YATESVILLE — Running game. Passing game.
Offense. Defense.
It made no difference in the first 16 minutes Friday night.
Keemar Woodruff found a way to get involved in all of them, getting Pittston Area out to a fast start on the way to a 46-21 Senior Night victory over visiting Nanticoke.
Pittston Area opened a 27-7 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half behind three Woodruff touchdowns — two on runs and one on a pass reception — as well as some big defensive contributions from the senior running back/defensive back.
“When he’s hitting it downhill, he’s as good as they come,” Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri said. “He had a great day today on both sides of the ball and he had some great catches.
“When we can get him the ball as many ways as we can, it makes us better. He’s definitely one of our best weapons.”
During the fast start, Woodruff also forced and recovered a first-quarter fumble and had an interception on the first play of the second quarter.
“On defense, I just stayed home and listened to the game plan,” Woodruff said.
Woodruff scored on a 10-yard run for a 14-0 lead with 1:11 left in the first. He caught a 17-yard pass from Walter Coles and ran 38 yards for touchdowns in the first four minutes of the second quarter to more than offset a 72-yard Nanticoke touchdown pass from Colby Butczynski to Darren Boseman.
The rest of the Patriots provided help before and after Woodruff scored three touchdowns in 5:11.
Special teams put the Patriots in front and the passing game helped negate Nanticoke’s series of big plays.
Dylan Spurlin blocked a punt in the end zone and Midjerson Pierce recovered it there for a touchdown to open the scoring.
Coles went 16-for-28 passing for 245 yards and three touchdowns, including a 6-yarder to Kevin Krawczyk in the third quarter and a 45-yarder to Rich Wallace in the fourth.
The win lifted Pittston Area back to the .500 mark and gave it four wins for the first time since 2009.
Butczynski hit Boseman again for a 34-yard touchdown and he also ran for a score, but that was not enough to avoid Nanticoke’s fifth straight loss since a 3-0 start.
Pittston Area 46, Nanticoke 21
Nanticoke`0`7`0`14`—`21
Pittston Area`14`13`7`12`—`46
First quarter
PA – Midjerson Pierce recovered fumble in end zone (Shane Syms kick), 4:52
PA – Keemar Woodruff 10 run (Syms kick), 1:11
Second quarter
PA – Woodruff 17 pass from Walter Coles (Syms kick), 9:22
N – Darren Boseman 72 pass from Colby Butczynski, 9:03
PA – Woodruff 38 run (kick blocked), 8:00
Third quarter
PA – Kevin Krawczyk 6 pass from Coles (Syms kick), 7:03
Fourth quarter
N – Butczynski 1 run (Klepadlo kick), 10:27
PA – Wallace 47 pass from Coles (bad snap, pass failed), 9:40
N – Boseman 34 pass from Butczynski (kick failed), 7:36
PA – Trevor Tigue 4 run (kick failed), 0:36
Team statistics`NAN`PA
First downs`9`22
Rushes-yards`37-158`34-202
Passing yards`141`245
Total yards`299`447
Passing`6-10-2`16-28-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-16
Punts-avg.`2-13.5`2-34.0
Fumbles-lost`4-2`1-0
Penalties-yards`6-58`8-66
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — NAN, Dawson Hughes 11-85, Manny Saldana 8-40, Joe Ammons 6-28, Darren Boseman 6-8, Colby Butczynski 4-1, Matt Bobeck 1-minus 2, Team 1-minus 2. PA, Keemar Woodruff 12-88, Trevor Tigue 10-48, Dorien 4-46, Tyler Ferlick 3-8, Luke Wesnak 1-6, Rich Wallace 1-6, Walter Coles 3-0.
PASSING — NAN, Butczynski 6-10-2-141. PA, Coles 16-28-0-245.
RECEIVING — NAN, Boseman 5-132, J. Ammons 1-9. PA, Kevin Krawczyk 7-65, Wallace 4-75, Woodruff 2-42, Bryan Giambra 1-46, Matt Starinsky 1-9, Ryans 1-8.
INTERCEPTIONS — NAN, None. PA, Woodruff 1-7, Starinsky 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.
