WILKES-BARRE – By the time it walked off the field Sept. 16 at Memorial Stadium, the routine was getting old for the Wyoming Area football team.
“We’re working hard and we’re not getting paid off,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said after a third straight three-point loss, 17-14, to Wyoming Valley Conference Class 4A opponent Coughlin. “We’ve got to be able to go to the bank and cash a check one day.”
Jake Cole made sure that didn’t happen as the Crusaders’ running back pounded his way to 204 yards and both his team’s touchdowns on 26 carries.
“We certainly knew we were going to see a lot of Jacob Cole,” Spencer said. “To his credit and his team, they ran hard.”
Cole not only put points on the scoreboard. He also kept the ball out of the hands of the Wyoming Area offense while Coughlin was clinging to a late lead.
The Crusaders went ahead 7:40 into the game before the Warriors ever touched the ball and stayed there.
Wyoming Area forced two incomplete passes and a no gain on the first three plays, only to commit a personal foul penalty on the punt that followed. The penalty extended Coughlin’s possession and the Crusaders took advantage with a 23-yard Jeff Mondulick field goal.
“We certainly had an opportunity to get off to a better start there,” Spencer said.
The teams traded scores on consecutive plays midway through the second quarter.
Cole broke a 57-yard run, then Wyoming Area’s Marc Anthony Minichello returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown with 7:56 left in the first half.
Coughlin held a 10-7 lead for the next 29:12 until Cole went 12 yards for a touchdown on fourth-and-two in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors battled back, but ultimately ran out of time when they were unable to recover an on-side kick.
Minichello scored his second touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Dominic DeLuca.
NUMBERS GAME: Cole ran for 103 yards in the first half and 101 in the second half. … Coughlin had team statistical leads of 16-12 in first downs, 224-90 in rushing yards, 273-255 in total offense and 29:02-18:58 in time of possession. … Minichello had a game-high 8 catches for 42 yards, led the Warriors in rushing with 39 yards on 10 carries and hit his only pass for 17 yards. … DeLuca was 12-for-26 passing for 120 yards. … DeLuca, Cameron Carr, Dimitri DePietro and Shane Eslick led the Wyoming Area defense. DeLuca had seven tackles and six assists. Carr had two sacks for 11 yards in losses, another tackle for a 4-yard loss, seven assists and two pass rushes. Eslick had a sack for a 15-yard loss, another tackle for a 3-yard loss, a third tackle and two assists.
UP NEXT: Wyoming Area, which hosts Hanover Area Friday night, was scheduled to play at unbeaten Scranton Prep Saturday afternoon. Hanover Area was winless going into this weekend.
