HAZLETON – Coming into the season, the expectation was that somebody was going to have to step up and lead the Hazleton Area offense after the departure of so many critical pieces from a year ago.
Brady Mizenko had it covered.
The senior shined in his first game as a lead back for the Cougars, rushing for 256 yards and a touchdown as Hazleton Area rolled through Pittston Area 28-7 to open up the season at Harman-Geist Memorial Field.
“I love Brady Mizenko and I’m so proud of him,” said Hazleton Area coach Dennis Buchman after the game. “We’ve known for a while now, through this offseason, what he is.”
Pittston Area became well acquainted with Mizenko as he bulldozed his way through the defense, shedding tacklers and hitting holes time and time again.
“We were working on it (the run game) all season, that was our game plan,” Mizenko said. “We wanted to shove the ball down people’s throats, and we came out here and we did that.”
It wasn’t an instant impact. Both teams spent the first quarter working out the kinks and trying to break through.
The Patriots, led by veteran quarterback Drew DeLucca, looked to pass early and often but couldn’t find the chunk plays necessary to drive the ball down the field.
On the Hazleton Area side, a promising first drive came up empty as a would-be touchdown was negated by a holding penalty, and eventually a missed field goal gave the ball back to Pittston Area.
The Cougars broke through with a 9-yard touchdown run from Mizenko in the second quarter, only to be answered by a DeLucca strike to Lucas Lopresto to tie the game, 7-7.
That was all for the Patriots offense, as the Hazleton Area defense found its form and stonewalled Pittston Area the rest of the way.
The Cougars went ahead 14-7 courtesy of new quarterback Austin Wilson connecting with Zander Coleman for 16 yards before the half.
Coleman scored again in the third quarter, this time as a running back on a 5-yard run after Mizenko came off the field for a breather.
One final insurance score would come from Wilson in the final minutes of the game, rolling out of the pocket, keeping his eyes downfield and finding a wide-open Carlos Gonzalez in the back of the end zone to put the finishing touches on Hazleton Area’s victory.
Pittston Area had a number of opportunities in the second half, but the run game just wasn’t there and the Cougars pressured DeLucca all night, keeping the quarterback uncomfortable and preventing him from doing much damage with his arm.
“They started bringing a lot of pressure and we didn’t handle it really well,” Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri said. “We had no run game tonight … as good as Drew DeLucca is, if you can’t run the ball, you’re not going to win high school football games.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Hazleton Area’s advantage in the ground game was massive. The Cougars ran 46 times for 366 yards compared to Pittston Area’s 15 times for 30 yards. … Hazleton Area also had statistical advantages of 17-6 in first downs and 433-165 in total offense. … Drew DeLucca was 14-for-21 for 135 yards passing for Pittston Area. … Lucas Lopresto was the game’ top receiver with five catches for 76 yards.
UP NEXT
Pittston Area plays its home opener Friday against Williamsport. The defending Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 champions and Class 4A school play a WVC Division 1 opponent and Class 6A school for the second straight week. Williamsport got in a big hole early and lost its opener to State College, 49-20
