Game Summary: It was fitting that Nick O’Brien’s interception in the end zone with seconds remaining in the game salvaged a victory against Pittston Area at frigid Charley Trippi Stadium.     The Warriors defeated the Patriots 27-20 behind Falcone Award-winning O’Brien, who rushed for 154 yards on 22 carries. He also threw for 79 yards including a touchdown pass to Cody Schmitz. O'Brien had a hand in all four Warrior TDs. He rushed for two, ran back a punt for a TD, and threw a TD pass. Sounds like Falcone material to me.  

The Warriors took a seemingly comfortable 21-7 lead into the halftime locker room.  They were hitting on all cylinders on offense, and the defense was bending but not breaking.   O’Brien was picking up big yards on the ground and Zak LaNunziata was adding some power runs up the middle for big yardage.  O’Brien hit Jordan Zezza on a 42 yard pass play to set up one touchdown.  He also hit Cody Schmitz with a 27 yard pass for another TD.    For good measure, O’Brien had a 51 yard punt return in the second quarter.  A long kickoff return by the Patriot’s Jordan Houseman set up the Patriot’s only touchdown of the half.    However, when times are good, these Warriors sometimes make it hard on themselves.

The Warriors came out flat offensively in the third quarter. The Patriot defense seemed to figure out how to stop O’Brien--at least temporarily.   Pittston’s offense then got in gear scoring a TD in the third quarter making the score 21-14.  Early in the fourth, WA continued struggling on offense.  On a third and long, O’Brien sailed a pass over the head of Jordan Zezza.  The pass was picked off by Joe Starinsky, who returned it 70 yards for a TD.  The extra point was blocked by Joe Taylor which made the score 21-20 with 11:03 remaining in the game.  Was this another game that the Warriors would let slip through their fingers?

In the middle of the fourth quarter, Pittston Area was driving toward—what looked like to be a go ahead TD.   On a 4th and short, from the Warriors 24 yard line, the Warriors defense led by Cody Schmitz, Trent Grove, Alex Gercak and others made a big stop.   The Warriors then regained their offensive footing behind the power running of Jeff Skursky, the blocking of fullback Zak LaNunziata and an offensive line that found a second wind and reasserted itself.   With under two minutes remaining in the game, the Warriors faced a fourth and 3 from the Pittston 27 yard line.  Lining up in the “I”, O’Brien faked the ball to halfback Skursky up the middle, and then scooted around the tackle, breaking into the secondary and finding the end zone.   The Warriors failed on their two point conversion attempt, making the score 27-20 with 1:35 remaining. Game over, right? Not so fast my friend...

The Patriots, with no timeouts remaining, were not done yet.    The Warrior line, obviously fatigued after a tough game, could muster no pass rush against QB James Emmett.    The Patriots picked their way down the field and found themselves with a 1st and goal at the Warriors 9, with under a minute remaining.  After spiking the ball on first down to stop the clock, Emmett threw a 2nd down incompletion.  On third down, Emmett tried to hit Houseman on a slant pattern in the middle of the end zone.  O’Brien, playing safety, dropped into coverage and made the game-saving interception.  Whew!

Lots of game balls to hand out —O’Brien, who made the plays when the chips were down, was clearly deserving of the MVP award.  Not only was he the engine on offense, but just as importantly, he was a force on defense.     O'Brien is such a factor on defense, that teams have been putting their best receiver in motion away from the offensive point of attack--purposely trying to get O'Brien out of the play.  Zak LaNunziata and Jeff Skursky played outstanding games. LaNunziata gained valuable yards from his fullback position in the first half.  Skursky’s running on the Warriors final scoring drive was huge.  Both Skursky and LaNunziata were dominating from their linebacker positions on defense.     The defensive line did an outstanding job stopping the run.  Pittston gained only 110 yards on 36 rushes.  The rushing defense has been an important part of the Warriors’ success. 

