yard run moved the deficit back to 14 points, 28-14. Again, WBA answered with a scoring drive ending in a 6-yard run by Shiner.
The Patriots then scored on their third consecutive possession, with a 1-yard sneak by Barbieri accounting for the game’s final touchdown with 2:29 remaining.
Wilkes-Barre Area 35, Pittston Area 21
Pittston Area`0`0`7`14 — 21
Wilkes-Barre Area`14`7`7`7 — 35
First quarter
WBA — Javant McClary 11 run (Evan Corcoran kick), 8:39
WBA — Javon Goodwin 36 pass from McClary (Corcoran kick), 5:52
Second quarter
WBA — McClary 14 run (Corcoran kick), 3:02
Third quarter
PA — Harry Pugliese 1 run (Robby Barbieri kick), 5:47
WBA — Howie Shiner 65 run (Corcoran kick), 5:33
PA — Pugliese 5 run (Barbieri kick), 1:31
Fourth quarter
WBA — Shiner 6 run (Corcoran kick), 9:18
PA — Barbieri 1 run (Barbieri kick), 2:29
Team statistics`PA`WBA
First downs`18`21
Rushes-yards`34-79`35-332
Passing yards`196`64
Total yards`275`396
Passing`13-20-0`4-11-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-11`0-0
Punts-avg.`3-34.7`0-0
Fumbles-lost`0-0`0-0
Penalties-yards`2-5`5-41
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Pittston Area, Pugliese 19-50, Barbieri 7-1, Alex Hoban 5-22, Drew Menendez 1-0, Adam Lazar 2-6. WBA, Shiner 15-185, Jace John 2-11, McClary 7-48, Mekhi Nelson 4-55, Gabe Saracino 4-32, Steve Simko 1-3, team 2-(minus-2).
PASSING — Pittston Area, Barbieri 11-18-0-157, Hoban 2-3-0-39. WBA, McClary 4-11-0-64.
RECEIVING — Pittston Area, Menendez 1-12, Pugliese 6-97, Adam Shovlin 4-53, Anthony Ranieli 1-27, Gino Triboski 1-7. WBA, John 1-10, Anthony Nguyen 2-18, Goodwin 1-36.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — none.
