SAfter the Warriors’ 50-17 drubbing of the Northwest Rangers, Nick  O’Brien was asked to comment on his sparkling performance – 21 carries for 229 yards.     He gave credit where credit was due all year—the offensive line.    On top of O’Brien’s rushing performance, Jeff Skursky added 97 yards on 8 carries.     In total, the Warriors rushed for 420 yards on 44 carries. 

Even with two defeats this year, no one has stopped—or even slowed down—the Warrior rushing game.   Offensive linemen don’t get the headlines, but the success of a team starts up front.  Nick Bartoli, Jake Smith, E.J. Driving Hawk, Carl Zielinski, Joe Erzar, Trent Grove, and Joe Taylor have done an outstanding job all year of blocking for O’Brien and Company.     

While all of the guys up front play with attitude, it’s worth recognizing the stellar work done by the senior linemen this year.   You have to start with captain, Nick Bartoli.  One of the attributes that make Nick such a great blocker is that he stays with his block until the whistle is blown.     He routinely buries his man—and once on the ground, he makes sure his man does not get up.    Hidden within all the hype of the GAR game, was the fabulous play of Bartoli.   In addition, Nick is one of the true leaders on the team.  He is the one guy on the sidelines who is always slapping helmets and getting everyone up.    He has really developed into a team leader.

Jake Smith and EJ Driving Hawk are not your typical linemen—both under 200 lbs, and often playing against linemen who outweigh them by 40 pounds or more.  How is it that Jeff Skursky rips off 10 yards a run, or O’Brien goes 60 yards on a quarterback sneak?   Smith and Driving Hawk are two reasons.  These guys use their athleticism and mobility to make blocks.    On defense, Jake Smith has forced several fumbles this year—and EJ Driving Hawk is always in the middle of the pile.    For guys who are undersized by linemen standards—both play with tremendous heart.

Underclassmen Joe Erzar, Carl Zielinski, Trent Grove, and Joe Taylor have done a great job this year and will form a nucleus of a great group next year.  Finally, have you ever noticed that most opponents’ lines are bigger than the Warriors?    How can the Warriors offensive line dominate their opponents so consistently?   It goes back to the fact that most games are won on the practice field.    And you have to give the Wyoming Area coaching staff credit for being effective teachers of blocking and tackling technique.  In particular, Coach Fanti does a great job with the linemen.   When you see the skilled players and the linemen go their separate ways during drills in practice—more often than not—you see Coach Spencer with the linemen.   So the coaching staff—and players like Nick O’Brien—all know that the success of the team starts with winning the battles up front. 

The Warriors seemed to be out of sync during the first half of the game against Northwest.  Even in warm-ups, they appeared to be lackadaisical.   O’Brien jump started the offense with a 59 yard run three minutes into the first quarter.     Skursky then followed with a 1 yard TD run, making the score 14-0 with a minute remaining in the first quarter.  At that point, it looked like it might be a runaway until Northwest’s Peter Feno returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards to make the score 14-6.   The Warriors offense sputtered in the second quarter.  On a Nick O’Brien punt, a Ranger fielded the ball on his own 35 yard line, where he was hit by Jake Smith.  Smith dislodged the ball which was then picked up by Cody Schmitz who ran it in 30 yards for a TD giving the Warriors a 22-6 lead.    Smith has caused at least three fumbles this year with his hits.

The Warriors would sooner forget the remainder of the second quarter.  They had several dropped passes, a slew of penalties, and numerous lapses in the secondary.    They gave up a 17-yard TD pass to make the score 22-14 at halftime.  During the Warriors’ halftime adjournment just beyond the far end zone, you could hear the angry voices of the coaches echoing through the Shickshinny mountains.  I overheard one of the Northwest guys working the yard markers say—“These guys are winning…I would hate to hear them (the coaches) when they are losing.”

Whatever was said at halftime, it seemed to work.  The Warriors came out in the second half with a vengeance.   With Jordan Zezza under center, and Nick O’Brien at halfback—it took the Warriors only 1:15 seconds to score.   The rest was history as the Warriors scored 28 second half points while holding the Rangers to a field goal.      

