H.S Football: Wyoming Area’s season ends as Scranton Prep dominates D2-3A title game

SCRANTON — Everything that put Wyoming Area in the District 2 Class 3A championship game abandoned the Warriors on Friday night.

The offense turned over the ball four times, the same amount as in the regular season. None of a talented stable of skill players could provide a big play. The normally stout run defense was gouged by Division I recruit London Montgomery and others.

And then there was Scranton Prep’s sizable line, which controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage.

All that added up to Prep defeating Wyoming Area 28-0 for the district crown, handing the Warriors their first shutout loss in their last 27 games.

Prep (11-0) will move to the state quarterfinals and play District 3 champion Wyomissing (12-0) or Boiling Springs (11-1). Those teams play Saturday afternoon. Wyoming Area ended its season at 10-2.

Montgomery, who picked up an offer from Arizona State recently, finished with 200 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries to push his season total to 2,360 yards despite missing two games. His longest run was 25 yards, but his resilience and mere presence on the field gave Wyoming Area plenty to overcome.

“He an FBS Division I talent, an outstanding player,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “I think we ran downhill and got pads on him a little bit. We didn’t make it easy on him, but the complimentary players and plays work off of him and their coaches did a nice job getting to them.”

The first example came on Prep’s initial scoring drive. Montgomery ran three times for 16 yards to put the ball at the Wyoming Area 33-yard line. From there, the Wyoming Area defensive line slid over to the left of Prep’s formation just before the ball was snapped. Quarterback Sean Monahan faked a handoff to Montgomery, who headed left. That resulted in a gaping hole for Monahan to race untouched for a touchdown.

“Sean is a tough kid, and he’s a little shorter so they probably didn’t see him,” Prep coach Terry Gallagher said. “But everybody went with London. We’re fortunate he can make those plays.”

Prep made it 14-0 just seven seconds into the second quarter as Montgomery spun away from a tackle at the 7-yard line to complete an 18-yard TD run. Rob Rossi scored on a 37-yard wide receiver screen on the Cavaliers next drive to make it 21-0. Later in the quarter, defensive back Rocco Pizano helped stop a Prep drive with an interception in the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the Warriors 4.

Meanwhile, Wyoming Area struggled to get any traction offensively. The Warriors’ first three possessions ended in three-and-outs. The fourth resulted in a lost fumble on the first play. They didn’t get their initial first down until 3:38 of the second quarter.

Then came the opening possession after halftime where Rossi returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown to boost Prep’s advantage to 28-0.

“He’s made the move to free safety and the last three or four games he’s got multiple interceptions,” Gallagher said. “He makes tackles and on offense we get him the ball in space and he makes plays.”

Montgomery picked off a pass the next time Wyoming Area had the ball.

“Four turnovers over the course of the game,” Spencer said. “Even with a little bit of a slow start, we had our opportunities and we’d have a turnover that would stem any kind of momentum we would generate. Looking for that first play, that first score. We had the opportunity to create that a couple times and just didn’t.”

Wyoming Area’s best drive came on its final possession of the season. The Warriors moved from the Prep 42 to the 4, but a fourth-down pass was incomplete. It was their only red zone chance and only the second time they were in Prep territory all game.

District 2 Class 3A Championship

Scranton Prep 28, Wyoming Area 0

Wyoming Area`0`0`0`0 — 0

Scranton Prep`7`14`7`0 — 28

First quarter

SP — Sean Monahan 33 run (Ray Rinaldi kick), 3:29

Second quarter

SP — London Montgomery 18 run (Rinaldi kick), 11:53

SP — Rob Rossi 37 pass from Monahan (Rinaldi kick), 7:38

Third quarter

SP — Rossi 42 interception return (Rinaldi kick), 10:57

Team statistics`WA`SP

First downs`6`19

Rushes-yards`19-65`47-279

Passing yards`59`60

Total yards`124`339

Passing`9-20-3`4-6-1

Sacked-yards lost`1-4`1-12

Punts-avg.`4-26`-31.5

Fumbles-lost`2-1`1-1

Penalties-yards`4-20`1-5

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Wyoming Area, Aaron Crossley 7-26, Nico Sciandra 1-15, Leo Haros 5-24, Rocco Pizano 4-(minus-9), Blaise Sokach-Minnick 2-11. Prep, Montgomery 32-200, Lian Barrett 1-(minus-2), Monahan 5-42, TJ Roque 7-41, team 2-(minus-2).

PASSING — Wyoming Area, Sokach-Minnick 9-19-3-59, Pizano 0-1-0-0. Prep, Monahan 4-6-1-60.

RECEIVING — Wyoming Area, Usamah Alansari 3-24, Pizano 1-2, John Morgan 1-11, Haros 2-5, Sciandra 2-17. Prep, Rob McGuire 1-9, Aidan Collran 1-9, Rossi 2-42.

INTERCEPTIONS — Wyoming Area, Pizano 1-18. Pre, McGuire 1-1, Montgomery 1-0, Rossi 1-42.

MISSED FGs — none.