Whenever his offense isn’t scoring points, Joe Paterno always laments that “we are just one or two big plays away, each game, from being a good offensive team.” Although Penn State fans might be a little tired of hearing that kind of talk, the legendary coach has a point.
Wyoming Area has relied on big plays all year to run up some impressive offensive numbers against a mediocre AA schedule. However, in the game against rival Pittston Area, those big plays were few and far between. Credit Pittston Area’s defense for stunting the Warrior’s high octane attack. Also credit Anthony Schwab and the Pittston offense for making a handful of big plays to give the Patriots a 24-21 victory.
Long time Warrior fans probably agree that that this was one of the most exciting games between Wyoming Area and Pittston Area in the teams’ 45-year rivalry. The Warriors entered the game with a 6 and 2 record while the Patriots were riding a 7 game losing streak at 2 and 7. The Patriots received the opening kickoff, but couldn’t do much on their first drive. The Warriors’ opening drive made it to the Patriots' 30 yard line, but then stalled, turning the ball over on downs. The Patriots then drove to the Warriors' one yard line —the big play being a 33 yard strike from Schwab to Joe Starinsky. Facing a first and goal at the one, the Warriors defense stiffened and held the Patriots to a field goal.
The Warrior offense sputtered and could not find the running room it has been accustomed to up the middle with Skursky or Popovich. With 1:23 left in the first quarter, Schwab hit Evan Hahn with a 51 yard strike for a TD to put the Patriots up 10-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Patriots accumulated nearly 100 of their 162 yards passing in the first quarter as they were working away from O’Brien who was covering ace wide receiver Jordan Houseman.
The Warriors awoke from their offensive slumber and mounted a 13 play 80 yard drive, capped off by a 2 yard TD run by Jeff Skursky with 8:17 left in the 2nd quarter making the score 10-7. With the inside running game not working—O’Brien had to fight for tough yardage on the outside. The big play of the drive was a 17 yard pass from O’Brien to Ahmad Bouie, who had a nice night running and receiving. Just when it looked like the momentum would turn the Warriors’ way, halfback Justin Wilk ripped of a 51 yard run to set the Patriots up for a touchdown that would give them 17-7 lead—yes, another big Patriot play.
The Warriors went into the locker room behind 17-7. Although the Warriors were able to move the ball inside the Pittston Area 30 on several occasions, it was tough going as there was very little running room. The Warriors received the ball in the second half. Everyone knew that the opening drive would be critical. It appeared that the first Warrior drive stalled at midfield when O’Brien went into punt formation on fourth down. He received the snap and found Zak La Nunziata who made a juggling catch for a first down along the Warrior sideline. The Warriors moved the ball to the Patriot 21 yard line, but then missed a 37 yard field goal attempt. The Patriots could mount no offense in the third quarter. The Warriors drove to the Patriots 6 yard line and faced a fourth and 1. The ball was handed off to Skursky who was stopped short of the first down. By this juncture in the game, the Warriors were within the Patriot 30 yard line five times and had only seven points to show for it.
Finally early in the fourth quarter, with the Pittston offense seizing up, the Warriors found the end zone on a 14 yard TD run by Ahmad Bouie, cutting the Patriot lead to 17-13 (missed extra point). The Patriots had lost several close games in the fourth quarter this year, and their lack of offense in the third and early fourth quarter certainly pointed to a Warrior comeback. The Warriors began their next drive on their own 42 yard line with Jordan Zezza at QB and O’Brien at halfback. A handoff to O’Brien, followed by an option pitch to O’Brien, and then a penalty put the Warriors at the Patriot’s 29 yard line. On the next play, Zezza pitched to O’Brien who showed run to the outside, but then passed the ball to Joe Adonizio in the end zone. The Warriors took the lead 21-17 as they made the two point conversion with 6:43 to play.
The stage was set for a great finish. The Patriots took the ensuing kickoff to their own 49 yard line where they faced fourth and six. Schwab rolled out to his left, where there was no Warrior containment. He threw deep back across the right-middle of the field and found Joe Starinsky at the Warrior 23 yard line. On the next play, Marc Romanczuk gashed through the center of the Warrior line and took it down 1 yard line. He was then followed by a Schwab quarterback sneak as the Patriots took a 24-21 lead with 3:13 left. The Warriors had two ensuing possessions but were thwarted by the Pittston defense.
Pittston Area lineman Anthony Haughton received the Falcone Award for the MVP. He and the other members of the Pittston line did a fine job in this game. Quarterback Anthony Schwab also had to be in the running for the award as he made the big plays.
