YATESVILLE — For the first time in several years, Wyoming Area was playing with a little more on the line than just pride when the Warriors rolled across the river to face rival Pittston Area.
The top seed in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 2 Class 4A playoffs was on the line for the Warriors. For Pittston Area, a win would have cemented them in the playoffs for the first time in recent history. Something had to give, and that was Brian Miles and the work of Wyoming Area’s offensive line.
Miles became the third player in the series to win the Carmello Falcone Memorial Most Valuable Player trophy twice. He is the first player in the history of the award to win it in back-to-back seasons. The senior tailback finished with 142 yards on 25 carries and had three touchdowns.
For the senior, the win means a lot heading into the district playoffs.
“A lot of great players in this rivalry have won it, and it feels great,” Miles said of winning the MVP trophy. “It feels great to play in front of our home fans, our community, home field.”
The Warriors earned the top seed in District 2 with an 8-2 regular season with the 46-20 win over Pittston Area Friday night. Wyoming Area will now host Dallas in the first round of the playoffs. With the loss, Pittston Area needed some help to get into the playoffs. A Dallas win over Lake-Lehman eliminated the Patriots, who finished the season at 2-8.
As the top seed in District 2, the Warriors can now shake off losses to Scranton Prep and Williamsport earlier in the season.
“Any time you have a playoff game at home it gives you an advantage,” Wyoming Area head coach Randy Spencer said. “We had an outstanding season so far and we showed we can play with just about anyone.”
Wyoming Area last made a run in the district playoffs in 2012 when it went on to win the District 2 Class 3A championship. For Pittston Area, the season came to an end after the Patriots picked up two wins after suffering through a 15-game losing streak.
Pittston Area coach Jim Norris was proud of the way his players handled themselves in the rivalry.
“They’ve been resilient all year and I’m proud of them,” Norris said. “You look at Wyoming Area where they’ve been in the last three years and their kids stuck together. It takes time to develop and our guys are pretty resilient.”
Pittston Area’s first possession ended in a punt, which set up Miles’ first touchdown run of the game, and a 7-0 Warrior lead.
The Patriot offense came storming back and a long run by sophomore Trevor Tigue set up a Walter Coles touchdown pass to Kevin Krawczyk. Pittston Area got the 2-point conversion on a Keemar Woodruff run to take the lead.
Wyoming Area would score the next two touchdowns — a Steve Homza pass to PJ Angeli and a Miles 1-yard touchdown run. Up just 13-8 with less than a minute to play in the first half, the Warriors had a first-and-goal inside the Patriot 5. Wyoming Area was stuffed on three plays before Miles broke through.
“After the last few weeks our offensive line started to game some momentum,” Spencer said. “(Miles) did an outstanding job and we certainly were motivated to run well tonight.”
The third quarter started with a 49-yard touchdown run by Miles, and a 4-yard touchdown run by Wyoming Area’s Justin Joseph to put the Warriors up 33-8 midway through the third. Six minutes later, Rich Wallace caught a 6-yard pass from Coles to get Pittston Area on the second half scoreboard.
With seven minutes to play, Homza threw his second touchdown pass of the game — this time a 15-yarder to Anthony Saitta. To finish off the scoring, Krawczyk later caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Coles, followed by Wyoming Area’s Donovan O’Boyle scoring on a 24-yard run.
In the game, Wyoming Area rushed for 323 yards, and averaged nearly seven yards per carry. Joseph also eclipsed the 100-yard plateau.
“When our line is clicking I think they are one of the best lines in the conference,” Miles said.
Woodruff had 90 yards rushing, while Coles threw for 112 yards and three touchdowns. Tigue carried the ball for 53 yards.
“All year we’ve been showing signs of spark,” Norris said. “On the other side of that we’ve been pushed around defensively. It’s a sign of a young team, and our guys will be back to work tomorrow. That’s exciting in terms of the future of the program.”
Norris and Spencer each played in this rivalry and now coach in the rivalry. The Wyoming Area coach thinks it’s the best rivalry in the area and hopes his players understand the value of playing in such games like the one against Pittston Area.
“The fact they get to experience this, and cherish it and understand it, they’ll be connected to it the rest of their lives,” Spencer said.
