Lidge Kellum carried 13 times for 193 yards and the Wyoming Area defense posted its third straight shutout Friday night with a 49-0 rout of visiting Carbondale Area in a District 2 Class 3A football quarterfinal at Anthony “Jake” Sobeski Stadium.
“Lidge Kellum had another outstanding night running the ball,” Warriors coach Randy Spencer said. “ … Our defense played really well.”
The win sends the third-seeded Warriors into a rematch of 10-1 teams Friday night at Western Wayne. Wyoming Area has won nine straight since suffering its only loss of the season 34-23 in its last trip to Western Wayne.
While Western Wayne struggled in a scoreless tie through three quarters before beating Berwick 7-0 in its quarterfinal, Wyoming Area dominated.
The Warriors were ahead 21-0 one play into the second quarter on Lidge Kellum’s third touchdown of the night and played the entire second half under the running clock of the Mercy Rule after opening a 21-0 lead.
Kellum had most of the yardage on the game-opening drive, including a 34-yard touchdown off the right side just 1:51 into the game. Nick Ciampi added the first of his seven straight extra-point kicks.
The next two touchdowns were on runs to the left.
Kellum ran off tackle and stiff-armed the only two Chargers who got to him deep in the secondary on the way to a 56-yard touchdown run. He went around left end, spinning out of a hit to score from the 15 on fourth-and-two to open the second quarter.
Michael Crane went up the middle and stretched the ball across the goal line for a 5-yard touchdown with 6:44 left in the half. Trustin Johnson also scored from the 5, less than 2½ minutes later for the 35-0 halftime lead.
The two second-half touchdowns came on passes over the middle.
Anthony DeLucca found Kevin Wiedl for a 55-yard touchdown with 8:43 left in the third.
Brady Jones passed 26 yards to Drew Keating with 9:51 remaining.
Jacob Morgan led the defensive with two tackles and an assist on plays for losses. He was in on a team-high five tackles and recovered a fumble.
John Turner had a sack and forced fumble while Johnson interception a pass.
Johnson also contributed to the 284-yard running game by carrying five times for 47 yards. Crane picked up 25 yards on five carries.
Kellum did all his damage in the first half.
WEST PITTSTON — Lidge Kellum and Andrew Steinberger created a terrifying case of deja vu for the Carbondale Area defense Friday night.
Kellum, a senior running back, took a toss and followed the pulling guard Steinberger through the hole for a chunk gain.
Then they did it again, and again.
Steinberger, a senior captain, and the rest of the Wyoming Area offensive line found what worked early and overpowered the Chargers defense, contributing to a massive night for Kellum as it raced to a 49-0 victory in the District 2 Class 3A football quarterfinal at Anthony Jake Sobeski Memorial Stadium.
“I think we were really motivated, locked in and focused coming into this game, had a great week of preparation,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “We challenged ourselves and did some great things that were uncomfortable this week, out of our comfort zone. I really think they took full advantage of that and locked in.”
The third-seeded Warriors (10-1) will travel to No. 2 Western Wayne (10-1) for their semifinal match next week. The Wildcats reached the District 2 Class 3A championship game the last two seasons.
They also handed Wyoming Area its only loss, 34-23, in Week 3.
Kellum, the Wyoming Valley Conference’s leading rusher, amassed 191 yards and three touchdowns on just 12 carries. His first three attempts were toss plays to the right, on which he followed his mobile lead blocker Steinberger for big gains.
The senior right guard saw red coming off the ball.
“Anytime I’m pulling, I look at my target before the play and I just think, ‘I’ve got to go smash this guy,’” Steinberger said. “It’s awesome when I light somebody up and then I see Lidge all the way down the field.”
Kellum scored on a 34-yard toss less than two minutes into the game. He then turned a counter handoff into a 56-yard score, stumbling at the 15-yard line but staying on his feet to make it 14-0 with 4:34 left in the first.
On the first play of the second quarter, Kellum spun out of a tackle and raced in for a 15-yard touchdown to push Wyoming Area’s lead to 21-0.
Kellum’s final rush, a 16-yard toss to the right, set up fullback Michael Crane’s 5-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter.
After Trustin Johnson intercepted freshman Charger quarterback Cole Bucchetti, Johnson tallied four explosive runs on a 41-yard drive, capped by a 5-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 35-0 with 4:18 left in the half.
