Players from Wyoming Area and Nanticoke paused between the opening kickoff and the first play from scrimmage Friday night to honor late Trojans coach Scott Dennis, who had family connections to the Wyoming Area School District.
Tom Robinson | For Sunday Dispatch
Wyoming Area celebrated Senior Night with ceremonies prior to Friday’s game.
Tom Robinson | For Sunday Dispatch
WEST PITTSTON — The Wyoming Area football team smoothly accomplished each of its objectives Friday night.
The Warriors secured a second straight Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 title, celebrated Senior Night by getting a few extra chances to handle the ball for players who often make contributions in other areas, remained healthy going into the most important stretch of the season and took a moment to honor an opposing coach who died suddenly just before the start of the season.
Lidge Kellum ran for three touchdowns and Anthony DeLucca passed for two as the Warriors hit the 50-point mark for the fourth time in their six-game winning streak with a 50-0 shutout of visiting Nanticoke at Anthony “Jake” Sobeski Stadium.
Wyoming Area finished 5-0 in the division, making the Warriors 11-0 in Division 2 the past two seasons and 16-1 in the three years since the WVC returned to its two-division format.
Seniors Kevin Wiedl, Michael Crane and Jacob Morgan scored touchdowns while John Turner added a two-point conversion and Damian Lefkoski passed for one.
“It was important for us tonight on Senior Night with our core guys here, we wanted to come out and execute, but we also wanted to be mindful of having our seniors make significant contributions,” Warriors coach Randy Spencer said. “We gave them some opportunities that maybe they didn’t have over the course of the year, so I think we did a great job of that.”
With one championship secured, the Warriors (8-1) move into Friday’s rivalry game at Pittston Area, then into a deep District 2 Class 3A playoff field where Scranton Prep and Western Wayne are also 8-1 and the top six teams have a combined 41-13 record.
“We did what we had to do,” Spencer said. “It was important to stay healthy on a night like tonight and we were able to do that as well.”
Between Senior Night activities and the opening kickoff, a moment of silence was observed for Scott Dennis, the Nanticoke coach who died days before the opening game of his first year leading the team. Prior to the first play from scrimmage, players from both teams knelt as the 40-second clock counted down, joining together to recognize Dennis, the uncle of former Warriors standouts Dante and Dominic DeLuca.
“Our heart has been with Nanticoke’s program all year,” Spencer said. “It certainly was special for us to be able to pay tribute to coach Dennis tonight with the Nanticoke Area team and their staff here and also the DeLuca family was here as well.”
Wyoming Area scored its first 42 points on six straight possessions in a span of 14:32 of the first and second quarters.
Kellum ran 40 and 17 yards for the first two touchdowns. He was not touched on either play, breaking through big holes at the line of scrimmage, then making the few cuts needed to find the end zone.
Wiedl, consistently one of the team’s defensively leaders, got involved offensively when he scored on an 18-yard pass from DeLucca. Turner’s two-point catch from DeLucca made it 21-0 at the quarter.
On the next offensive play after Kellum ran 35 yards for a score, sophomore Luke Kopetchny scored from 65 yards on another DeLucca pass. Kopetchny bounced off a hit right after catching the ball and went the rest of the way for the score.
Crane carried three straight times in the second quarter, resulting in a 33-yard touchdown.
Morgan caught a pass in the drive that he capped with a 1-yard run in the third quarter. Lefkoski picked up a snap as the holder on a kick attempt and scrambled before passing to Jamari Yates for the two-pointer.
BY THE NUMBERS
Lidge Kellum, Anthony DeLucca and receiver Luke Kopetchny all surpassed 100 yards while only playing in the first half and getting limited attempts. Kellum carried six times for 115 yards. DeLucca was 4-for-5 passing for 128 yards with three of the completions, for 110 yards, going to Kopetchny. … Wyoming Area had 10 first downs and a 42-0 lead before Nanticoke picked up its first down, but finished with just a 13-8 advantage in that category. … Because Wyoming Area scored six times in 15 plays, Nanticoke had a 51-25 advantage in offensive plays. The Trojans averaged just 3.0 yards on those plays while the Warriors averaged 11.2. … Nanticoke’s Treston Allen gained 100 yards on 26 carries. … Drew Keating had six tackles, including a sack, and two assists for Wyoming Area in the second half.
