WEST PITTSTON – One early kick that never left the end zone got it all started, but it took two more that sailed well above the crossbar and between the uprights for Pittston Area to push aside years of football disappointments.
The Patriots waited four years to beat rival Wyoming Area and nine years to enjoy another winning season on the football field, so an extra couple minutes were not a problem.
After a premature celebration was interrupted because his 20-yard field goal with four-tenths of a second remaining had been wiped out by penalty, Shane Syms stepped up and hit a 26-yarder as time expired Friday night to lift Pittston Area over Wyoming Area, 24-21, at Anthony “Jake” Sobeski Stadium in the 53rd meeting between the cross-river rivals.
Pittston Area never trailed with the help of an early blocked punt for a touchdown, but it had not scored in the second half while a 15-point lead was getting away.
With Carmelo Falcone Award winner Walter Coles hitting four straight passes and expertly managing the clock, Pittston Area covered 57 yards in 51.6 seconds to set up the winning kick.
“We finally put together a drive at the end and had just enough time to kick a field goal twice and pull out a great win for our program,” Barbieri said.
The win lifted Pittston Area to 6-4, clinching a winning season in the first year under Barbieri, the son of Bob Barbieri, the winningest coach in the school’s history. It also improved the Patriots’ seeding going into the District 2 Class 4A playoffs, which start next week with the quarterfinal round.
Pittston Area won the special teams battle despite twice having personnel problems.
The first field goal by Syms was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty, something that was not pointed out to the Patriots until after more than half of the sideline had emptied onto the field in celebration.
The Patriots only had 10 men on the field. The part that made it illegal was there were only six linemen.
Earlier in the game, Pittston Area proved it could succeed with less than 11 players on the field.
“We only had 10 when we blocked the punt for a touchdown. I thought maybe it would work,” Barbieri joked.
One of those players, Dylan Spurlin broke through the middle with Dominic DeLuca trying to punt from his end zone. Spurlin got the ball just as it came off DeLuca’s foot as he approached the goal line.
Joe Carey smothered the blocked punt for a recovery in the end zone and a touchdown 4:40 into the game.
Pittston Area outgained Wyoming Area, 136-31, in the first quarter but only managed a 7-0 lead because drives ended after reaching the 6 and the 8.
Corey Mruk, who scored two of the three Wyoming Area touchdowns, had a tackle for a loss to disrupt one drive. Darren Rodney’s big hit forced a fumble that Jesse Cegelka recovered to end the other.
Wyoming Area took off after the fumble recovery, moving 92 yards in 15 plays to score on DeLuca’s 3-yard pass to Mruk. The extra-point attempt was wide left, leaving Pittston Area with a 7-6 lead with 7:09 left in the half.
Coles expanded that lead before halftime.
The senior quarterback finished the half with 186 yards on the way to a 20-for-31 finish for 305 yards to earn the Falcone Award, which was given to the game’s Most Valuable Player for the 40th straight year.
Coles threw touchdown passes of 47 yards to Kevin Krawczyk and 45 yards to Bryan Giambra for a 21-6 lead with 1:01 left in the half.
Wyoming Area, which outgained Pittston Area in the second half, opened the third quarter with a five-play, 57-yard scoring drive that needed just 1:25 to result in a Donovan O’Boyle 2-yard touchdown run. DeLuca added the two-point conversion.
The Warriors drove 81 yards on nine straight running plays to tie the game with 5:03 left.
Wyoming Area had momentum and the ball inside the Pittston Area 40 in the final minute.
The Patriots held on downs and hurried up field for the win.
“You just try to make everything happen quick,” Coles said. “I just tell everybody to stay calm and follow the pace and we’ll be all right.”
UP NEXT: Both Pittston Area (6-4) and Wyoming Area (4-6) are headed to the District 2 Class 4A playoffs, apparently on the road. Official playoff pairings were not available at presstime because North Pocono still had a late Saturday afternoon game with Scranton Prep. However, it appeared that Pittston Area would be the fifth seed and play at fourth-seeded North Pocono (6-3) and Wyoming Area would be the eighth seed and play at top-seeded Berwick (8-2). North Pocono coach Greg Dolhon, a Wyoming Area graduate and former Carmelo Falcone Award winner, was at Friday night’s game.