“The fact that we played clean and at a very high level with very few self-inflicted issues really was the story,” Spencer said. “Some outstanding play by some guys tonight, but that was really the key.”
Johnson finished with 59 of the team’s 292 yards rushing, and Crane compiled 25.
Carbondale Area (6-5) punted four times in the first half and only had one first down. Senior running back Ethen Brewen rushed for 48 yards on 20 carries and caught both of Becchetti’s completions for 17 yards, accounting for 65 of the team’s 66 yards.
The young Chargers end the season with a winning record for the first time since 2017 and the first time in Jeff Arthur’s four-year tenure.
“The future is bright if we do the right things,” Arthur said. “I’m excited. These kids are buying into the process every day, and hopefully they learn their lesson here tonight and we get better.”
This season, the Chargers relied mostly on the legs of Brewen, who broke the 800-yard mark. He is part of a senior class that was the freshman class when Arthur took the Carbondale Area job. That class will hold a special place in Arthur’s heart.
“We came down here four years ago and lost to this same team, but that senior class laid a foundation for these kids and I’m proud of every one of them,” Arthur said. “I appreciate them letting me be their football coach.”
Wyoming Area added two passing touchdowns in the second half. The first was a 55-yard catch and run from Anthony DeLucca to Kevin Weidl early in the third, and Brady Jones hit Drew Keating for a 26-yard score early in the fourth to make it 49-0.
District 2 Class 3A quarterfinals
Wyoming Area 49, Carbondale 0
Carbondale`0`0`0`0`—`0
Wyoming Area`14`21`7`7`—`49
First quarter
WA – Lidge Kellum 34 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 10:09
WA – Kellum 56 run (Ciampi kick), 4:34
Second quarter
WA – Kellum 15 run (Ciampi kick), 11:52
WA – Michael Crane 5 run (Ciampi kick), 6:44
WA – Trustin Johnson 5 run (Ciampi kick), 4:18
Third quarter
WA – Kevin Wiedl 55 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 8:43
Fourth quarterWA – Drew Keating 26 pass from Brady Jones (Ciampi kick), 9:51
WYOMING AREA INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Kellum 13-193, Johnson 5-47, Crane 5-25, DeLucca 2-5, Oliver Bolin 4-5, Bill Mecca 1-4, Jones 1-3, Jamari Yates 1-2, John Turner 1-0.
PASSING — DeLucca 2-8-1-68, Jones 1-1-0-26.
RECEIVING – Wiedl 1-55, Keating 1-26, Jack Gravine 1-13.
INTERCEPTION — Johnson 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOAL – None.
Wyoming Area has piled up huge offensive numbers all season, but now as District 2’s highest-scoring team prepares to try to avenge its only loss in next week’s Class 3A district semifinals, the Warriors have put together three straight shutouts.
Lidge Kellum again took care of the offensive numbers Friday night – he had 193 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries, all in the first half – while Jacob Morgan led the defense in a 49-0, quarterfinal romp over visiting Carbondale at Anthony “Jake” Sobeski Stadium.
Kellum ran 34 yards for a score in the first two minutes, added a 56-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter and made it 21-0 on a 15-yard run on fourth-and-two on the first play of the second quarter.
Morgan was in on a team-high five tackles, including two tackles and an assist on plays that went for losses. He also recovered a fumble.
Trustin Johnson intercepted a pass and John Turner added a sack and forced fumble.
Michael Crane and Trustin Johnson scored on 5-yard runs 2:26 apart later in the second quarter for a 35-0 halftime lead.
The Warriors added touchdown passes in the third and fourth quarters.
Anthony DeLucca found Kevin Wiedl for a 55-yard touchdown in the third and Brady Jones found Drew Keating for a 26-yard score in the fourth.
Wyoming Area (10-1) heads to Western Wayne (10-1) Friday. The Warriors have won eight straight since losing there, 34-23.
Week 10: October 25, 2024: Warriors Defeat Pittston Area 28-0
After a first quarter that mixed success with struggles, Lidge Kellum spent the second quarter, watching, waiting … and thinking.
Kellum recovered from three first-quarter fumbles to rush for 268 yards and three touchdowns Friday night as Wyoming Area shut out host Pittston Area 28-0 in the regular-season finale for both teams at Charley Trippi Stadium.
