WARRIORS CRUISE TO VICTORY OVER Holy Redeemer 44-12
On a windy, rainy Senior Parents' night at Jake Sobeski stadium, the Warriors did what they had to do to win their fifth straight game. Holy Redeemer (0-7) put up a game effort, but was no match for Wyoming Area (5-1). The Warriors led by a score of 37-6 at halftime and coasted to a 44-12 victory.
The Warriors changed their offensive look for the night. Nick O'Brien operated from under center most of the game, and the Warriors ran out of the "I" formation--much different from their standard spread offense out of the shotgun. Jeff Skursky, Corey Popovich, and Nick O’Brien garnered the majority of carries and ate up big yardage on runs up the gut throughout the night. O’Brien finished the night with 121 yards on 7 carries (3TDs), Skursky had 10 carries for 106 yards (2TDs), and Popovich had 4 carries for 47 yards. The offensive line did a great job of opening up holes for the running backs. Bartoli, Zielinski, Erzar, Taylor, Grove, and Resciniti carried most of the load in the first half. Joe Erzar did an admirable job in starting his first game at center for the injured Jake Smith. Tyler Resciniti also saw a good deal of action while substituting for the injured E.J. Driving Hawk.
The offensive production is nice—but like the saying goes—“Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.” The future success of this team will depend on how well the Warriors can play defense. Against the Royals, the Warrior defense was stout. You have to start with Corey Popovich—who probably played his best game as a high school player. Corey was a starting linebacker at the beginning of the season—but then was injured and missed a couple games. Over the last two or three games, Corey has been playing defensive end, and has been nothing short of dominating from that position. He had at least three sacks on Friday night, and had several other outstanding plays. Corey is an ideal defensive end—strong, fast and athletic. Joe Taylor, from the defensive end and tackle position, also had a great night with at least two sacks and several tackles for losses. Add in Trent Grove and Ryan Filipiak, and you have some very athletic players who gave the Royal quarterbacks problems all night. In addition, you can’t say enough about the play of the big guys—Nick Bartoli and Carl Zielinski. These guys have clogged up the middle all year and did so again on Friday night. Both have played well against the run and get a good push on the pass rush.
Now that the Warriors have six games under their belt, I think it is fair to say that the pass defense is pretty good. The Royals threw for over 300 yards last week against Nanticoke, but could only manage 76 yards of passing on Friday night. The Royals were 11 for 33 and threw four interceptions (Langdon, O’Brien, Pegg, and Zezza). Bouie, Schmitz, Langdon, O’Brien, Pegg, LaNunziata and Zezza have done a great job in pass coverage all year—and as the season has progressed, they have also become more formidable tacklers.
Seniors Michael Gentile, A.J. Jones, Steven Gamble and Trevor Alder did a nice job on both sides of the ball in the second half. Carmen Mauriello also had a gritty run at the end of the game.
The big picture is this. The Warriors have used the last several games to develop a number of players and give them experience. In doing so, they have enhanced their overall team depth. They do not have to rely on all players to play both ways. This depth makes them a much more formidable team.--Nick Perugini
Wyoming Area triumphs behind its five touchdowns in a 20-minute span on Friday.
MATTHEW SHUTT For The Times Leader
EXETER – After a strong start came to a halt midway through the first quarter, Wyoming Area scored three touchdowns in a 12-minute span to pull away from Holy Redeemer in a 44-12 victory over the Royals at Jake Sobeski Stadium.
Jeff Skursky and Nick O’Brien had touchdown runs of 7 and 18 yards, respectively, and O’Brien threw a 1-yard score to Trent Grove, making it 37-6 and helping bump the Warriors’ record to 5-1. The scoring stretch effectively closed the Royals out of the game, sending Redeemer to its seventh loss in as many games.
“I know it was a little sloppy there for a minute but we were able to keep our heads into the game and not let it get to us,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “I told them to just block that out and keep playing our game and stick to what we wanted to do.”
Spencer’s charges stuck to his advice and kept to a balanced rushing attack behind the bruising Skursky and O’Brien’s speed and agility and, before long, Wyoming Area found itself in good position.
Up 2-0 after Redeemer snapped the ball out of the end zone on an attempted punt, O’Brien capped the Warriors next possession when he took a handoff into the teeth of Redeemer’s defense, bounced it outside and sprinted to the front pylon of the end zone for an 8-0 lead.
The Royals tried to respond offensively, but stalled its following possession at the Warriors 30-yard line. From there, Skursky punctuated the 70-yard drive by bulling his way up the middle of the field and into the end zone from 20 yards out for his first score of the night and a 16-0 lead late in the first quarter.
“We knew coming into this game what the conditions were going to be like after the rain,” said Spencer of his decision to feature Skursky – who finished with 106 yards on just 10 carries – early and often on a rainy and windy night. “Obviously, we couldn’t throw it much tonight, but we were able to do some more things on the ground and Jeff had a good game for us.”
