Pittston Area running back Brody Spindler (0) is breaks away from the last Wilkes-Barre Area defender, Rajan Watson (5), to score a 44-yard touchdown on a fake punt.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wilkes-Barre Area’s Jonathan Otway-Kellom hauls in a Jack Howe pass down to the 1-yard line against Pittston Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
WBA’s Nick Saracino (6) muscles his way to an 8-yard touchdown with Pittston Area’s Antonio Lombardo (5) attempting to stop him.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Brody Spindler (0) bulls his way to the 5-yard line against Wilkes-Barre Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Zak Ridgley (23) nearly picks off a pass intended for Wilkes-Barre Area’s Davon Underwood (1).
YATESVILLE — Wilkes-Barre Area had the momentum after cutting the deficit to seven in the fourth quarter Friday night. All the Wolfpack needed was the ball.
Thanks to Pittston Area’s Lucas LoPresto, they never possessed it again.
LoPresto improvised twice to pick up first downs as the Patriots ate up the final 7:27 off the clock for a 31-24 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 game.
Pittston Area overcame a strong second-half rally attempt by WBA to improve to 4-0 in the division and 6-1 overall. WBA fell to 1-2 in the division and 4-3 overall.
“I’ve said it all along, he’s the best athlete in District 2,” Pittston Area coach Paul Russick said of LoPresto. “He can do it all. And he needed to kind of do it all tonight. Man, what a dynamic athlete and what a great person.
“It says a lot about his character. Man, he’s a really fun kid to be around.”
The Wolfpack would probably want the chance for a rebuttal about the last statement.
LoPresto ripped the ball out of a receiver’s hands and scored on a 44-yard fumble return with four minutes left in the second quarter. He then beat triple coverage for a 21-yard TD catch with one second on the clock before halftime
Those touchdowns coupled with Brody Spindler’s 44-yard touchdown run on a fake punt gave the Patriots a 24-3 lead at halftime.
WBA came roaring back in the third quarter. Jake Howe threw touchdown passes of 17 yards to Kevon Creech and 8 yards to Nick Saracino as the Wolfpack cut the deficit to 24-17 entering the fourth quarter.
Pittston Area did little on offense until late in the third quarter. A 10-play drive ended with Spindler scoring from 10 yards out for a 31-17 lead with 9:45 remaining in the game. Spindler finished with 155 yards on 28 carries.
WBA, though, scored on its third consecutive possession of the second half. Howe’s 12-yard run moved the Wolfpack within 31-24.
Pittston Area then had a first-and-23 situation at its 7-yard line after a couple penalties following the kickoff. The Patriots got it to third-and-18 when LoPresto ran right, faked a pass and sifted through the defense for a first down.
“We had them down there. We would have had one more shot,” WBA coach Ciro Cinti said. “I’m very confident we would have scored again like the other three possessions we had. I was confident we’d get the ball back and the kid makes a great play.”
LoPresto had no intentions of throwing the ball. In fact, a pass wasn’t part of the play design.
“I just do that to fake because I had three guys coming,” said LoPresto, who normally plays receiver. “I threw a pass out of that play before so it wasn’t called. It was a jet sweep and I did it and I just ran.”
Pittston Area pounded the 220-pound Spindler five consecutive times after that. There was supposed to be a sixth consecutive run, but LoPresto missed the handoff to Spindler on a second-and-10. So he ad-libbed and raced around the left side for a 14-yard gain to seal the victory.
Pittston Area 31, Wilkes-Barre Area 24
Wilkes-Barre Area`3`0`14`7 — 24
Pittston Area`8`16`0`7 — 31
First quarter
WBA — Jaedyn Sanchez 27 FG, 6:16
PA — Brody Spindler 44 run (Spindler run), 3:40
Second quarter
PA — Lucas LoPresto 44 fumble return (Victor Narsavage run), 4:01
PA — LoPresto 21 pass from Paulie Ferentino (Narsavage run), 0:01
Third quarter
WBA — Kevon Creech 17 pass from Jake Howe (Sanchez kick), 8:39
WBA — Nick Saracino 8 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 3:29
Fourth quarter
PA — Spindler 10 run (Cole Baldwin kick), 9:45
WBA — Howe 12 run (Sanchez kick), 7:27
Team statistics`WBA`PA
First downs`17`12
Rushes-yards`26-109`38-208
Passing yards`196`60
Total yards`305`268
Passing`16-26-0`8-15-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-9`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-34`3-36.3
Fumbles-lost`4-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`6-37`8-68
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WBA, Davon Underwood 9-84, Howe 9-17, Jonathan Otway-Kellom 1-1, Treyvon Gembitski 1-3, Gene Ardo, 3-6, Jordan Kieselowsky 1-3, Creech 2-(minus-4). Pittston Area, Spindler 28-155, Lopresto 7-40, Jude Ferentino 3-13.
PASSING — WBA, Howe 16-26-0-196. PA, P.Ferentino 8-16-0-60.
RECEIVING — WBA, Saracino 5-46, Kieselowsky 3-25, Jayden Pena 1-11, Gembitski 2-24, Rajan Watson 1-0, Creech 2-43, Otway-Kellom 2-47. Pittston Area, LoPresto 4-34, John Jadus 2-20, Stephen Barnic 2-6.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — WBA 29 BLK, PA 21 BLK.