The senior tailback became the 47th recipient of the Carmelo Falcone Award as the Most Valuable Player in the annual rivalry game.
In the 60th meeting between the teams, Wyoming Area posted its sixth win and fourth shutout of the past seven seasons. A series that was once tied 20-20 now stands 34-26 in favor of the Warriors.
Even though Kellum fumbled three times and Pittston Area recovered two of them, Wyoming Area led 7-0 after one quarter on his 71-yard touchdown run and Kellum already had 135 yards rushing.
Pittston Area held the ball for 7:23 to start the second quarter and Trustin Johnson, who rotates in to spell Kellum on occasion, took the seven tailback carries for the Warriors in the quarter.
“I took it as a moment to rebuild and think about what I had to been doing wrong and to trust myself to do better,” Kellum said.
Kellum ran for 133 more yards after halftime and held onto the ball, with the exception of an interception on a halfback option pass with the Warriors in front 20-0. He scored from 20 yards out in the third quarter and 24 in the fourth.
The Warriors, who are headed to a District 2 Class 3A quarterfinal home game next week, improved to 9-1. They won their seventh in a row and posted their second straight shutout.
Wyoming Area held Pittston Area to 36 yards on 20 pass attempts while picking off the Patriots three times.
The only Pittston Area trip into the red zone ended on a Damian Lefkoski end-zone interception to protect a 7-0 lead with 4:37 left in the half.
Kevin Wiedl and Gage Speece also had interceptions.
Kellum’s lost fumbles came at the end of 20- and 32-yard runs. Those were two of the seven times in the game when the Wyoming Valley Conference’s top rusher picked up at least 20 yards.
Wiedl intercepted a pass on the third play of the second half and Kellum picked up 42 yards in a 43-yard scoring drive.
Wyoming Area’s defense forced a three-and-out on two straight tackles, including one for a loss, by Josh Mruk.
Anthony DeLucca then went 5-for-5 on an 80-yard scoring drive, hitting Michael Crane with the 8-yard touchdown pass for the 20-point lead.
Pittston Area will hit the road for the District 2 Class 5A semifinals.
Randy Spencer challenge the Wyoming Area secondary to play man-to-man coverage Friday night against Pittston Area. By doing so, Spencer could ensure some help on Patriots leading receiver Lucas Lopresto.
The defensive backs lived up to the challenge.
They came up with three interceptions and contested nearly every ball put in the air by three Pittston Area quarterbacks.
Wyoming Area pitched its second consecutive shutout, winning convincingly despite a less-than-clean night from its offense. With the 28-0 victory, the Warriors (9-1) won their seventh straight game and locked up the No. 3 seed in the District 2 Class 3A playoffs. They will host No. 6 Carbondale Area (6-4) in the quarterfinals next week.
Pittston Area, which lost its sixth straight game, is the No. 3 seed in the District 2 Class 5A playoffs and will travel to No. 2 seed Delaware Valley (5-5) in next week’s semifinals.
“Our secondary just handled our assignments,” said Wyoming Area senior Damian Lefkoski, who had a tide-turning interception in the end zone near the end of the first half. “And then in the second half the coaches adjusted everything so out linebackers and line were able to get in the backfield.”
Wyoming Area defenders nearly caught more passes from Pittston Area quarterbacks than Pittston Area receivers did. Lopresto, who entered the game averaging nearly 15 yards per reception, was held without a catch.
Kevin Wiedl’s third-quarter interception set up the second of three Lidge Kellum touchdown runs. But it was Lefkoski’s pick near the end of the first half that changed the game.
The Warriors (9-1) struggled to get anything going offensively in the first half thanks to a pair of lost fumbles. Only Kellum’s 71-yard touchdown run — which was sprung by a brilliant seal block from Trustin Johnson — kept Wyoming Area from being shut out in the first half. And when Pittston Area (2-8) capitalized on one of the fumbles to put together a nearly 8-minute drive in the second quarter, Lefkoski shut the drive down when he jumped a route in the end zone for his fourth interception of the season, which leads the Warriors.
The pick allowed Wyoming Area to carry a 7-0 lead into the half and reset a little bit.
“It was a big momentum change,” Lefkoski said. “All our heads were down. I think that just opened things up for us and got us hyped again.”
“That’s such a big stop at that point in the game,” Spencer said. “We were fortunate to stem the tide there, get into the half, gain possession in the second half, and extend the lead.”
