SCRANTON — The defense did its part to keep Pittston Area within striking distance thoughout most of Saturday afternoon’s game against Scranton Prep.
The offense, though, couldn’t do the same and lost a big piece — possibly just temporarily — in the process.
Prep managed to cobble together a couple scoring drives and keep Pittston Area out of the end zone as the Cavaliers posted a 17-3 victory in a non-conference game at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
Pittston Area (3-5) had its two-game winning streak snapped. Prep (6-2) extended its winning streak to four games.
“Our Achilles’ heel all year has been stopping the run and they had a heck of a running back and we did what we needed to do to stop the run,” Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri said. “We’re getting better in that area.
“I’m very pleased with our defensive effort today. They scored 42 and 49 points the last two weeks, so for us to keep them to 17 is quite an accomplishment for our D.”
Pittston Area trailed 7-3 at halftime, but any hopes for a comeback wavered about five minutes into the third quarter. Pittston Area quarterback Mike Nocito injured his knee in the first half and then aggravated it when he slipped trying to avoid a heavy rush.
Nocito entered the game with 1,338 passing yards, the most in the Wyoming Valley Conference. He was 10 of 22 for 111 yards when he exited for good. Backup PJ Pisano, who had five attempts all season, replaced him.
Nocito spent the rest of the game with his knee wrapped in ice. Barbieri didn’t think the injury was significant enough for him to miss Friday’s game with Crestwood.
“PJ is a young kid and he’ll get better,” Barbieri said. “But when we lose our starting quarterback, our playbook gets cut 75 percent. And we’re not a strong running team and they’re a pretty good run defense, so that limited what we could do in the second half.”
The Patriots finished with 18 yards rushing, which isn’t even their lowest total this season, on 20 carries. Their longest run was a 10-yard scamper by Andrew Krawczyk on a fake punt.
Pittston Area did get to the Prep 4-yard line on its first possession of the game but had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Anthony Tomas.
The Patriots recovered the ensuing kickoff after Prep misplayed the ball and moved to the Cavaliers 17-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. It was their last trip into the red zone and they didn’t cross the 50-yard line in the second half.
Prep quarterback Paddy Grady hooked up twice with tight end Vito Gianello for scores. The first was a 3-yard toss at 4:30 of the second quarter and the second a 38-yard pass on a fourth-and-4 at 4:58 of the third quarter. Gianello did most of the work on the second TD, turning a short pass into a 14-3 lead.
“He’s a heck of a football player,” Prep coach Terry Gallagher said of Gianello. “He does a lot of the little things and is getting better and better each day.”
Chase Stephens connected on a 23-yard field goal with 7:07 remaining for Prep’s final points.
Kiski School 28, Wyoming Seminary 0
The Blue Knights gave up four touchdowns in the second half as they fell on the road at the Kiski School.
Seminary (2-4) will host Western Reserve Academy next Saturday at 2 p.m.
Scranton Prep 17, Pittston Area 3
Pittston Area`3`0`0`0 — 3
Scranton Prep`0`7`7`3 — 17
First quarter
PA — Anthony Tomas 22 FG, 0:59
Second quarter
SP — Vito Gianello 3 pass from Paddy Grady (Chase Stephens kick), 4:30
Third quarter
SP — Gianello 38 pass from Grady (Stephens kick), 4:58
Fourth quarter
SP — Stephens 23 FG, 7:07
Team statistics`PA`SP
First downs`6`14
Rushes-yards`20-18`40-178
Passing yards`150`90
Total yards`168`268
Passing`12-26-0`10-21-0
Sacked-yards lost`2-12`1-6
Punts-avg.`6-32`2-34
Fumbles-lost`0-0`4-3
Penalties-yards`6-51`5-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — PA, Dylan Lukachko 9-14, Devin Atkins 2-(minus-3), Franny George 4-6, Andrew Krawczyk 1-10, Mike Nocito 1-(minus-6), PJ Pisano 3-(minus-3). Prep, London Montgomery 25-98, Grady 11-57, Tucker Johnson 6-12, Ryan McAndrew 2-11.
PASSING — PA, Nocito 10-22-0-111, Pisano 2-4-0-39. Prep, Grady 10-21-0-90.
RECEIVING — PA, Alex Anastasi 5-36, Krawczyk 3-74, Atkins 2-(minus-2), Lukachko 2-10, Brennan Higgins 1-32. Prep, Carter O’Dell 2-10, Montgomery 1-(minus-3), Rob Rossi 4-38, Gianello 2-41, McAndrew 1-4.
INTERCEPTIONS — none
MISSED FGs — none