The Warrior defense was tremendous all night.  Northwest gained only 137 yards total.    In particular, beyond the kickoff return, the Warriors kept the Rangers without a big play from scrimmage.    The Warriors kept star running back Tony Politz in check and allowed only 75 yards on 22 rushes.  The secondary did a great job on QB Gunnar Majer who threw for only 58 yards after a recent 300 yard performance against Nanticoke.

The Warriors ended up with a whopping 140 yards in penalties.   At the risk of sounding likes a broken record—this is something that the coaches need to get a handle on.  One or two games with excessive penalties are one thing—but this is a pattern as the Warriors average nearly 100 yards of penalties per game.   It may not hurt n a game like this—however;   it will hurt against a playoff team.  Fifteen yards here, fifteen yards there--it adds up.

With this victory, the Warriors secured a number 2 seed in District Playoffs so they are guaranteed a home game—probably against a Lackawanna league opponent.   Next week’s game against Pittston will have a playoff atmosphere—so this should help the Warriors sharpen up for the post season. – Nick Perugini

Quick Hits: The Rangers run a very respectable football program. Their kids play hard, and the coaching staff is classy. In their last two victories, the Northwest QB took a knee at the end the game when they were inside the opponent's five yard line. Coach Carl Majer was very magnanimous in his newspaper quotes about the Warriors team. Marty Michaels, Michael Lumley and Carmen Mauriello had some nice tough runs in the fourth quarter. Jordan Zezza always does a great job when he steps in at QB. A.J. Lenkaitis was 6 for 6 in extra points.

Preview: In sports lingo, Friday night’s game against Northwest Area is known as a “trap game.”  The theory goes that a week after a big game—or a week before a big game—that a good team tends to overlook the current opponent.  Well, that better not be the case for the Warriors, because Northwest Area has shown itself to be an excellet Class “A” team.   The Rangers are 5-3 this year and are hoping to return to the District playoffs.    The scenario was similar when the Warriors hosted the Rangers last year.  Both were looking for playoff berths at that time.   The Rangers took a 13-7 lead into the locker room at halftime before the Warriors arose from their slumber in the second half and won going away, 38-19.

This year’s Ranger team is led by junior running back Tony Politz (#10).  Politz has rushed for 938 yards, averaging 121 yards per game and nearly 7 yards a carry.  Senior QB Gunner Majer (#8) –the coach’s son--has thrown for 699 yards , with 7TDs and 5 INTs.  He has completed less than 40 percent of his passes, although he threw for 302 yards against Nanticoke two weeks ago in an exciting 34-30 victory over the Trojans.    Majer’s favorite target is Christian Foley(#88), who has 11 receptions for 228 yards on the season and Jeramie Rittenhouse(#27) with 8 receptions for 167 yards.   Rittenhouse also has 5 interceptions on the year.   The Rangers will operate from both a shotgun spread and an “I” formation.   Politz is their biggest offensive weapon—a good athlete with good moves who can run and receive.     The Rangers will hand him the ball from both the shotgun and the "I". The Rangers throw the ball about 13 times a game--roughly twice as much as the Warriors.

The Rangers have beaten Holy Redeemer, Montrose, Hanover Area, Nanticoke Area and Meyers this year, while losing to Old Forge, GAR, and Lake Lehman.       The Rangers give up over 200 yards per game rushing and 100 yards per game passing.  Their best defensive effort this year was in a loss to GAR, 21-6.  In that game, on a rain soaked soggy field, the Rangers held GAR to 233 rushing yards.    Rain is predicted for Thursday, so Northwest’s field could be quite sloppy and neutralize the speed of the Warriors on Friday night.   There is very little grass and a lot of mud in between the hash marks, so the Warriors will likely feature their straight ahead power running game with Popovich, Skursky, and Kintz. 

Given that Lake Lehman handled the Rangers rather handily (35-7), the Warriors should go into this game as a heavy favorite.  However, a soggy field and turnovers could serve as the great equalizer.   The Rangers will not be afraid to throw the ball in wet conditions as they have done so in their last two games.   The Warriors need to bring their “A” game to Northwest on Friday night to keep on track for a playoff berth-otherwise they face the possibility of an upset.  –Nick Perugini