Wiedl continued Wyoming Area’s momentous ways when he intercepted a second pass with less than 2 minutes gone in the third quarter. That’s when Kellum seemed to get his confidence back after the two first-half fumbles.
He went 22 yards on the first play of the ensuing drive and, three plays later, ran through two defenders trying to strip the football from him for a 20-yard touchdown run which extended the Warriors lead to 14-0. Kellum added a 24-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to ice the game.
The junior finished with 264 yards on 22 carries despite getting just one carry in the second quarter after the two fumbles. Kellum went over 1,700 rushing yards for the season.
“As outstanding as he is, a lot of outstanding players have adversity during games,” Spencer said. “But you saw his response to it. That’s part of growing up. He responded exceptionally well in the second half.”
Kellum provided a breathing room for a Wyoming Area defense, which gave little to Pittston Area’s offense. The Patriots gained just 112 total yards, averaged just 2.5 yards per carry, and completed just 4 of 21 passes.
“Adversity is part of football and it’s part of life,” Spencer said. “The kids were able to work through it and come out with a victory. So that is a positive. We have a lot of things to clean up going forward, but the result tonight is positive.”
Wyoming Area 28, Pittston Area 0
Wyoming Area`7`0`13`8 — 28
Pittston Area`0`0`0`0 — 0
First quarter
WA – Lidge Kellum 71 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 5:29
Third quarter
WA – Kellum 20 run (Ciampi kick), 8:50
WA – Michael Crane 8 pass from Anthony DeLucca (kick failed), 1:57
Fourth quarter
WA – Kellum 24 run (Kevin Wiedl pass from DeLucca), 2:17
Team Statistics`WA`PA
First downs`15`7
Rushes-yards`32-339`31-73
Passing yards`78`36
Total yards`417`109
Passing`7-11-1`4-20-3
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-15
Punts-avg.`3-39.3`5-45.2
Fumbles-lost`4-2`1-0
Penalties-yards`6-61`6-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WA, Kellum 21-268, Trustin Johnson 4-61, Crane 4-10. PA, C.J. Pietrzak 14-68, Matt Walter 12-6, Aidan Brody 1-2, Lucas Lopresto 2-0, Santino Capitano 2-minus 3.
PASSING — WA, DeLucca 7-10-0-78, Kellum 1-0-1-0. PA, Walter 3-11-2-26, Capitano 1-8-1-10, Paulie Ferentino 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING – WA, Kopetchny 4-36, Wiedl 2-34, Crane 1-8. PA, Colten Lis 2-17, Walter 1-10, Jakob Bolchune 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS — WA, Gage Speece 1-18, Damain Lefkoski 1-8, Wiedl 1-3. PA, Walter 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.
By Tom Robinson
YATESVILLE – Lidge Kellum overcame early fumble issues to finish with 21 carries for 268 yards and three touchdowns Friday night while capturing the 47th annual Carmelo Falcone Award and leading visiting Wyoming Area to a 28-0 shutout of Pittston Area at Charley Trippi Stadium.
Kevin Wiedl, Damian Lefkoski and Gage Speece intercepted passes to lead the shutout, which also featured three sacks. Lefkoski protected a 7-0 lead with an interception in the end zone with less than five minutes left in the half.
Kellum broke a 71-yard touchdown run down the right sideline and finished the first quarter with 135 yards. At that point, however, he also had three fumbles, two of which were lost by the Warriors.
The Falcone Award goes to the Most Valuable Player of the annual rivalry game. Kellum secured the honor after halftime.
Kellum did not carry the ball in the second quarter, but ran for 133 yards in the second half. He added touchdown runs of 20 yards in the third quarter and 24 yard in the fourth.
“I took it as a moment to rebuild and think about what I had to been doing wrong and to trust myself to do better,” Kellum said of his time on the sideline in the third quarter.
Anthony DeLucca went 5-for-5 passing in a third-quarter touchdown drive that he capped with an 8-yard pass to Michael Crane. He also threw a two-point conversion pass to Wiedl.
Wyoming Area (9-1) will be the third seed in the eight-team District 2 Class 3A field where it is likely to host Carbondale (6-4) in the first round.
Pittston Area (2-8) will go to Delaware Valley (5-5) or Abington Heights (6-4) for a District 2 Class 5A semifinal.
