YATESVILLE – Corey Mruk’s determination in constantly keeping his legs churning deserves a fair share of the credit for his 239-yard rushing effort Friday night.
But there is another telling statistic within the 307 yards rushing Wyoming Area produced in Friday night’s 40-0 romp over host Pittston Area in the regular season finale for both Wyoming Valley Conference football teams.
The offensive line made sure the backs always had a running start.
Wyoming Area gained yardage on 51 of its 52 running plays. The only exception was when a Dominic DeLuca option pitch could not be handled by Mruk on Wyoming Area’s 48th run of the night.
Two of the key blockers in producing that steady ground attack were also among the Wyoming Area defensive leaders.
Defensive ends Cameron Carr and Derek Ambrosino each had two sacks. Carr plays tackle and Ambrosino tight end on offense.
Carr had three tackles for 28 yards in losses and led the Wyoming Area defense with six total tackles along with a fumble recovery.
They led a defense that made it through the entire regular season without allowing a first-quarter point.
The Warriors have dominated first halves, giving up two touchdowns all season.
Friday night was no different.
Pittston Area finished the first half with just one first down and negative total offense. The Patriots had minus-13 yards rushing and minus-5 total offense in the first two quarters.
That defensive effort also led to a field position advantage.
Even with Pittston Area’s Mike Coe getting off a 53-yard punt to pin Wyoming Area at the 1 late in the third quarter, the Warriors started their average drive at the 44, compared to Pittston Area beginning at the 31.
Wyoming Area scored on four straight drives – starting three of them in Pittston Area territory and one at midfield – in the second and third quarters to turn a 7-0 game into 34-0 in a span of less than 13 minutes.
Wyoming Area 40
Pittston Area 0
Wyoming Area`7`21`6`6`—`40
Pittston Area`0`0`0`0`—`0
First quarter
WA – Corey Mruk 1 run (Aleah Kranson kick), 3:33
Second quarter
WA – Mruk 1 run (Kranson kick), 5:58
WA – Brian Williams 11 pass from Dominic DeLuca (Kranson kick), 1:18
WA – Mruk 4 run (Kranson kick), 0:26.3
Third quarter
WA – Derek Ambrosino 10 pass from DeLuca (kick blocked), 5:17
Fourth quarter
WA – Jimmy Miller 1 pass from Jacob Williams (kick failed), 1:45
Team statistics`WA`PA
First downs`23`5
Rushes-yards`52-307`26-41
Passing yards`73`31
Total yards`380`72
Passing`5-10-0`5-10-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`4-23
Punts-avg.`0-0.0`5-35.2
Fumbles-lost`2-0`5-2
Penalties-yards`5-45`5-37
Third-down conversions`4-9`2-9
Fourth-down conversions`3-5`1-1
Time of possession`26:56`21:04
INDIVIDUAL OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
RUSHING — WA, Corey Mruk 36-239, Dominic DeLuca 7-30, Nick Elko 4-20, Zajquay Williamson 2-13, Jacob Williams 1-3, F.J. Braccini 1-1, Leo Haros 1-1. PA, Devin Atkins 4-38, Jordan O’Boyle 6-11, Bryan Giambra 3-6, Mike Coe 2-4, Dylan Lukachko 6-3, Louis Galli 1-2, Mike Nocito 4-minus 23.
PASSING — WA, DeLuca 4-9-0-72, JWilliams 1-1-0-1. PA, Nocito 5-8-0-31, Giambra 0-2-0-0.
RECEIVING — WA, Braccini 1-12, BWilliams 1-11, Derek Ambrosino 1-10, Dimitri Depietro 1-3, Jimmy Miller 1-1, Mruk 0-36. PA, Mike Coe 2-15, Andrew Krawczyk 1-8, Giambra 1-4, O’Boyle 1-4.
INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
TACKLES-ASSISTS – WA, Cameron Carr 6-1, Depietro 5-1, Haros 4-1, Ambrosino 3-2, Mruk 2-5, Braccini 2-1, DeLuca 2-1, Enzo Scotto-Diluzio 2-0, Jacob Mikoliczyk 1-1, Jacob Williams 1-1, Thomas Wycoski 1-1, Matt Benton 1-0, Jerrel Chepalonis 1-0, Brian Williams 1-0, Matt Wycoski 1-0, Dante Bovani 0-2, Dillon Williams 0-2, Vincent Bowers 0-1, Thomas Collins 0-1, Nasir Condry 0-1, Jaleem DeJesus 0-1, James Gashi 0-1, Jayden Rusyn 0-1, Anthony Scalzo 0-1. PA, Bryan Herron 8-3, John DeLucca 6-2, Brennan Higgins 5-4, Coe 4-8, Seth Johnson 4-2, Tannon Kraklio 4-2, Franny George 3-3, Andrew Krawczyk 3-3, Reily Brody 3-2, Giambra 3-0, Hugh Bentham 2-0, Tony Gorey 2-0, Billy Kyttle 1-0, Lukachko 1-0, David Behm 0-1, Alex Haas 0-1.
SACKS – WA, Carr 2-17, Ambrosino 2-6. PA, None.
TACKLES FOR LOSSES – WA, Carr 3-28, Ambrosino 2-6, Mruk 1-3, DeLuca 1-2, Depietro 1-1. PA, Coe 1-7.
FUMBLES FORCED – WA, Depietro 1. PA, None.
FUMBLES RECOVERED – WA, Carr 1, Condry 1. PA, None.
INTERCEPTIONS-RETURN YARDS – None.
BROKEN-UP PASSES – WA, Haros 3, Braccini 1, JWilliams 1. PA, Brody, Lukachko.
PASS RUSHES – WA, MWycoski 1. PA, None.
BLOCKED KICK – WA, None. PA, Higgins 1.
SPECIAL TEAMS STATISTICS
KICKOFF RETURNS – WA, Depietro 1-12. PA, Krawczyk 3-50, Haas 2-22.
PUNTS – PA, Coe 5-35.2, 1 inside 20. WA, None.
PUNT RETURNS – PA, None. WA, Haros 3-39.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.