Finally, Warrior fans should give a tip of the hat to the Patriots.  This was a hard-fought rivalry game with no cheap shots or extracurricular activities.  The Patriots could have easily folded, but fought back hard in the second half and nearly came away with the victory.     Both Patriots and Warriors showed exemplary sportsmanship after the final whistle—congratulating each other after a hard fought game.  I think both teams showed a lot of class—something for which Coach Spencer and Coach Barrett deserve a lot of credit.    

While it got a little uncomfortable for Warrior fans at the end of the game, perhaps there was some good that came out of it. The Warriors showed they could win a close game. The end of this game was eerily reminiscent of the Lake Lehman game. As everyone recalls, Lehman drove down the field with no timeouts and scored a TD with seconds remaining in the game. They converted a two point conversion for a 15-14 win. This time was to be different thanks to O'Brien's interception in the end zone.

Statistically, this was not the best football game of Nick O'Brien's career--but perhaps it was his most important. He had two fumbles (one on a bad exchange with the center) and threw his first interception since the Scranton Prep opener. A younger Nick O'Brien might not have handled the adversity of a game spiraling out of control. This Nick O'Brien showed tremendous poise and leadership in the face of adversity. Put aside all the great runs, the great passes, the great tackles. It is leadership and determination in the face of adversity that makes a great champion.

WA heading home

Warriors clinch top seed in district playoffs

Before we throw out the records (as they say we MUST do when Wyoming Area plays Pittston Area) let’s give those records one last going over.     This has been an up and down year for the Patriots—on balance, mostly down as the team has struggled through it's tough AAA schedule with a 3-6 record.      The team has lost to four potential playoff teams in AAA, plus Scranton and WVW.      Relative to the Warriors' AA schedule, it is quite brutal.   Perhaps the best game the Patirots played this year was a tough loss they suffered two weeks ago against Berwick, 23-20.   Berwick mustered a score late in the game to salvage the victory.    Pittston Area's signature win was a 38-36 barn burner over Coughlin.

The Warriors will see two of the same running backs that they saw in last year’s game at “The Jake”.    Mark Romanczuk (#36) and Justin Wilk (#25) have each totted the rock nearly the same number of times entering this game.   Wilk is the leading rusher with 332 yards on 67 carries.   From a statistical standpoint, Jordan Houseman(#81) has not had the year he probably would have liked—only 8 receptions for 177 yards and 1 TD—still a very gifted receiver who had a long TD reception against Berwick.     The Patriots leading receiver is Joe Starinsky(#3) who has 27 receptions for 491 yards, brother Steve Starinsky(#10) has 5 receptions for 102 yards.    Junior James Emmett(#4) and Sophomire Kyle Gattuso (#12) share time at QB.  Emmett has thrown more that Gattuso completing 54 passes for 107 yards, with 13 interceptions and 9 TDs.     Emmett is not a threat to run.   Gatusso, has piled up 261 rushing yards at five yards per carry. It’s fair to say that the Patriot offense has been inconsistent this year—they were shut out three times, and held to 7 points in a loss last week to WVW.  On the other side of the ledger, they put up big points against Coughlin, Hazelton and Tunkhannock. 

The Warriors (7-2) are riding a six game winning streak and have secured a spot in the District 2 AA playoff.  With a “W”, the Warriors will be the number one seed.  Lose?—then there are a number of possibilities, depending on the outcomes of the GAR, Lake Lehman, and Lakeland games.   The Warriors have played good defense all year, and they will need to continue that trend against Pittston Area.  The Patriots were more physical that the Warriors on both defensive and offensive lines last year, so this year's matchup wiill be something to keep an eye on. 

As the season has progressed, the Warriors' offense has evolved into a balanced attack.    Yes, everyone will key on Nick O’Brien running the ball—but Cody Schmitz, Jordan Zezza, Zak LaNunziata, Trent Grove, and Jeff Skursky all must be accounted for on defense--by land and air.  WA coaches have figured out how to distribute the ball in such a way as to keep defenses off balance—evidenced by thumpings of Meyers, GAR, and Northwest in the last three weeks.        

One last word—Wyoming Area leads the series 23-22.    Now, you can feel free to throw out the records.  See you in Pittston on Friday.   Nick Perugini nperugini@aol.com