Wyoming Area celebrated Senior Night and another perfect Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 season Friday night at Anthony “Jake” Sobeski Stadium.
Seniors had a hand in all seven touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions as the Warriors rolled over visiting Nanticoke Area 50-0.
It was the fourth time in their six-game winning streak that the Warriors have scored at least 50 points. With their second straight unbeaten season in the division, the Warriors are now 16-1 in Division 2 play since the WVC returned to its two-division format for the 2022 season.
Lidge Kellum ran for three touchdowns on just six carries while Anthony DeLucca threw for scores on two of his five attempts. Both exceeded 100 yards in their limited opportunities playing only the first half of a game that Wyoming Area led at the break.
“It was important for us tonight on Senior Night with our core guys here, we wanted to come out and execute, but we also wanted to be mindful of having our seniors make significant contributions,” Warriors coach Randy Spencer said. “We gave them some opportunities that maybe they didn’t have over the course of the year, so I think we did a great job of that.
“We did what we had to do and it was important to stay healthy on a night like tonight and we were able to do that as well.”
Wyoming Area finished 5-0 in the division and improved to 8-1 overall with only a game at rival Pittston Area next week left in the regular season before heading into the District 2 Class 3A playoffs where Scranton Prep and Western Wayne are also 8-1.
Kevin Wiedl caught one of DeLucca’s two touchdown passes while Michael Crane and Jacob Morgan each ran for touchdowns. John Turner was on the receiving end of one two-point pass and holder Damian Lefkoski threw another after scooping up an errant snap to complete the scoring from the seniors.
After losing yardage on the game’s first series, Wyoming Area continued its tendency to score quickly.
The Warriors needed just 15 plays to score on their next six possessions. They scored three touchdowns in a span of 6:05 in the first quarter and three more in 5:50 during the second quarter.
Wyoming Area had 10 first downs and a 42-0 lead before Nanticoke picked up its initial first down on the last drive of the first half.
Kellum, who carried six times for 115 yards, ran 40 and 17 yards for the first two touchdowns. He was not touched on either play, breaking through big holes at the line of scrimmage, then making a few minor changes in direction as needed to reach the end zone.
Wiedl, the team’s leading tackler on the season, got in the act offensively when he was wide open over the middle for an 18-yard touchdown. Turner’s two-point catch from DeLucca made it 21-0 at the quarter.
After Kellum ran 35 yards for a score, sophomore Luke Kopetchny scored from 65 yards on another DeLucca pass. Kopetchny had three catches for 110 yards while DeLucca went 4-for-5 for 128 yards.
Crane scored from 33 yards in the second quarter and Morgan from the 1 in the third.
The teams observed a moment of silence for late Nanticoke coach Scott Dennis during pregame, then both team’s starting 11s knelt on the field while the entire 40-second clock counted down prior to setting up for the game’s first play. Dennis, the uncle of former Wyoming Area standouts Dante and Dominic DeLuca, died this summer, days before the start of his first season as Trojans coach.
Health is the top priority for Wyoming Area at this stage of the season.
And while Nanticoke Area came out swinging Friday night, the Warriors were able to put them away fast enough to load manage for most of the contest.
Wyoming Area rested its starters the entire second half of a 50-0 Senior Night rout of Nanticoke Area at Anthony Jake Sobeski Memorial Stadium.
The dominant performance combined with an injury-free game was exactly what head coach Randy Spencer hoped for with the District 2 playoffs on the horizon.
“We wanted to come out and execute, but obviously be mindful and have our seniors make significant contributions,” Spencer said. “We did what we had to do and it’s important to stay healthy on a night like tonight.”
Wyoming Area (8-1) and boosted its chances at a top seed in the Class 3A eight-team playoff field, receiving help with a loss by Western Wayne (8-1) to Mid Valley. Currently, Scranton Prep (8-1, .729) leads the Class 3A power ratings, followed by Western Wayne (8-1, .722), Wyoming Area (8-1, .693) and Mid Valley (6-3, .580), respectively. Lake-Lehman (6-3, .542), Carbondale Area (5-4, .445), Berwick (3-6, .426) and Tunkhannock (3-6, .347) round out the top eight teams.
One senior who made a major impact for the Warriors on Friday has been doing it all season.
