PALMYRA TWP. — Wallenpaupack nearly caught Pittston Area in a trap Friday night.
On the road on the week between a title-clinching victory and a showdown between once-beaten rivals, the Patriots found themselves behind at one point and locked in a tie for more than half the game.
John Jadus blocked the potential tying extra point late in the third quarter and the Patriots put the ball in the hands of their two leaders in a cautiously played second half to escape with a 14-13 victory in a non-league game.
Pittston Area won its seventh straight going into the regular-season finale, a meeting of 8-1 teams at Wyoming Area.
The Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 champions had their hands full with the sixth-place team from Lackawanna Football Conference Division 1. The Buckhorns lost for the fifth time in six games to slip to 3-6.
Wallenpaupack created much of the trouble, but Pittston Area also had to overcome some self-inflicted wounds.
The game-winning drive came following the second-half kickoff.
Pittston Area overcame four penalties, three of which wiped out first downs, for an 18-play, 67-yard drive that consumed 10:18. Because of the penalties, including one where officials mistakenly stepped out seven yards instead of five, they actually had to gain 99 yards to break the 7-7 tie.
“Those guys had a great plan and we had way too many mistakes,” Patriots coach Paul Russick said, “but at the end of the day all you need is one more point than the other guy.”
The winning drive got going controversially when Brody Spindler picked up just enough on a fourth-and-3 fake punt from the Patriots’ 40.
Officials originally signaled first down, then, after protests from the Wallenpaupack sideline, brought out the chains to measure. Both teams saw reason to celebrate when the chains were placed and the officials needed a second look before again indicating it was a successful conversion.
Spindler picked up three yards again on fourth-and-1 from just inside Buckhorns territory.
At that point, the Patriots were on to something. Faced with third-and-9 later in the drive, they just gave the ball to Spindler off tackle for an 11-yard run.
Spindler carried 27 times for 140 yards, including eight for 46 and a touchdown in the first Pittston Area drive and 10 carries for 39 hard-earned yards in the drive with the second-half kickoff.
Lucas LoPresto finished the drive with a 4-yard sweep around right end and Cole Baldwin kicked what proved to be the deciding point.
“You have to put the ball in the hands of Brody Spindler and Lucas LoPresto there,” Russick said. “We felt good up front. We just had to continue to find ways to get the big guys the ball.”
The game was filled with long possessions.
Pittston Area’s third possession of the game began with just 24 seconds left in the half.
Wallenpaupack had the ball just twice in the second half.
Jake Rafferty hit Mason Gonzalez for an 85-yard touchdown on the first play after LoPresto’s touchdown.
Wallenpaupack drove to the Pittston Area 20 with 5:02 left before giving the ball up on downs.
The Buckhorns opened the game with an eight-play scoring drive that culminated in a 29-yard touchdown run by Izael Rodriguez on a reverse.
Spindler’s tying touchdown came on fourth-and-1 from the 2 with 25 seconds left in the quarter.
By escaping, Pittston Area maintained its lead in the race for the top seed and home field through both rounds of the District 2 Class 5A playoffs.
Staying there was not easy.
“I was sick to my stomach all week thinking about this one,” Russick said.
Pittston Area 14, Wallenpaupack 13
Pittston Area`7`0`7`0 — 14
Wallenpaupack`7`0`6`0 — 13
First quarter
WAL – Izael Rodriguez 29 run (C.J. Doty kick), 7:52
PA – Brody Spindler 2 run (Cole Baldwin), 0:25.1
Third quarter
PA – Lucas LoPresto 4 run (Baldwin kick), 1:42
WAL – Mason Gonzalez 85 pass from Jake Rafferty (kick blocked), 1:19
Team Statistics`PA`WAL
First downs`15`11
Rushes-yards`46-230`25-131
Passing yards`41`141
Total yards`271`272
Passing`3-6-0`8-13-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-39.0`1-21.0
Fumbles-lost`1-0`0-0
Penalties-yards`8-62`3-25
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — PA, Spindler 27-140, LoPresto 10-54, Jude Ferentino 6-34, Deondre Miller 1-0, Team 1-minus 3, Paulie Ferentino 1-minus 5. WAL, Ed Kiesendahl 7-40, Logan Caruso 7-34, Rafferty 9-34, Rodriguez 1-23, Team 1-minus 5.
PASSING — PA, PFerentino 3-6-0-41. WAL, Rafferty 8-13-0-141.
RECEIVING – PA, Spindler 1-15, LoPresto 1-13, Billy Dessoye 1-13. WAL, Caruso 2-29, Ekiesendahl 2-20, Ryan Vargo 2-8, Gonzalez 1-85, Evan Huber 1-minus 1.
INTERCEPTIONS — None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.
