Wyoming Area football coach Randy Spencer addresses his team following the Opening Night win at Tunkhannock.
TUNKHANNOCK – Wyoming Area relied on one of the Wyoming Valley Conference’s most established standouts and one of the team’s new starters to breeze through Opening Night of the football season.
Division I recruit Aaron Crossley led the offense while junior Jacob Morgan made the most of his first varsity start to lead the defense in Wyoming Area’s 49-0 rout of host Tunkhannock in a WVC Division 2 game.
Crossley ran for 194 yards and four touchdowns despite being done for the night after just one second-half carry. The senior, who is committed to play on the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I level at Lehigh University, ran for a 2-yard touchdown on the game’s first possession, 69- and 19-yard scores in the second quarter and a 25-yard touchdown on his third-quarter attempt.
“The kind of guy, that level, the longer the game goes, the more touches he has, he gets stronger and stronger,” Warriors coach Randy Spencer said. “Aaron did a great job as always.”
Former Wyoming Valley West coach Pat Keating, making his debut as Tunkhannock head coach, was not surprised.
“He’s a great player,” Keating said. “He’s going to do a lot of great things this year.”
Crossley did plenty last year as a 2,000-yard rusher.
Morgan got his first shot at making an impact and immediately went to work.
It was not just that the strong safety made a team-high nine tackles, along with two assists, but it was also important where those tackles were made.
Coming up field aggressively, Morgan made three first hits on plays for no gain and was in on six tackles within two yards of the line of scrimmage as Wyoming Area held Tunkhannock to 25 yards rushing in the first three quarters.
“It was my first ever varsity start on defense,” Morgan said. “I was excited to be out there. I didn’t let nerves get the best of me. I was excited to play.
“I watched a lot of film, read their keys and knew when they were going to run their quarterback sweep. I hit the edge on that and made a lot open-field tackles.”
Two of Morgan’s three stops at the line of scrimmage were on quarterback keepers and another was on a pass into the flat.
Like Crossley, Morgan made his impact early. He had eight tackles by halftime of a game that evolved into a chance for the Warriors to test many players after getting to the Mercy Rule at 35-0 with 9:05 left in the third quarter.
“I’ve got a great group on defense behind me,” Morgan said. “To shut out a team in Week One is a great start and we hope to keep it going.”
Wyoming Area established Crossley’s presence on the game-opening, 11-play, 62-yard scoring drive in which he had seven of his 17 carries and also caught a pass.
Tunkhannock stopped Wyoming Area just once, intercepting a pass after the Warriors reached Tigers territory on their second drive.
Crossley’s 69-yard run started a flurry of 35 points in 19:52.
Quarterback Anthony Delucca scored on a 6-yard run during that stretch, which was capped by Lidge Kellum’s 45-yard run.
Freshman quarterback Luke Kopetchny added the last score on a one-yard sneak in the fourth.
BY THE NUMBERS
Wyoming Area dominated statistically with leads of 18-5 in first downs, 344-49 in rushing yards and 379-80 in total offense. … The Warriors forced six punts and never punted. … Wyoming Area’s dominance extended beyond offense and defense to the kicking game. As a result, the Warriors started their average drive at the 47 while the Tigers began at the 28. The advantage was more distinct over the final 33 minutes when Wyoming Area started, on average, at the Tunkhannock 43 while the Tigers began at their 24. … Liam Burke was 5-for-5 on extra points while Addison Yankovich was 2-for-2. … Jacob Gustitus led the defense with three tackles for losses, one of them a 15-yarder. … Lidge Kellum was the second-leading rusher with 62 yards on just three carries, each of which produced at least eight yards. … Oliver Bolin made an impression over the game’s last 15 minutes. He carried six times for 35 yards and was in on five tackles.
UP NEXT
Wyoming Area is on the road again Friday night playing Honesdale. The game will be at Wallenpaupack because Honesdale’s field is undergoing repairs. Honesdale lost its opener, 23-6, to Wallenpaupack in a game that was played at Western Wayne. The Hornets scored first in the loss. Like Wyoming Area, Honesdale was 5-5 in the regular season in 2022 before falling in the first round of the playoffs.
