KINGSTON — Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri trusts three-year starting quarterback Drew DeLucca to adjust the offense with audibles.
That trust extends to when the coach has sent in a safe running play on third-and-long with the team in an apparent predicament. It remains there when the Patriots have lost yardage on two straight plays and find themselves pinned at the 2-yard line.
DeLucca’s adjustment at the line of scrimmage Friday night resulted in a 98-yard touchdown reception for freshman Lucas Lopresto and gave Pittston Area a lead it never let go of on the way to beating host Wyoming Valley West, 20-13, for its first win of the season.
“We went negative on play one and play two,” Barbieri said of the team’s first offensive possession. “Drew’s been starting for three years. He has my permission to make checks. He made a check.”
DeLucca said he was well aware that the risk taken on such a call meant he better get the throw away to avoid a safety to start the game. Still, he waited long enough in the pocket for Lopresto to start what was essentially a 100-yard dash, racing past the defense before pulling in the pass as he approached midfield.
“We had man coverage on the outside and nobody over the top,” DeLucca said. “We like our skilled guys out there.
“ … I know we can’t have a safety and a big momentum shift, but luckily we had a guy make a big play and we took that momentum shift instead.”
The reasons Pittston Area led for all but the first 3:50 of the game included another DeLucca decision that followed.
With most of the team huddled at the line of scrimmage to the left, waiting to move into position for a routine point after touchdown, DeLucca again spotted an opening. He called from a quick snap and a pass to Brody Spindler, who held on for the two-point conversion and 8-0 lead despite taking a huge hit.
“We saw something we liked and Brody made a great catch and took a big hit,” DeLucca said. “He’s a tough guy.”
Aside from the long touchdown, the Pittston Area offense managed just 36 yards the rest of the first half, but the Patriots took the 8-0 lead into the break behind a strong effort from a young defense that forced punts on the first five Wyoming Valley West possessions. Barbieri said that group had performed well while the offense struggled in the two losses to begin the season.
“Our defense has been playing their butts off and they are young dudes,” the coach said. “There are two freshmen on the field. There’s a lot of sophomores. We had an injury and I put in another sophomore. Coach (Lon) Hazlet has been doing a great job with that group.”
Playing their third straight game against a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 opponent, the defending Division 2 champion Patriots threw the Spartans for losses 10 times.
Sophomores Victor Narsavage, Jaylen Hart and Matt D’aiello joined senior Cieran Bilbow in each making multiple tackles for losses. Narsavage had two sacks and a third tackle for a loss.
Lopresto was in on three tackles and broke up two passes, including one at the goal line while fellow freshman Colten Lis was in on five tackles and rushed the passer into an incompletion.
Gerry Groom, a 170-pound junior defensive back, handled an adjustment in responsibilities and contributed three tackles (one of them for a loss) along with three assists and the break-up of a pass on a third-quarter attempt at a tying, two-point conversion.
“We put him down in the box to play against their heavy run game and he just made a lot of plays for us,” Barbieri said.
DeLucca and Spindler were each involved in scoring plays in the second half when the offenses picked up the pace.
Wyoming Valley West quarterback Lucas Zdancewicz ran for touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters.
Pittston Area quickly answered the first score with Matt Walter’s 65-yard kickoff return setting up DeLucca’s 1-yard sneak for a 14-6 lead after three quarters.
The Patriots took their time with the next score, going 68 yards in 15 plays on a drive that began in the third quarter and carried into the fourth. DeLucca hit passes to convert a third down and a fourth down before keeping on a rollout and getting just enough to convert fourth-and-18.
Two plays later, Spindler powered into the end zone from the 12.
The Patriots came up with defensive stops before and after Zdancewicz’s second touchdown.
Narsavage blitzed to force a loss on third-and-four from the 8, then Lopresto broke up the fourth-down pass.
When the Spartans got the ball back with 1:22 left, a sack by D’aiello and pass rush by Lis contributed to keeping them from getting out of their own end of the field.
BY THE NUMBERS
Drew DeLucca finished 11-for-24 passing for 165 yards passing. Lucas Lopresto had four catches for 129 yards. … Wyoming Valley West outrushed Pittston Area, 126-60, and led in total offense, 242-225. … Each team lost one turnover. … Victor Narsavage had eight tackles for the Patriots while Jaylen Hart had seven and each had an assist. … Pittston Area was 6-for-13 on third-down conversions and 2-for-3 on fourth downs while holding Wyoming Valley West to 3-for-12 on third downs and 0-for-3 on fourth downs.
UP NEXT
Pittston Area begins its Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 title defense Friday night at home against Hanover Area in a meeting of 1-2 teams. The Hawkeyes are 0-1 in the division. Hanover Area routed Holy Cross, 51-20, in the opener, then lost consecutive 14-6 games to Tunkhannock and Carbondale.