Senior running back Lidge Kellum rushed for 115 yards and scored three touchdowns on six carries. He danced through each level of the defense for a 40-yard touchdown to open the scoring 4:44 into the game.
The Wyoming Valley Conference’s leading rusher followed that with a 17-yard run, giving the Warriors a 13-0 lead with 3:42 left in the first quarter.
Then, senior Kevin Wiedl’s long punt return set up Wyoming Area in the red zone, and senior quarterback Anthony DeLucca connected with Wiedl on an 18-yard, play-action touchdown pass. After a two-point conversion, the Warriors led, 21-0, at the end of the first quarter.
DeLucca finished 4-of-5 passing for 128 yards.
Wyoming Area didn’t get off to a running start, however.
Serafino Raggi sacked DeLucca on the first play from scrimmage as Nanticoke Area forced the Warriors to punt on their first series.
“(Nanticoke) came with some pressure. I think they brought seven on the first pass play,” Spencer said. “We responded to that, tightened up, and played pretty efficiently from that point.”
Wyoming Area couldn’t be more efficient, scoring on its next six drives and taking a 42-0 lead into halftime.
Kellum opened the second quarter with his third touchdown run, a 35-yarder in which he broke two tackles in the backfield.
On the first play of their next possession, DeLucca hit Luke Kopetchny, who caught three passes for 110 yards, on a deep corner route for a 65-yard score.
Then with 4:44 before halftime, Michael Crane bursted through the middle of the Nanticoke Area defense for a 33-yard touchdown.
Wyoming Area’s offense gashed Nanticoke Area for 12.2 yards per rush and 25.6 yards per pass in the first half.
Meanwhile, the defense was relentless and aggressive, not allowing a first down to the Trojans until about three minutes left in the half.
Treston Allen led Nanticoke Area with 102 rushing yards on 27 attempts, working to find the edge, but mostly being stifled by Wyoming Area’s linebackers and defensive ends.
It’s been a tough season for the undersized and undermanned Trojans, whose head coach Scott Dennis died unexpectedly just before Week 1.
Wyoming Area paid tribute to Dennis between the opening kickoff and its first play, taking a knee on the field during a moment of silence and letting the play clock expire.
“Our hearts have been with Nanticoke’s program all year,” Spencer said. “It was certainly special for us to pay tribute to him tonight with their team.”
Senior Jacob Morgan notched the final score with a 1-yard rush, and the botched extra point turned into a two-point conversion to make it an even 50-0 late in the third.
Wyoming Area 50, Nanticoke Area 0
Nanticoke Area`0`0`0`0 — 0
Wyoming Area`21`21`8`0 — 50
First quarter
WA – Lidge Kellum 40 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 7:16
WA – Kellum 17 run (kick failed), 3:42
WA – Kevin Wiedl 18 pass from Anthony DeLucca (John Turner pass from DeLucca), 1:14
Second quarter
WA – Kellum 35 run (Ciampi kick), 10:34
WA – Kopetchny 65 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 8:11
WA – Michael Crane 33 run (Ciampi kick), 4:44
Third quarter
WA – Jacob Morgan 1 run (Jamari Yates pass from Damian Lefkoski), 2:01
Team Statistics`NAN`WA
First downs`8`13
Rushes-yards`42-136`22-190
Passing yards`17`135
Total yards`153`325
Passing`3-9-0`5-7-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-3`1-5
Punts-avg.`5-35.0`2-36.0
Fumbles-lost`2-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`6-30`1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — NAN, Treston Allen 26-100, Sarafino Raggi 4-14, Michael Stachowiak 5-14, Christopher Julian 3-6, James Bush 3-5, Team 1-minus 3. WA, Kellum 6-115, Crane 6-49, BJones 2-19, Ryan Jones 1-7, Oliver Bolin 2-7, Morgan 1-1, Gage Speece 1-minus 1, Team 2-minus 2.
PASSING — NAN, Stachowiak 3-9-0-17. WA, DeLucca 4-5-0-128; BJones 1-2-0-7.
RECEIVING – NAN, Nemecio Sosa 1-13, Julian 1-3, Allen 1-1. WA, Kopetchny 3-110, Wiedl 1-18, Morgan 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS — None.
MISSED FIELD GOAL – None.
