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Warriors Lose to Patriots 28-14

Wyoming Area vs Pittston Area

Friday, November 2, 2013, 7 PM

 

 

Pittston Area

Citizens Voice

Times Leader

 

Summary: The Patriot's Kyle Gatuso came to play. He rushed for 207 yards as the Warriors fell to the Patriots 28-14 before a packed crowd at Anthony "Jake" Sobeski stadium. Gatuso ripped off TD runs of 60 and 66 yard in the first quarter as the Warriors tried to play catch up for most of the game. Gatuso's effort earned him the Falcone Award for MVP.

Jeff Skursky opened the scoring for the Warriors with a 4 yard TD run, making the score 7-7. After that, it was all Gatuso assisted by a 53 yard punt return for a TD by Michael Schwab. That touchdown gave the Patriots a comfortable 20-7 halftime lead.

The Patriot's Zach Hoffman's 50 yard TD run in the third quarter put the game out of reach at 28-7. The Warrior's Jeff Skursky battled for 152 yards and Rob Warbo added 50 rushing on the night. The Warriors could not get anything going with the passing game as QBs Borton and Zezza were under pressure for most of the evening.

A couple bright spots on defense--Junior Ben Steve did an outstanding job at defensive back. He blanketed Pittston receivers for most of the night. Sophomore Jason Wilson also was around the ball on defense and seemed to be in on many tackles. Danielle Stillarty made her two extra point attempts.

This was not the way the Warriors wanted to end the season. However, to their credit, they fought hard to the bitter end. For the seniors--it will sting for a while. For the underclassmen--hit the weight room and think about what you're going to do about it in 2014.

WAvsPAbox

TIMES LEADER

Gattuso leads Patriots over rival Warriors

November 02. 2013 2:24PM
NICK WAGNER nwagner@psdispatch.com

WEST PITTSTON — To win big games, you have to make big plays. And the games don’t get much bigger than Pittston Area taking on cross-river rival Wyoming Area.


The Patriots scored all four of their touchdowns from 50 or more yards out, led by a pair of Kyle Gattuso long runs in the first quarter, to upend Wyoming Area, 28-14, in the 47th regular season match up between the teams.

Gattuso racked up 123 yards in the first quarter, including scoring runs of 60 and 66 yards, on his way to the 36th annual Carmello Falcone Memorial Most Valuable Player award. He finished the game with 210 yards on 25 carries.

“All the credit goes to the offensive linemen tonight,” Gattuso said. “Those two seniors, Billy Sacramastro and Mike Hughes, they played great.”

Pittston Area knew it had to control the line of scrimmage to win the ballgame - that’s on both sides of the ball. Led by Hughes and Sacramastro, Gattuso was able to gash the Warrior defense early.

Dating back to 1966, when these two schools each took form, this rivalry has been a staple to the Greater Pittston area. When Pittston Area coach Mike Barrett took over the program three years ago, he wasn’t exactly familiar with how these games can get.

And when you have two teams, in the final game of the season whose records aren’t exactly stellar, it’s impressive to see the turnout at Jake Sobeski Stadium.

“It’s a great rivalry,” Barrett said. “I told the kids until I came down to Pittston Area I didn’t realize how big it was. You’ll never understand it until you’re in it.”

Gattuso’s first scoring run came midway through the first quarter. The Patriots went to a Wildcat look for the first time in the game and the junior took it to the end zone.

But the Warriors were able to answer quickly.

Jeff Skursky finished his junior season with 152 yards on 27 carries. His first of two touchdowns came after a 65-yard drive in which Skursky racked up all of the yardage and capped it off with a 4-yard run.

That was late in the first quarter. And on Pittston’s next possession, Gattuso was at it again.

The junior took the hand off and found a seam right through the heart of the Wyoming Area defense. He wasn’t touched on his was to a 66-yard score and a 13-7 Patriot lead to close out the first quarter.

“A big shoutout to Mike Hughes,” Gattuso said. “Those two big runs he made great blocks. The award should be his.”

With six minutes left in the first half, Wyoming Area started a drive on its own 15. Seven plays later, the Warriors had to punt from their own 15.

Schwab fielded the punt at his own 47, making one quick move and then dashed down the sideline. He was never touched until his teammates piled on him in the end zone.

“He has such great leadership,” Gattuso said of Schwab. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great athlete and he showed it on the punt return. He’s the leader of this team.”


Schwab also recovered a fumble for the Patriots.

Midway through the third quarter, Pittston Area employed an 84-yard drive that was capped by Zach Hoffman’s 50-yard touchdown scamper - it was the same play Gattuso scored on in the first quarter.

Skursky and the Warriors were able to sustain one last drive in the fourth quarter.