Well, there is some solace for Warrior fans in this tough loss. Pittston Area played its last game of the season on Friday night. The Warriors, on the other hand, start their new season next Friday night at “The Jake”. – Nick Perugini
Quick Hits: Ahmad Bouie played one of his best games of the season. He had some great inside runs in the second half and finished with 5 carries for 44 yards. O'Brien had 116 yards on 23 carries--he often made something out of nothing on his outside runs. PA stonewalled the Warrior inside running game. A critical play in the game was when the Pittston defense stopped the Warriors on a 4th and 1 from the Patriot six yard line, early in the third quarter. O'Brien did a great defensive job of shutting down Jordan Houseman. Houseman had 31 yards on 3 receptions. Nick Bartoli had another great game on both sides of the ball. The Warriors opened up the playbook in the second half with a shovel pass and a halfback pass. The Warriors had 18 first downs compared to the Patriot's 11. However, WA could not rip off the big plays. The Warrior's defensive line did a good job holding the Patriots to 105 yards on 33 carries.
WEST PITTSTON — The play wasn’t supposed to go to receiver Joe Starinsky.
Pittston Area’s Joe Starinsky (3) makes a catch deep in Wyoming Area territory in the first quarter just behind Wyoming Area’s Ahmad Bouie (6). Starinsky had four grabs on the night, including a critical fourth-down catch on the game-winning drive.
But when quarterback Anthony Schwab found the junior open over the middle, Pittston Area was able to pull off a comeback and defeat rival Wyoming Area 24-21 Friday night in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivisional game.
The 28-yard completion on a fourth-and-6 play put the ball at the Wyoming Area 23-yard line with under four minutes remaining. Fullback Mark Romanczuk bashed his way to the 1 on the next play, leading to a 1-yard TD sneak by Schwab.
And a third victory by Pittston Area (3-7) over Wyoming Area in the last four years.
“It means everything,” said Schwab, who threw for 162 yards, the most Wyoming Area has allowed through the air all season. “Despite the record, it all comes down to one game. We’re on top of the world right now.”
Meanwhile, Wyoming Area (6-3) will try to regroup quickly as it heads into the District 2 Class 2A playoffs. The Warriors will host Mid Valley (6-4) in the first round next weekend.
“Obviously, you prefer to go into the playoffs with some steam and some momentum,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “In the first half, we weren’t hitting on all cylinders. Give Pittston Area and coach (Mike) Barrett credit.”
Down 17-7 at halftime, Wyoming Area moved the ball to the Pittston Area 17 and 9 on its first two possessions of the third quarter. The Warriors came up empty on both drives.
The Warriors finally cut the deficit to 17-13 on a 1-yard plunge by running back Jeff Skursky with 9:38 to play. They took a 21-17 lead when quarterback Nick O’Brien, playing tailback at the time, threw a 28-yard option pass to Joe Adonizio with 6:43 left and then ran for a two-point conversion.
Pittston Area, though, went on an eight-play, 73-yard drive for the game-winning score.
The key play was the 28-yard pass to Starinsky on fourth down. Schwab rolled left and had his first option unavailable. He then saw Starinsky running a post and connected with him.
“We had to go for it,” Barrett said. “At that time there was four, maybe a little over four minutes. What the heck, you have to move right now. I thought our kids had the momentum basically the whole game.”
Wyoming Area moved no farther than the Pittston Area 49 on its final two possessions. The first ended with tight end Trent Grove taking a helmet-to-helmet hit. He was taken to a local hospital but was moving his arms and legs while on the field.
Pittston Area lineman Anthony Haughton received the Falcone Award, given annually to the game’s most valuable player.
CITIZENS VOICE ARTICLE
Patriots win thriller over Warriors
By Steve Bennett (Staff Writer)
Published: November 5, 2011
WEST PITTSTON - In a season filled with ups and downs and a few near misses, the Pittston Area Patriots consistently stayed the course, never straying from the system put in place by first-year coach Mike Barrett.
That course led the Patriots to a 24-21 victory over rival Wyoming Area on Friday night in the regular season finale for both teams.
While the Warriors head to the District 2 Class 2A playoffs next week, the Patriots will head to the offseason finally being able to say they finished a team off late in the game.
"For the seniors going out, they are a great group of kids and I wish I had these guys one more year," Barrett said. "They have been through an awful lot the last six years coming up through the freshman program. I can't ask for anything more. For the underclassmen, it is a great win for them."
The Patriots scored the game-winning touchdown with 3:13 left in the game when quarterback Anthony Schwab scored on a 1-yard run. The play capped an eight-play drive which began at the Pittston Area 27 and was kept alive on a fourth down pass play from Scwab to Joe Starinsky that picked up 28 yards.
"We had to go for it," Barrett said. "At that time there was a little under four minutes left in the game. What the heck do you have to lose? I thought the kids had the momentum basically the whole game. It is not the pass I intended but (Schwab) was the post was open and he hit it."