WEST PITTSTON – Runner Lidge Kellum, passer Anthony DeLucca and receiver Luke Kopetchny all surpassed 100 yards in the first half Friday night as Wyoming Area wrapped up a repeat of its unbeaten Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 championship with a 50-0 shutout of visiting Nanticoke at Anthony “Jake” Sobeski Stadium.
Kellum ran for three scores and DeLucca passed for two, one of them to Kopetchny, during a span of 14:32 during the first and second quarters to put the Warriors in front, 42-0.
After going 6-0 in the division last season, the Warriors finished this year’s Division 2 schedule at 5-0.
Kellum carried six times for 115 yards. He ran 40 and 17 yards for the game’s first two touchdowns, then 35 yards for another score 1:26 into the second quarter.
DeLucca was 4-for-5 for 128 yards. He hit Kevin Wiedl with an 18-yard touchdown pass for a 21-0 lead after one quarter. His other three completions for 110 yards, all went to Kopetchny, a sophomore and the only underclassman with a touchdown on Senior Night.
Wyoming Area led 42-0 when it allowed the initial Nanticoke first down with three minutes left in the first half.
Nanticoke never got closer than the Wyoming Area 37 in the first three quarters and had its last drive end on downs at the 17 in the fourth quarter.
Wyoming Area (8-1 overall, 5-0) will play rival Pittston Area Friday night in a non-league game to complete the regular-season schedule.
Nanticoke (1-8, 1-3) will play its rivalry game within Division 2, hosting Hanover Area.
Wyoming Area ran just 13 plays in the first half Friday night compared to 35 by Lake-Lehman.
The situation was quality over quantity.
The Warriors scored on three of those 13 plays to build a two-touchdown lead on the way to a 35-14 victory in a game to decide first place in Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference.
“We started fast and the possessions we did have we did execute and make big plays and got off to that kind of start,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “But again, (Lehman) did a good job staying in the game, managing the clock. We just need to do a better job getting off the field in those situations.”
Wyoming Area (4-0 Div. 2, 7-1 overall) used the running of WVC rushing leader Lidge Kellum and a blocked punt to take a 21-7 halftime lead.
“Two drives there we lost 14 points,” Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said, “but we had no answer defensively stopping them. The kid runs like crazy. They did a good job up front offensively. Our guys were catching blocks instead of getting by blocks.”
The Warriors’ first two plays from scrimmage were a 23-yard run and a 56-yard TD run by Kellum. They came after Lehman (3-1 Div. 2, 5-3) ate up nearly six minutes of the first quarter, but came up empty.
Wyoming Area needed just one play to score after Ryan Jones scooped up a blocked punt and returned it 30 yards to the Lehman 24-yard line. Quarterback Anthony DeLucca found Luke Kopetchny down the left sideline for the score.
Lehman then went on another time-consuming drive to start the second quarter, using 17 plays to cover 83 yards. Running back Jaydon Skipalis finished it off by spinning off a couple tackle attempts for a 17-yard score with 2:41 left until halftime.
The Black Knights used up over nine minutes on the scoring drive. Wyoming Area responded much quicker.
Kellum who finished with 208 yards on 17 carries, rushed for 25 and 5 yards, suffering an injury on the second carry. Running back Trustin Johnson entered and had carries of 19 and 13 yards before scoring from 5 yards out with 34 seconds left until intermission.
Wyoming Area then went on a sustained drive — by the Warriors’ standards Friday night — to open the third quarter. Kellum and fullback Michael Crane did the bulk of the running before DeLucca plowed in from a yard out.
An 18-yard pass from Hayden Evans to Skipalis moved Lehman within 28-14 midway through the fourth, but after a failed onside kick Wyoming Area struck again quickly as Kevin Wiedl caught a 14-yard TD pass with 5:07 remaining.
Evans was 17-of-32 for 237 yards — all career highs — for the Black Knights, who finished with more first downs and yardage than Wyoming Area. Lehman’s three losses have come against opponents who are a combined 23-1.
“We have two weeks of the regular season and playoffs,” Gilsky said. “We have to figure this out really quick.”
Lehman and Wyoming Area clinched District 2 Class 3A playoff spots entering the game.
“There are things we have to look at and work on going forward,” Spencer said. “But it was also good to play a four-quarter game.”
From Lake-Lehman's perspective, the start of Friday night's game could not have gone any better. The Black Knights controlled the clock and the run game was clicking.