Starting on Pittston’s 34, quarterback Kyle Borton hit A.J. Lenkaitis for a 17-yard gain. A play later Skursky punched it in from 10 yards out.

“They are a very big team and physical,” Barrett said of Wyoming Area. “Skursky’s a great back. Credit to our defense. We’re lean and built more for speed. We bent a lot of times but we didn’t break.”

The Warriors managed just 209 total yards, 185 of those coming on the ground. Wyoming Area now leads the all-time series 25-24 - the two teams met twice in the postseason over the years.

“Despite everything, it’s a great rivalry,” Gattuso said. “You won’t find anything better. Respect to Wyoming Area. They played a great game.”

 

CITIZENS VOICE

Gattuso carries Patriots past rival Wyoming Area

By Tyler R. Tynes (Correspondent)
Published: November 2, 2013

Kyle Gattuso was running.

The junior quarterback-turned-tailback sprinted from end to end and topped 100 yards on the night on his first two carries. The packed Anthony Sobeski stadium had the atmosphere of a late-night college party, and Gattsuo knew how to celebrate.

The first time found the end zone, he spiked the ball and got bombarded by three of his teammates on his back. The second time, he cut straight up the gut of the defense, showing his elite speed and flexed in the end zone.

Gattuso never stopped running and he dragged the Wyoming Area defense by their emerald jerseys all the way to an impressive 207 yards and two touchdowns, a Pittston Area 28-14 win and immediate rush of the field by the Patriots.

After the old rivalry had ended, the Pittston Area student section flooded the field. Gattuso stood at midfield with his family and close relatives gazing into the Carmelo Falcone MVP award. He said he has a plan for where to put it.

"It's going right on my dresser," Gattuso said. "It's a great win for the senior class and for our program. We're a team to be reckoned with next year."

The Patriots (2-8) finish the season with a win while the Warriors (3-7) end on the opposite side with a loss. After an even score of 7-7, Gattuso ran through the middle for a 66-yard touchdown with 1:21 left in the first quarter.

And it wouldn't stop there. The Patriots scored 15 more unanswered points until a Jeff Skursky 9-yard rush at 9:20 in the fourth quarter stopped the bleeding. But the Patriots marched on and their students got a taste of glory away from home.

Pittston coach Mike Barrett wasn't surprised at his leading rusher's numbers. He said it's strictly in his nature.

"He works very, very hard," Barrett said. "The biggest thing is he's an elusive runner and a cutback runner but tonight he was patient. When he hits the open field, he's too fast. You won't catch him."

Wyoming Area tight end Justin Seabridge went down with an injury at the 4:11 mark of the second quarter and had to be carted off the field on a medical sled.

 

Preview: No matter what side of the bridge you live on, 2013 has been a tough year for high school football.  The Patriots enter Friday night’s game with a 2-7 record, while the Warriors stagger in at 3-6.    Both come off serious beat downs last week;  Pittston Area losing to Valley West 54-6, while the Warriors were spanked by Northwest, 55-13.   So, Friday night’s game will be the most important game of the season for both teams—the game that each senior will remember 30 years from now. 

Pittston‘s 2-7 record—playing in the tough 3A division—is arguably more impressive than the Warriors 3-6 slate playing in 2A.   On the bright side for the Patriots, they defeated Dallas and Tunkhannock this year in close games.  On the down side, the Patriots gave up 50 or more points to three opponents, Berwick, Crestwood, and WVW.   

It’s probably fair to say that the Patriots had a hard time running the ball in a tough 3A division—therefore, they have evolved into a passing team.    They are led by QB James Emmett, who has thrown for 912 yards this season, with 8 TDs and 10 INTs.   The Patriots throw the ball about 18 times a game, almost twice as much as the average Warrior opponent.   Michael Schwab is Pittston Area’s leading receiver with 22 receptions for 178 yards.  Kyle Gattuso is the leading rusher for the Patriots, compiling 509 yards, with 4.3 yards per carry on the season.  In their two wins, the Patriot defense played well—however overall, the Patriot defense has given up 30 points per game.

The Warriors have been plagued by inconsistency throughout the year on both offense and defense.   The offense has shown flashes of effectiveness behind Jeff Skursky running the ball.   However, they just have not been able to come up with a consistent compliment to Skursky on offense.       Farrad Condry has returned a punt and a kickoff for TDs in the last two games—giving the offense a much needed lift.   The defense was looking better in the middle of the year, but has not played well over the last two games—yielding 34 points to GAR and 55 to Northwest. 

With both teams out of post season contention, this game will make or break the season.  For the seniors, it’s all about playing their last game in a Warrior uniform.    It’s also about Warrior Pride.  Nick Perugini


 

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