John Jadus (84) raises his arms after catching a 6-yard touchdown from Paulie Ferentino to give the Patriots a 21-0 halftime lead over Hazleton Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Lucas LoPresto hauls in his 99th career reception, an all-time Pittston Area record during the first half of Friday’s win over Hazleton Area. He made his 100th catch on the next play and finished with 11 catches for 114 yards and added two touchdowns on the ground.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Hazleton Area quarterback J.J. Lantigua (15) tries to evade a rush by Pittston Area’s Aidan Brody deep in the Cougars’ backfield.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Victor Narsavage (14) strips the ball from Hazleton Area’s Connor Bacon (3) with the Patriots’ Deondre Miller (3) assisting on the play. Pittston Area recovered.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Hazleton Area’s Ashton Karlick (4) grabs a J.J. Lantigua pass at midfield.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Patriots junior Lucas LoPresto looks for a hole to score for Pittston Area against Hazleton Area on Friday night.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area senior Brody Spindler bulls his way over the goal line for a 3-yard touchdown against Hazleton Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
YATESVILLE — Pittston Area’s final home football game of the regular season turned into a night of celebrations for the Patriots at Charley Trippi Stadium.
The Patriots saluted a record-setting individual, a special class and a team accomplishment.
Lucas LoPresto caught 11 passes while moving into the school record books and Pittston Area completed an unbeaten run through the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 schedule with a 49-13 rout of visiting Hazleton Area.
A championship celebration more than two decades in the making included a game ball presentation and a poster marking some of LoPresto’s accomplishments, post-game fireworks and T-shirts commemorating the Division 1 title.
The Patriots won a WVC title in 2022 during a two-year foray into Division 2 to rebuild the program, but Friday’s victory and the four other divisional triumphs that preceded it represented a return to the top of the top division.
Mixed in with LoPresto’s records – he set career marks for catches in the first quarter and receiving yards during the fourth quarter – were many chances to highlight the large senior class.
“We have 21 seniors that have been through some adversity and they earned it,” first-year Patriots coach Paul Russick said. “I couldn’t be happier with where we’re at as a program and where we’re at as a team.
“It’s a great accomplishment and they know we’re not quite done yet.”
Pittston Area finished the division schedule at 5-0 and improved to 7-1 overall while maintaining its lead in the race for the top seed in the District 2 Class 5A playoff. The Patriots won their only district title in 2002.
They’ve never had a receiver as prolific as LoPresto, who still has a season remaining.
LoPresto’s first catch of the night gave him 99 and a school record, breaking the mark set by 2018 graduate Kevin Krawczyk. On the next play, he became the first Patriot to catch 100 passes in his career.
The biggest gain of the night for LoPresto came on a 36-yard catch midway through the fourth quarter. On the next play, he caught a 10-yard pass, giving him 114 yards for the game and 1,657 for his career, surpassing the total of 1,650 by 2020 graduate Andrew Krawczyk, Kevin’s brother.
“There were some little hints coming in, but I didn’t know,” LoPresto said of the records.
LoPresto also set a career mark last week with his 19th receiving touchdown. His two Friday touchdowns both came on running plays.
Brody Spindler, Aidan Brody and Jaylen Hart, all seniors, also ran for touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Paulie Ferentino completed seven straight passes, hitting LoPresto six times in the first quarter then finding John Jadus for a 6-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead on the third play of the second quarter.
Pittston Area established control with long drives to begin each half, with LoPresto capping both with his short touchdown runs. The Patriots went 60 yards in 11 plays on their first possession, then drove 62 yards in 14 plays and 6:29 following the second-half kickoff to open the lead to 28-0.
Hazleton Area (0-4, 1-7) closed within three scores twice on touchdown runs by Ashton Karlick in the third quarter and quarterback JJ Lantigua early in the fourth, but Pittston Area eventually turned it into a Mercy Rule on freshman Kayden Bailey’s late 85-yard touchdown sprint.
Pittston Area 49, Hazleton Area 13
Hazleton Area`0`0`7`6 — 13
Pittston Area`14`7`14`14 — 49
First quarter
PA – Lucas LoPresto 3 run (Cole Baldwin kick), 3:03
PA – Brody Spindler 5 run (Baldwin kick), 2:21
Second quarter
PA – John Jadus 6 pass from Paulie Ferentino (Baldwin kick), 10:29
Third quarter
PA – LoPresto 6 run (Baldwin kick), 5:31
HA – Ashton Karlick 15 run (Gianni Turse kick), 5:09
PA – Aidan Brody 1 run (Baldwin kick), 1:40
Fourth quarter
HA – JJ Lantigua 5 run (kick blocked), 6:55
PA – Jaylen Hart 3 run (Baldwin kick), 5:34
PA – Kayden Bailey 85 run (Baldwin kick), 2:55
Team Statistics`HA`PA
First downs`11`17
Rushes-yards`33-144`29-242
Passing yards`48`152
Total yards`192`394
Passing`11-16-1`13-17-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-9`1-6
Punts-avg.`3-37.7`1-41.0
Fumbles-lost`2-1`0-0
Penalties-yards`7-34`4-28
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — HA, Karlick 10-79, Lantigua 12-47, Xavier Heck 5-10, Zach Wilson 3-7, Jason Zamudio 3-6. PA, Spindler 11-96, Bailey 1-85, Jude Ferentino 8-34, PFerentino 5-14, LoPresto 2-9, Hart 1-3, Brody 1-1.
PASSING — HA, Lantigua 10-15-1-47, Wilson 1-1-0-1. PA, PFerentino 13-17-0-152.
RECEIVING – HA, Heck 4-34, Connor Bacon 2-12, Karlick 2-8, Cesar Motel 1-1, Jose Lopez 1-minus 2, Logan Gennaro 1-minus 5. PA, LoPresto 11-114, Jadus 2-38.
INTERCEPTIONS — HA, None. PA, Malkolm Blackshear 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – HA, Turse 32 (wide left). PA, None.
