Western Wayne’s Josh Vinton pushes a pile, which originally formed at the 7-yard line, into the end zone to give the Wildcats a 29-21 lead with 3:45 left in regulation.
Tom Robinson | For Sunday Dispatch
Anthony DeLucca calls signals as Wyoming Area gets set to run a play while patiently moving up the field for the eight points the Warriors needed in the final minute to set up their double-overtime win.
Tom Robinson | For Sunday Dispatch
SOUTH CANAAN — The Wyoming Area offense, after being stalled for more than 2½ quarters, restarted just in time Friday night.
The Warriors defense, driven off the ball for much of the second half, held its ground on the most important play of the season to bring an end to a double-overtime battle.
Wyoming Area used the combination of a powerful start and a valiant finish to avenge its only loss of the season by beating host Western Wayne 36-35 in a District 2 Class 3A football semifinal.
Lidge Kellum ran for 192 yards and five touchdowns in the win. He ran for three of the scores to build a 21-3 lead in the middle of the second quarter, then helped rally the Warriors with touchdowns in the final minute of regulation and on the second play of the second overtime.
Nate Obrzut, Matt Rutkoski and Andrew Steinberger joined forces to bring an end to the game by stopping Josh Vinton on an attempt for the winning, two-point conversion run at the end of the second overtime.
“I played my leverage,” Obrzut said. “When he came my way, I took the opportunity and wrapped him and he came up short.
“I’m not sure who else was there, but it was a pack of Warriors.”
Vinton crashed into the middle of the line as he had done so many times on a night in which he produced 292 yards and four touchdowns rushing on 42 carries. He crossed the line of scrimmage with momentum, but it was halted there when Obrzut, the left tackle, and Rutkoski, an inside linebacker, got him by the legs.
In the game’s final four minutes, Vinton had pushed a pile of more than dozen bodies seven yards into the end zone for an eight-point lead. This time, Steinberger came in from his right end position to join Obrzut and Rutkoski and pin Vinton to the ground between the 1-yard line and the goal line.
“I came in for the assist,” Steinberger said. “I was ready for them to come outside, but I didn’t really know what to expect.”
One play earlier, Vinton had run 10 yards for the score on the first play of Western Wayne’s second overtime series. Instead of going for the tie and a third overtime, Wildcats coach Shane Grodack chose to go for two points and end the game, win or lose, on the conversion try.
“I was expecting a run,” Obrzut said of the 29th straight time the Wildcats turned to their ground game. “They’re good at running. They have some big linemen.”
The Warriors were good at running, too, particularly early and late in the game.
Kellum carried 34 times for 192 yards and provided the fast start that gave Wyoming Area room to weather the storm of a dominant effort by Western Wayne from midway through the second quarter until late in the fourth quarter.
“We kind of had all the steam in the first half,” Warriors coach Randy Spencer said. “We gave up a couple of plays and they were, to their credit, able to get back in the game.
“Then with that second half, we still had time on the clock. I’m just so proud of these kids; their will to play and win and to give ourselves our more opportunity to play in a championship game next week.”
Wyoming Area pinned Western Wayne deep early in the game and, after a three-and-out, the Wildcats punted into the wind.
The Warriors started their second possession at the Wildcats 44 and scored in four plays.
Anthony DeLucca’s 28-yard pass to Kevin Wiedl set up Kellum’s 3-yard touchdown.
Western Wayne drove, but settled for a field goal after defensive leaders Jacob Morgan and Wiedl made consecutive stops for losses.
Wyoming Area scored twice in 3:27 early in the second quarter.
Kellum had a 13-yard touchdown after runs of 18 and 10 yards to start the quarter. The Warriors recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Kellum ran 25 yards to set up his 2-yard touchdown for the 21-3 lead.
It was all Western Wayne from there with a 31-yard, John Pyatt-to-Sean Owens touchdown pass before halftime and three Vinton touchdown runs in the second half putting the Wildcats up 29-21 with 3:45 left.
After managing just two first downs combined in their previous three possessions, the Warriors rediscovered their offensive rhythm just in time to salvage their district championship hopes.
DeLucca scrambled on the first play, then Kellum carried three straight times. None of the plays produced more than six yards, but Kellum toughed out a third-down conversion and, slowly, the Warriors were on the move.
The Warriors were forced to burn one timeout when two plays to the sideline – a six-yard pass to Luke Kopetchny and a three-yard sweep by Kellum – could not get out of bounds.
There, however, was still plenty of time.
DeLucca, who had struggled at times in the first trip to Western Wayne, threw a strike down the middle to Wiedl for 35 yards to the 3. Kellum took it in from there on the next play.
With two points still needed to extend the game, DeLucca came through again.
Western Wayne had a play-action pass perfectly defended, except it did not secure the perimeter on its right side. DeLucca spotted his only alternative, tucked the ball away and won the race to the pylon to force the tie with 51.3 seconds left.
“Our (receiver) got a little tripped up,” DeLucca said. “I stayed up a little late last night watching a little Lamar Jackson on Thursday Night Football. I saw him run in and stretch the ball across the left pylon so I tried to do my best Lamar Jackson impression.
“Lidge is a big Lamar Jackson fan so I tell him all the time, ‘we’ll have to throw a little Lamar Jackson in there’.”
Neither team scored in the first overtime.
Vinton could not handle the pitch on first down and Jacob Morgan pounced on the bouncing ball for Wyoming Area.
The Warriors lost yardage on first down and wound up with a fourth-and-six, field-goal attempt that was off the mark.
Getting the ball first in the second overtime, Wyoming Area settled the outcome with two straight five-yard Kellum runs, a Nick Ciampi extra-point kick and the two-point stop. After missing the field goal, Ciampi, who was 4-for-4 on PATs, provided what turned out to be the winning point.
BY THE NUMBERS
Wyoming Area quarterback Anthony DeLucca finished 6-for-8 passing for 111 yards. Luke Kopetchny had four catches for 48 yards and Kevin Wiedl had two for 63. … Wiedl and Jacob Morgan led the Warriors defense. Wiedl made nine tackles, including two for losses, and assisted on five more. Morgan had seven tackles, eight assists and an overtime fumble recovery. … Both Wyoming Area’s Lidge Kellum and Western Wayne’s Josh Vinton, the top two rushers in District 2, surpassed 2,000 yards for the season on the ground. Vinton carried 27 times for 185 yards after halftime. … Western Wayne scored 26 straight points to turn an 18-point deficit into its late, eight-point lead. During that stretch of 26:48 from the middle of the second quarter until deep in the fourth, the Wildcats had statistical advantages of 15-2 in first downs, 222-41 in rushing yards, 54-8 in passing yards, 276-49 in total offense and 19:53-6:55 in time of possession. … The Wildcats finished with leads of 16-14 in first downs, 312-201 in rushing yards and 366-312 in total offense. … Vinton had gained at least three yards on 18 of his previous 20 carries before being stopped short of that distance on the game’s final play, the two-point conversion attempt.