The Patriots, which ended their season at 3-7, led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter and controlled the line of scrimmage in the first half and on defense was able to take away WA's outside running game.
Wyoming Area was able to get within 17-7 at the half and scored two fourth quarter touchdowns less than three minutes apart to take the lead. The first TD came on a 1-yard run by freshman Jeff Skursky before the Warriors cashed in on Nick O'Brien's 28-yard halfback option pass to Joe Adonizio put the Warriors on top.
The Warriors' defense helped set up O'Brien's touchdown pass after holding the Patriots to a three-and-out on the series before.
"Obviously you want to go into the playoffs with a little steam," Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. "In the first half we weren't clicking on all cylinders and we left some plays out there. There were probably four or five plays that were the difference."
WA had one last chance to get into field goal position to possibly tie the game, taking over on their own 30 with 1:16 left in the game.
O'Brien threw three consecutive incompletions setting up a fourth down play. O'Brien was flushed from the pocket as he rolled right and had the ball come out of his hands and kick out of bounds giving the ball back to Pittston Area on downs.
From there, all the Patriots needed to do was run out the remaining 53 seconds.
Pittston Area's Anthony Haughton was named the MVP of the game, taking home the Falcone Award.
GAME PREVIEW
Every newspaper article ever written about a Pittston Area – Wyoming Area football game, has contained the exact same phrase--”You can throw the records out with these two teams.” Presumably, this is because the two teams are bitter rivals--a fact that has led to numerous upsets in the past. But this year, there’s an additional reason to disregard Pittston Area’s 2-7 record and Wyoming Area’s 6-2 record.
Pittston Area has played a very tough 3A schedule this year. After winning their first two games against Scranton and Tunkhannock, the Patriots have lost to seven good football teams. These include playoff-caliber teams, WVW, Berwick, Dallas, Coughlin and Crestwood. Against Dallas, who many consider to be the best team in the WVC, Pittston was leading by a score of 14-7 with less than six minutes to play. Pittston Area ended up losing that game 21-14. They also went down to the wire with Berwick, and had an early lead against WVW before faltering.
So--Pittston Area will be a formidable opponent for the playoff-bound Warriors. The Patriots are led by senior wide receiver Jordan Houseman(#81). Houseman is an exceptional athlete who has 32 receptions for 422 yards and 7TDs. Whenever the Patriots get close to the end zone, they like to throw the ball to Houseman in the corner of the end zone where he can out-jump and out-muscle the ball from most defensive backs.
The Patriots have developed an impressive passing game. led by senior quarterback Anthony Schwab (#7). Schwab has completed over 50 percent of his passes for 711 yards (7INTs, 6 TDs). As the season has progressed, he has thrown the ball with more proficiency. Two weeks ago, he threw for over 230 yards in a losing effort against Berwick. Houseman is his number one target. Schwab throws a nice pass on the sideline routes as his receivers work back toward the ball. He also can throw well when rolling out to his left. Schwab is not much of a threat to run.
The Patriots have three solid running backs. Marc Romanczuk is their power back. On the season he has gained 522 yards on 89 carries. Justin WIlk and Kyle Gattuso also have racked up impressive yardage. The Patriots will run out of an “I” formation, but will also show some spread and work out of the shotgun. They have put up 31 points on losing efforts to Berwick and Crestwood this year, so this team can score points.
While the Warriors want to win this game for bragging rights--In the big picture this game will have no bearing on the team’s playoff seeding. The Warriors are locked into a number two seed, win or lose. Realistically, the Warrior coaching staff would love to 1) escape this game with no injuries and 2) come out with a “W” (in that order). The other factor working in Pittston Area’s favor is that they view this game as their playoff game. It will be the last game played by their 20+ seniors—so they can pull out all stops, open up the playbook, and come loaded for bear.
The Warriors, on the other hand, will have their vanilla playbook edition on hand. I’m sure the Warrior coaching staff will not be eager to show off anything new. They might even throw up a smoke screen for future playoff opponents who are scouting them. The main incentive for the Warriors (other than bragging rights) is that a win will give the team the confidence and momentum going into next week’s home playoff game.
I think it’s going to be a close, hard fought game. There’s one last thing I want to say. “When these two teams play, you can throw out the records.” See you on Friday Night—Nick Perugini
Quick Hits: Warrior fans are invited to the pre-game tailgate near the weight room. Food serving will begin at 5:30. The Exeter Panthers and West Pittston Rams will take the field before the game and greet the Warriors as they exit the locker room. The Ring of Pride induction ceremony will take place at halftime. The game will be broadcast on WNEP2 and the Warrior Internet Broadcasting system.
