Wyoming Area’s Aaron Crossley (5) looks for hole before running 54-yards for a touchdown against Scranton.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Josh Mruk (21) hauls in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Anthony DeLucca.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Josh Mruk hauls in a 30-yard pass from Anthony DeLucca against Scranton.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area QB Anthony DeLucca runs down the right side down to the 5-yard line, setting up his 1-yard TD run three plays later.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Warrior senior running back Aaron Crossley runs for 19 yards as Scranton’s Billy Maloney (10) pursues. Crossley ran for 310 yards on the ground for Wyoming Area.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
WEST PITTSTON — Wyoming Area running back Aaron Crossley was effective with the football in his hands and also effective without it.
With the ball, Crossley ran 39 times for 310 yards and three touchdowns. Without it, Scranton’s concern over the Lehigh University recruit led to two more touchdowns as Wyoming Area defeated the Knights 35-19 Friday night in a non-conference game.
Wyoming Area improved to 6-0 while Scranton fell to 4-2.
“What you saw tonight was an outstanding team effort led by number 5 Aaron Crossley,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “He truly showed tonight why he’s one of the best players in Pennsylvania.”
Scranton scored on the first drive of the game, using a 19-yard run by Chris Chandler on a fake punt to keep the 11-play drive going. Running back Memphis Shotto scored from one yard away as the Knights took a 7-0 lead.
Crossley then embarked on his fifth 300-yard rushing game of his career. He scored from 54 yards out on the Warriors’ second play from scrimmage. He then added a 1-yard run after a fumble gave the Warriors a short field which with to work.
“I couldn’t do it without my O-line,” Crossley said. “The O-line is the real MVP.”
The offensive line of seniors Jacob Gustitus, Jacob Krulick and Anthony VanAuken and juniors Chase Desanto and Andrew Steinberger allowed Crossley to reach the second level continuously. There, he bashed, carried and battered anyone willing to tackle him.
However, the turning point came in the third quarter when Wyoming Area scored twice without giving the ball to Crossley to take a 28-13 lead into the fourth quarter.
The first touchdown came after Crossley carried the football on eight of the first nine plays. Quarterback Anthony DeLucca’s play-action to Crossley allowed Josh Mruk to sprint down the middle of the field to haul in a 17-yard touchdown pass. (Mruk also batted down three passes on defense).
The second TD came after Scranton converged on Crossley on a third-and-5 play. Instead, DeLucca ran a bootleg for an 8-yard gain to the right. Three plays later, DeLucca plowed in from the 1-yard line.
“Situationally, he’s really effective,” Spencer said of DeLucca, a junior who last played in junior high. “I don’t know how the QBRs (quarterback ratings) are calculated, but his is probably pretty high because he’s been so efficient and effective.”
Wyoming Area’s main concern defensively was Billy Maloney, a dual-threat quarterback. He had just 29 yards on nine carries in the first half, but busted runs of 50 and 46 yards in the second half. He finished with 134 yards on 15 rushes while hitting on 19-of-31 passes for 182 yards.
The Warriors, though, stopped Maloney at a crucial juncture. Down 28-19 early in the fourth quarter, Maloney tried to run for a first down on fourth-and-1 at the Scranton 38-yard line. Crossley raced in from his linebacker spot and stonewalled him for a 2-yard loss.
“I play both side of the ball,” Crossley said. “I’m not really focused on one side, I’m focused on being a football player for this team. Next year (at Lehigh), maybe just running back, but this year I’m a football player.”
Wyoming Area pretty much iced the game as Crossley carried three times to cover all 36 yards for the Warriors’ final score after stopping Scranton on fourth down.
Wyoming Area 35, Scranton 19
Scranton`7`0`6`6 — 19
Wyoming Area`7`7`14`7 — 35
First quarter
SCR — Memphis Shotto 1 run (Erman Ahmenbeg kick), 6:20
WA — Aaron Crossley 54 run (Liam Burke kick), 5:35
Second quarter
WA — Crossley 1 run (Burke kick), 10:11
Third quarter
WA — Josh Mruk 17 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Burke kick), 7:24
SCR — Billy Maloney 50 run (run failed), 6:32
WA — DeLucca 1 run (Burke kick), 1:00
Fourth quarter
SCR — Maloney 7 run (pass failed), 11:31
WA — Crossley 11 run (Burke kick), 8:03
Team statistics`SCR`WA
First downs`14`20
Rushes-yards`21-152`46-334
Passing yards`193`68
Total yards`345`404
Passing`19-32-0`5-11-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-5`0-0
Punts-avg.`2-24`2-38.5
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-1
Penalties-yards`3-20`5-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Scranton, Maloney 15-134, Shotto 2-(minus-4), Chris Chandler 2-27. Reece Whitman 1-(minus-4), team 1-(minus-1). Wyoming Area, Crossley 39-310, Michael Crane 3-17, DeLucca 2-9, team 2-(minus-2).
PASSING — Scranton, Maloney 18-31-0-182, Connor Thomas 1-1-0-11. Wyoming Area, DeLucca 5-10-0-68, team 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — Scranton, Adrien Johns 2-13, Chris Delsanto 1-4, Chandler 7-73, Shotto 3-27, Oliver Alomonte 3-45, Jon Perez 1-5, Whitman 2-26. Wyoming Area, Mruk 3-45, Crane 1-11, Lidge Kellum 1-12.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — none.
