Pittston Area senior Brody Spindler (0) breaks away from a host of Wyoming Valley West Spartans to score a touchdown at Trippi Stadium on Friday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
The Patriots’ Kayden Walker (64) drops Wyoming Valley West quarterback Damien Eastman in the backfield for a loss.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Lucas LoPresto reaches out to the goal line for a Pittston Area score in front of the Spartans’ John Richards after hauling in a Paulie Ferentino pass.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Lucas LoPresto prepares to snag a Paulie Ferentino pass with Steven Barnic (8) set to block the Spartans’ Malique Campbell (6).
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area running back Kayden Bailey (4) splits two defenders for a long gain on Friday night.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
YATESVILLE — Pittston Area was perfectly equipped to handle immediate, unexpected adversity.
Having 21 seniors on your roster will give any coach the confidence to overcome those early jitters.
Pittston Area bounced back from allowing a touchdown on the opening kickoff to defeat Wyoming Valley West 64-20 on Friday night. Tied late in the opening quarter, the Patriots outscored the Spartans by a 51-7 the margin rest of the way.
“When you have 21 seniors who have dealt with three coaches in three years, they come to battle and you can play a bunch of those guys,” Pittston Area coach Paul Russick said. “They’ve shown leadership; they’ve shown ability. They’ve bought in. They’re doing all the things we’re asking of them.”
Wyoming Valley West took an early six-point lead 14 seconds into the game. The Spartans’ Malique Campbell picked up a fumble and ran 82 yards downfield for a touchdown.
“It’s not great that we open by giving up a kickoff return for a touchdown,” Russick said. “Obviously, we had some adversity through some of that stuff. The kids battled through it. They cleaned themselves up here in the second half.”
It began a first quarter in which the Spartans and Patriots went tit-for-tat, combining for five touchdowns. Pittston Area responded with back-to-back scores. Brody Spindler fielded a 28-yard pass from Paulie Ferentino at the 7:10 mark. Two-and-a-half minutes later, the Spartans made the mistake of punting to Lucas LoPresto. LoPresto returned the short punt 63 yards to take a 13-7 lead.
The Spartans (0-4) showed their capability for explosive plays. On a third-and-28, a short dump pass to Gadgidas Reisinger went 34 yards to save a seemingly lost possession. On the next play, Damien Eastman connected with John Richards on a crossing pattern for a 42-yard touchdown that squared the game at 13-13 with 2:32 left in the opening quarter.
Kayden Bailey regained the Patriots’ lead in the final minute of the quarter. Bailey punched in a long drive with a 1-yard score for the 20-13 advantage.
Pittston Area (3-1) let LoPresto showcase his skills to put away any question of a Wyoming Valley West upset. LoPresto scored consecutive long receiving touchdowns to extend the Patriots’ lead to 34-13. He went to the races on a 55-yard pass to open the second quarter. Eighty seconds later, LoPresto followed that with a 37-yard score.
In all, LoPresto scored four touchdowns — three receiving and one punt return. LoPresto caught seven passes for 188 yards.
“He’s the best athlete in District 2 – he can do it all,” Russick said. “The first three weeks, he battled through a lot of double and triple coverage. People started to notice him tonight, and he took advantage of every opportunity he was given.”
Patriots’ quarterback Ferentino went 11-for-16 for 290 yards with five passing touchdowns.
Bailey reached the century mark early in the fourth quarter. He had 15 carries for 109 rushing yards with a pair of touchdowns.
Richards had two of the Spartans’ touchdowns. Eastman hit Richards on the fly for a 72-yard touchdown late in the second quarter. Richards finished the night with six catches for 121 yards.
Pittston Area scored four touchdowns in the third quarter.
It was the first time the Patriots scored more than 60 points in more than 22 seasons.
Pittston Area 64, Wyoming Valley West 20
Valley West`13`7`0`0 — 20
Pittston Area`20`17`27`0 — 64
First quarter
W — Malique Campbell 82 kick return (kick fail), 11:46
P — Brody Spindler 28 pass from Paulie Ferentino (Cole Baldwin kick), 7:10
P — Lucas LoPresto 63 punt return (pass fail), 4:40
W — John Richards 42 pass from Damien Eastman (Xander Jones kick), 2:32
P — Kayden Bailey 1 run (Baldwin kick), :59
Second quarter
P — LoPresto 55 pass from Ferentino (Baldwin kick), 10:41
P — LoPresto 37 pass from Ferentino (Baldwin kick), 9:21
W — Richards 72 pass from Eastman (Jones kick), 4:12
P — Baldwin 26 field goal, :02
Third quarter
P — Stephen Barnic 15 pass from Ferentino (Baldwin kick), 7:48
P —Spindler 2 run (Baldwin kick), 5:06
P — LoPresto 37 pass from Ferentino (kick fail), 2:26
P — Bailey 29 run (Baldwick kick), :33
Team statistics`W`P
First downs`12`17
Rushes-yards`26-77`32-165
Passing yards`178`290
Total yards`255`455
Passing`11-20-0`11-16-0
Sacked-yards lost`5-32`1-6
Punts-avg.`10-17.9`2-41
Fumbles-lost`4-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`14-95`10-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WVW, Campbell 9-27, Will Hebda 4-7, Eastman 5-(minus-12), Preston Sninsky 1-(minus-5), Gadgidas Reisinger 1-14, Josiah Willis 3-42, Colton Kocher 2-16, Josiah Sienkiewicz 1-(minus-12). PA, Ferentino 5-(minus-4), Bailey 15-109, Spindler 6-26, Santino Capitano 1-16, Liam Flynn 4-20, TEAM 1-(minus-2)
PASSING — WVW, Eastman 10-18-179-0, Sienkewicz 1-2-(minus-1)-0. PA, Ferentino 11-16-290-0
RECEIVING — WVW, Richards 6-121, Sninsky 1-9, Reisinger 1-34, Campbell 1-5, Damian Jackson 1-10, Jaheir Cooper-Mickens 1-(minus-1). PA, LoPresto 7-188, Spindler 1-28, Barnic 2-33, Billy Dessoye 1-41
INTERCEPTIONS — None
MISSED FGs — None