The Royals broke onto the scoreboard a little over a minute later in the game when Thomas Cosgrove intercepted an O’Brien pass and rolled 86 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Cosgrove also accounted for Redeemer’s other score, but between Wyoming Area’s early trio of touchdowns and a 30-yard scoring dash from O’Brien late in the third quarter, the margin was too much to be overcome by his 32-yard scoring catch from Royals’ quarterback Jimmy Strickland.
CITIZENS VOICE ARTICLE
Warriors win 5th straight
By Patrick Leonard (Correspondent)
Published: October 15, 2011
WEST PITTSTON - Playing in front of their home crowd on senior night, Wyoming Area used a dominant rushing attack and a swarming defense to overpower Holy Redeemer 44-12 and push its season record to 5-1.
Nick O'Brien and Jeff Skursky each rushed for over 100 yards and combined to score five touchdowns in leading the Warrior attack. O'Brien added a touchdown pass to go along with his rushing exploits.
Wyoming Area wasted no time in getting its offense in gear when O'Brien ran 36 yards to the end zone on the team's second play from scrimmage.
The Warriors' next possession covered four plays with O'Brien and Skursky carrying the workload.
Skursky ran the final 20 yards to put the home team up 16-0.
After Holy Redeemer had a long pass play wiped out by a penalty, Thomas Cosgrove finally sparked the Royals with an 81-yard interception return for a touchdown. The try for the two-point conversion was no good.
Redeemer looked ready to take over momentum when the Warriors fumbled the ensuing kickoff to give the Royals the ball inside of midfield. However, the Wyoming defense stiffened and Skursky added his second touchdown run before the end of the first quarter.
After Joseph Taylor sacked Redeemer quarterback Jimmy Strickland on a 4th down pass attempt, O'Brien
ran 18 yards to the end zone and a 30-6 Warriors lead.
O'Brien then showed his versatility by intercepting a David Gawlas pass attempt. He found tight end Trent Grove in the back of the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown pass and a 37-6 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter O'Brien closed out the scoring for the home team with his third touchdown of the night. A.J. Lenkaitis kicked his fourth extra point of the game and the Warriors had a 44-6 advantage.
Attempting to exploit the strength of their passing game all night, Redeemer finally clicked when Strickland threw a high-arching pass that Cosgrove was able to run under for the Royals and put them back on the scoreboard. The conversion attempt failed and the score stood at 44-12
GAME PREVIEW
The Warriors (4-1) will be heavily favored to win their fifth game in a row in this Friday night’s tilt with Holy Redeemer (O-6). This game has the potential to be a little more entertaining than the previous four. Holy Redeemer can generate some offense as they have averaged over 23 points per game this year. They are led by Senior QB/WR David Gawlas(9), and sophomore QB/WR Jimmy Strickland (11). Gawlas and Strickland have alternated at QB throughout the season. According to Varsity 570 stats, both Gawlas and Strickland are 31 for 66 in passing. Strickland has thrown 9 picks, while Gawlas has thrown 3. Holy Redeemer throws the ball about 22 times per game and completes about 10. So look for an aerial assault by the Royals.
The Royals run a spread offense and have had little success running the ball. In their last game against Nanticoke, they had minus 46 yards rushing. Any positive rushing yardage they had was negated by sacks. Gawlas and Strickland appear to be outstanding athletes who scramble around and either run it themselves or throw on the run. Each are capable of making big plays. Holy Redeemer likes to throw screen passes and run QB draws. Wide Receiver Tom Cosgrove (#15) and Eric Kerr (#17) are two of the leading receivers in the WVC, with 16 and 14 receptions respectively. Gawlas, when not playing quarterback is also a favorite target of Strickland. Ultimately, throwing the ball around leads to turnovers (12 INTs for the year). The team’s ball handling is also suspect as they tend to have their share of fumbles. The Royals had leads in their last two games against Nanticoke and GAR-- before their leaky defense gave out.
Defensively, the Royals have had issues. They yield over 425 yards per game—and have not been able to stop the run. Teams are averaging 49 points per game against Holy Redeemer—so the Warrior offense should expect a big night.
What should the Warriors look for in this game? First—a win. You can’t take any team lightly –especially one that averages 23 points a game. A few big plays by the Royals and a few untimely turnovers by the Warriors could make this a close game. Next—the Warriors need to continue to protect the ball. The Warriors are a +6 in turnovers this year. The starting offense has particularly done a good job protecting the ball. It will be important for the Warrior defense to be effective in chasing down the scrambling Gawlas and Strickland. While neither has blazing speed, both are very capable of eluding tacklers and making big plays. The Warrior defense relies on their athleticism. In particular, the defensive ends, and linebackers will need to contain and chase down the scrambling QBs. Finally, the Warriors will need to cut down on the penalties—they continue to average over 90 yards of penalties per game. They will not beat any good team with 90 yards of penalties.
The game will be broadcast on the Warrior Internet Channel. Go to www.wyoming areafootball.org -Nick Perugini
