Game Summary: OK everyone, breathe deeply, close your eyes—now exhale.  The Warriors defeated Northwest by 18 points.  See, that wasn’t so bad.  This game was a tale of two halves.  After a dominating first half, the Warriors jumped out to a 47-7 lead early in the third quarter.  The starters were pulled and the second team struggled mightily, allowing the Rangers to score 30 straight points.     With five minutes remaining in the game, the Rangers pulled within 10 points at 47-37.  The starters returned to the field and it took a 53 yard run by Jeff Skursky to seal the deal.    

Jordan Zezza had an outstanding game. Quarterbacking the entire first quarter he was 2 for 3 including a 58 yard TD pass to Cody Schmitz, and a 30 yard completion to Trent Grove. Zezza also returned an interception for a 58 yard TD, after a pass was deflected by Cody Schmitz. Cody Schmitz had three TDs--51 yards rushing and 58 yards receiving.   Trent Grove also had a great game on both sides of the ball.  Grove caught 3 pass for 88 yards. Grove has really come on in the second half of the season on the defensive side of the ball. He is consistently getting to the QB and has numerous tackles for losses. Nick O’Brien had an electrifying 50 yard run in the 2nd quarter.  He also hit Zak LaNunziata on a beautiful 34 yard touchdown pass. In less than two quarters of work, O'Brien ended up with 10 rushes for 99 yards and was 3 for 5 passing for 94 yards. Recall that O'Brien's first two passes of the season vs. Scranton Prep were intercepted. He hasn't thrown an interception since.

The offensive line continues to improve, opening gaping holes for the running backs. Dimick, Erzar, Zielinski, Taylor, Resciniti and Grove have been doing a great job. Add fullback Zak LaNunziata to that outstanding group of blockers. On just about every big running play, LaNunziata kicks out the defensive end or linebacker.
Let’s be honest—many people get upset when the starters are left in “too long.”    I hear people complain, “What happens if the starting quarterback injures his knee when the team is up 47-7?”     OK—all the starters are taken out, and the opponent scores 30 straight points.  Now people complain that the starters should have been left in. As they say, hindsight is 20-20.

The Warriors got the “W” and the starters dominated--that is what is important.  Win next week’s game against Pittston Area, and you have a number one seed in the playoffs.   It’s time to focus on the challenges ahead.  Nick Perugini, nperugini@aol.com

Warriors ride outburst to down Rangers

Schmitz’s three touchdowns in game’s first 20 minutes power Wyoming Area to win.

PREVIEW: When the Warrior football team’s 2012 motto, “Full Throttle,” was announced last January—I must admit, it didn't quite capture my imagination.  However, heading into this Friday night’s game with Northwest Area, it would be difficult to come up with anything more meaningful.    The Warriors are at a point in the season in which they can head in one of two directions.     They can duplicate or surpass last week’s dominating performance over GAR, and take this momentum “Full Throttle” into the Pittston game and then beyond—or-- they can sit on their laurels, play without focus, and fall flat to a good Northwest Area team.

Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it…especially in the Wyoming Valley Conference.  Let’s start with Wyoming Area’s big win over Mid Valley in Week 2.  The Warriors were flying high after that win, then came out flat against Lake Lehman in Week 3 and were upset.   Lake Lehman then looked like the big dog in AA—until GAR and Northwest stunned them with back to back defeats.     Then GAR was riding high after a five game winning streak…we saw how that crash-landed last week.     Northwest Area shocked Lake Lehman in Week 7 and was in the hunt for a single A playoff position—and then was upset by Meyers last week.    After last week’s exhilarating victory over GAR, is it the Warriors turn to fall flat again?  Let’s hope not.

The Northwest Area Rangers are a very good football team.  They have the WVC AA leading rusher in Tony Politz who has rushed for over 1300 yards ( 8 yards a carry).    Politz’s rushing accounts for 63 percent of the team’s offense.  Quarterback Logan Womelsdorf has completed nearly 50 percent of his passes with 1TD and 1 INT and has not shown a propensity to run.     Northwest averages about 240 yards per game rushing, while passing for about 60 yards a game.  So, quite simply—Northwest will look to have Politz running the ball behind their big line.  Their defense is formidable, as they held Lake Lehman to one touchdown in a 20-7 victory.

“Diversity” continues to be the name of the game for the Warrior offense.   Last week against GAR, the Warriors set up in a variety of formations—including the new wrinkle of two Tight Ends (Grove and Skursky).    Not only were they able to run the ball successfully, they had receivers wide open all over the field.    The offensive line (Dimick, Zielinski, Erzar, Taylor, Resciniti, and Grove) continues to improve each week.   LaNunziata’s running from the fullback position has been an important development, as defenses need to honor the dive play.   Cody Schmitz’s rushing prowess has forced teams to keep an eye on him, as well as Nick O’Brien.

But the real strength of this year’s Warrior team has been the defense.     That fact was in full view last Friday when the Warriors held GAR to 72 yards on 34 rushing attempts (63 of those yards coming on one run).      In addition, the Warriors secondary held the Grenadiers to 8 completions in 27 attempts with one INT.   It’s hard to name names on the defense, because they are all playing so well—and they will need to play well again this Friday night. 
How about those special teams?  The “Warrior Wall” has been set up beautifully on many punt returns this year.  Not sure if we are going to see too many Northwest punts landing in bounds this Friday night.    In addition, punt and kickoff coverages have also been outstanding.