LEHMAN TWP. — Wyoming Area’s first-team defense hadn’t allowed a point all season. By halftime Friday night, the unit had surrendered 24.
But the defense made a play in the third quarter that flipped the momentum as the Warriors rallied to defeat Lake-Lehman 35-30 in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 3A-A game.
Wyoming Area improved to 6-0. Lehman fell to 4-2.
Wyoming Area cut the deficit to 24-21 on a 1-yard TD run by Darren Rodney with 5:13 left in the third quarter. Lehman, though, drove to the Warriors 20-yard line on its ensuing possession with a 41-yard run by quarterback Ethan Adams the big play of the drive.
From there, misfortune struck for the Black Knights. They fumbled in the backfield and as a few Warriors tried to pick up the loose ball it kept rolling and rolling. Linebacker FJ Braccini finally flopped on the ball at midfield, giving Wyoming Area excellent field position.
Rodney ran for an 8-yard score four plays later, putting Wyoming Area up for good 28-24 with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.
Wyoming Area’s defense also came up big late in the second quarter, holding Lehman to a field goal after the Black Knights had a first-and-goal from the Warriors 5-yard line.
“Any stop is a big stop,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “But making there going into the half, making it a 10-point deficit instead of a two-touchdown lead. That hopefully starts you going the other way, but you still have to answer the bell in the second half.”
Rodney certainly did. He ran eight times for 28 yards in the first half, but finished with 21 carries for 145 yards. Rodney, who is replacing injured starter Corey Mruk, added his third TD of the game with 2:16 left in the fourth quarter to bump the lead to 35-24. He and quarterback Dominic DeLuca, who finished with 167 yards on 14 rushes, carried the ball on all but one play in the second half. The Warriors threw just one pass after halftime.
“Just went that way,” Rodney said. “One play at a time. Stepping up. Next man up and keep it going.”
Lehman couldn’t keep its offensive output going in the second half.
Adams torched the Wyoming Area secondary twice in the first half, hitting on TD passes of 52 yards to Casey Kaminski and 66 yards to Luke Spencer. Both came on fly patterns where the Lehman receivers just ran past their defenders.
But after gaining 259 yards in the first half, the Black Knights had 86 more in the final two quarters. Many came on a scoring drive with Kaminski catching his second touchdown pass of the game with 24 seconds remain.
DeLuca then fielded an onside kick attempt to seal the win.
“Our kids fought to the end,” Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said. “We played a state-ranked team and of all the teams they’ve played we’re the ones who gave them a show.”
Wyoming Area 35, Lake-Lehman 30
Wyoming Area`0`14`14`7 — 35
Lake-Lehman`7`17`0`6 — 30
First quarter
LL — Casey Kaminski 35 run (Luke Spencer kick), 6:28
Second quarter
WA — Brian Williams 38 pass from Dominic DeLuca (Josh Cumbo kick), 11:54
LL — Kaminski 52 pass from Ethan Adams (Spencer kick), 9:56
WA — DeLuca 42 run (Stanley Moderski kick), 8:29
LL — Spencer 66 pass from Adams (Spencer kick), 7:18
LL — Spencer 24 FG, 1:49
Third quarter
WA — Darren Rodney 1 run (Cumbo kick), 5:13
WA — Rodney 8 run (Moderski kick), 0:20
Fourth quarter
WA — Rodney 2 run (Cumbo kick), 2:16
LL — Kaminski 4 pass from Adams (pass failed), 0:24
Team statistics`WA`LL
First downs`16`17
Rushes-yards`40-320`37-104
Passing yards`55`241
Total yards`375`345
Passing`2-8-0`16-23-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-6
Punts-avg.`3-37`4-42.3
Fumbles-lost`3-3`6-3
Penalties-yards`10-70`3-17
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Wyoming Area, Rodney 21-145, DeLuca 14-167, Zajquay Williamson 1-(minus-3), Leo Haros 2-6, FJ Braccini 1-6, team 1-(minus-1). Lehman, Zack Kojadinovich 13-28, Adams 18-33, Kaminski 1-35, Ryan Eiden 3-8.
PASSING — Wyoming Area, DeLuca 2-8-0-55. Lehman, Adams 16-23-0-241.
RECEIVING — Wyoming Area, Haros 1-17, B.Williams 1-38. Lehman, Eiden 7-69, Kaminski 4-75, Spencer 3-73, Kojadinovich 2-24.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — none.
