WEST PITTSTON – Pittston Area and Wyoming Area each ran 56 offensive plays Friday night.
The five biggest gains all belonged to the Patriots, helping pave the way for a 24-21 victory.
With Walter Coles, the Carmelo Falcone Award winner as the game’s Most Valuable Player, leading the way and getting big help from Kevin Krawczyk and Keemar Woodruff, Pittston Area picked up 30 or more yards on five plays.
The Patriots even tied the Warriors for the game’s sixth-longest play, a 26-yarder.
The two longest plays were fly patterns deep down the left sideline where Pittston Area receivers beat single coverage for touchdowns in the last 2:27 of the first half.
Coles hit Krawczyk for 47 yards and Bryan Giambra for 45 to turn a 7-6 game into a 21-6 halftime lead for the Patriots.
The senior quarterback thrived on the opportunity to make additional deep throws with the help of strong pass protection.
“This is probably the most I’ve had this year,” Coles said of the long throws. “Give the guys credit for getting open and finishing.”
Krawczyk got deep down the sideline in the first quarter for a 43-yard catch.
That pass and Woodruff’s 38-yard draw on the game’s fourth play each helped the Patriots move inside the 10 on their first two possessions, neither of which produced points.
Woodruff’s 30-yard catch down the right sideline with 14.4 seconds left put the ball at the Wyoming Area 19, helping lead to the game-winning field goal as time expired.
Coles also hit Andrew Krawczyk with a 26-yard pass earlier in the fourth quarter.
Wyoming Area’s biggest gain was Dominic DeLuca’s 26-yard pass to Brian Williams between two defenders to put the ball at the 2, one play before a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half.
NUMBERS NOTES: Even with six plays producing 229 yards, the Pittston Area total offense advantage was just 412-294.
Wyoming Area ripped off chunks of yards in the ground game while erasing a 15-point deficit in the second half, picking up between nine and 18 yards on seven of 19 carries and adding at least six yards three more times. The Warriors were 19-for-131 rushing in the second half after being just 21-for-86 in the first half.
Pittston Area threw Wyoming Area for losses just four times in the game and stopped one running play for no gain.
Those included the final two Wyoming Area offensive plays with the Warriors threatening to break the 21-21 tie.
Dorien Ryans made the first hit and got help from Riley Brody for a third-and-one stop for no gain at the Patriots 38. Kevin Krawczyk then threw Donovan O’Boyle for a two-yard loss on fourth down with 51.6 seconds left to get the Patriots the ball back.
“We were playing back in a ‘cover two’ to try to protect against those double moves that they hurt Williamsport with so much,” Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri said. “But, we figured with fourth-and-one, we’d put (Kevin Krawczyk) back down in the box.
“He made the play. That’s what Kevin does. He makes plays all over the field, both sides of the ball and special teams. He’s a special player.”
Wyoming Area still leads the series, 29-24.
Pittston Area 24
Wyoming Area 21
Pittston Area`7`14`0`3`—`24
Wyoming Area`0`6`8`7`—`21
First quarter
PA – Joe Carey recovered blocked punt recovery in end zone (Shane Syms kick), 7:20
Second quarter
WA – Corey Mruk 3 pass from Dominic DeLuca (F.J. Braccini kick), 7:09
PA – Kevin Krawczyk 47 pass from Walter Coles (Sims kick), 2:27
PA – Bryan Giambra 45 pass from Walter Coles (Sims kick), 1:01
Third quarter
WA – O’Boyle 2 run (Dominic DeLuca run), 10:35
Fourth quarter
WA – Mruk 1 run (Braccini kick), 5:03
PA – Syms 26 FG, 0:00
Team statistics`PA`WA
First downs`16`18
Rushes-yards`24-107`41-217
Passing yards`305`77
Total yards`412`294
Passing`20-32-2`7-15-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-8`2-10
Punts-avg.`4-23.8`5-20.4
Fumbles-lost`2-1`2-1
Penalties-yards`10-75`2-15
Third-down conversions`4-11`2-8
Fourth-down conversions`1-2`0-1
Time of possession`25:13`22:47
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
RUSHING — PA, Keemar Woodruff 17-88, Walter Coles 6-12, Dorien Ryans 1-2. PA, Donovan O’Boyle 16-69. Dominic DeLuca 13-63, Darren Rodney 4-30, Justin Joseph 4-30, Marc Anthony Minichello 2-19, Corey Mruk 2-6.
PASSING — PA, Coles 20-31-2-305, Team 0-1-0-0. WA, DeLuca 7-14-0-77, Trottini 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING — PA, Kevin Krawczyk 5-122, Rich Wallace 7-29, Andrew Krawczyk 3-47, Woodruff 2-46, Bryan Giambra 1-45, John Delucca 1-11, Tony Gorey 1-5. WA, Minichello 3-20, Brian Williams 2-35, Robbie Trottini 2-15, Shane Eslick 1-4, Mruk 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS — PA, Matt Starinsky 1-0. WA, DeLuca 1-35, O’Boyle 1-0.
INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
TACKLES-ASSISTS – PA, Wallace 9-0, KKrawczyk 7-7, Ryans 6-3, Matt Starinsky 5-3, Woodruff 5-3, Tyler Ferlick 4-3, Nate Lombardo 4-2, Mike Coe 4-0, Dylan Spurlin 3-3, Delucca 3-0, Jake Rutkowski 2-0, Franny George 1-0, AKrawczyk 1-0, Riley Brody 0-2. WA, Dimitri Depietro 12-6, Mruk 6-5, Darren Rodney 6-1, Cameron Carr 5-3, O’Boyle 5-0, Justin Joseph 3-2, Robbie Trottini 3-0, Charlie Banashefski 2-5, Jesse Cegelka 2-1, Shane Eslick 2-0, DeLuca 1-6, F.J. Braccini 0-2, Zajquay Williamson 0-1, Blaise Ciampi 0-1.
SACKS – PA, Rutkowski 2-10. WA, Joseph 1-8.
TACKLES FOR LOSSES – PA, Rutkowski 2-10, KKrawczyk 1-2, Spurlin 1-1. WA, Joseph 1-8, Mruk 1-4, Carr 1-4, Depietro 1-3, Cegelka 1-3, Eslick 1-2.
FUMBLES FORCED – PA, KKrawczyk 1. WA, Rodney 1.
FUMBLES RECOVERED – PA, Delucca 1. WA, Cegelka 1.
INTERCEPTIONS/RETURN YARDS – PA, Starinsky 1-0. WA, DeLuca 1-35, O’Boyle 1-0.
BROKEN-UP PASSES – PA, None. WA, Depietro 1.
PASS RUSHES – PA, None. WA, Carr 2, Rodney 2, Cegelka 1.
BLOCKED KICK – PA, Spurlin 1.
SPECIAL TEAMS STATISTICS
KICKOFF RETURNS – PA, KKrawczyk 2-24, Giambra 1-14, Mike Coe 1-7. WA, Minichello 4-64.
PUNTS – PA, Coe 4-23.8. WA, DeLuca 5-20.4.
PUNT RETURNS – PA, KKrawczyk 1-3. WA, BWilliams 2-9
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.