However, despite the initial drive eating up nearly half of the first quarter, the Black Knights were forced to punt.
From there, Wyoming Area's Lidge Kellum went to work.
Kellum took the second handoff of Wyoming Area's first possession 56 yards for a touchdown, helping set the tone for a 35-14 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference football game.
"I think they did a good job, certainly the game plan was to hold the ball and drive the ball," Wyoming Area head coach Randy Spencer said of the Black Knights. "I think we were able to start fast and got some big plays."
Kellum, the WVC's leading rusher, finished with 204 yards on 16 carries and quarterback Anthony DeLucca completed 3 of 7 passes for 45 yards and two touchdowns for the Warriors (7-1).
"(Kellum) is good, we were trying to use our safeties to keep him in the box," Lake-Lehman head coach Jerry Gilsky said. "On top of that they have a good line. If you have a poor line and a good back you can make guys miss. Now you have a good back and a good line, you can make guys miss when you are in that space. I thought our guys were catching blocks instead of getting by the blocks."
A botched punt helped set up Wyoming Area's second score of the night. After a low snap, the punt deflected off a Lake-Lehman player's helmet. Ryan Jones scooped it up and returned it to the Lake-Lehman 24. On the first play from scrimmage, DeLucca connected with Luke Kopetchny on a touchdown pass.
Lake-Lehman (4-4) maintained its ground-control offense with a bit of the pass mixed in.
Quarterback Hayden Evans led an 83-yard drive, ending with a Jaydon Skipalis 17-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 14-7 with 2:41 left in the first half.
Wyoming Area had an answer when Trustin Johnson scored on a 5-yard run with :34.9 left in the first half to put the Warriors up two scores.
"Lake-Lehman did a good job staying in the game and managing the clock," Spencer said. "We needed to do a good job of getting off the field in those situations."
DeLucca scored on a 1-yard run to increase the Wyoming Area lead, and when the Black Knights failed to convert on two trips inside the red zone in the second half, that made it more difficult for the defense to hold off Wyoming Area's offense.
Evans, who threw for 238 yards, connected with Skipalis on an 18-yard touchdown pass to cut Wyoming Area's lead to 28-14.
But the Warriors responded with a DeLucca-to-Kevin Wiedl touchdown pass to put the game out of reach.
"The kids fought to the end," Gilsky said. "We had two drives and lost 14 points. We had no answer defensively stopping them. Up front they did a good job."
Wyoming Area 35, Lake-Lehman 14
Lake-Lehman`0`7`0`7 — 14
Wyoming Area`14`7`7`7 — 35
First Quarter
WA — Lidge Kellum 56 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 5:44
WA — Luke Kopetchny 24 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 2:23
Second quarter
LL — Jaydon Skipalis 17 run (Reilley Kirkutis kick), 2:41
WA — Trustin Johnson 5 run (Ciampi kick), 0:34
Third quarter
WA — DeLucca 1 run (Ciampi kick), 7:27
Fourth quarter
LL — Skipalis 18 pass from Hayden Evans (Kirkutis kick), 6:32
WA — Kevin Wiedl 14 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 5:07
Team statistics`LL`WA
First downs`23`15
Rushes-yards`32-102`26-268
Passing yards`237`45
Total yards`338`313
Passing`17-32-1`3-7-0
Sacked-yards lost`3-11`0-0
Punts-avg.`1-21`1-50
Fumbles-lost`2-1`0-0
Penalties-yards`7-40`7-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Lehman, Jim Mitkowski 8-14, H.Evans 11-28, Skipalis 13-60. Wyoming Area, Kellum 17-208, Johnson 3-37, Michael Crane 4-23, DeLucca 1-1, team 1-(minus-1).
PASSING — Lehman, H.Evans 17-32-1-237. Wyoming Area, DeLucca 3-7-0-45.
RECEIVING — Lehman, Chris Sholtis 5-89, Mitkowski 1-16, Ben Dowling 7-91, Jake Evans 2-16, Skipalis 2-25. Wyoming Area, Kopetchny 1-24, Kellum 1 -7, Wiedl 1-14.
INTERCEPTIONS — Wyoming Area, Kopetchny 1-0.
MISSED FGs — none.
Wyoming Area turned in a near spotless performance Friday night to remain perfect in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 football games over the past two seasons.
The Warriors completed every pass, averaged more than 16 yards on runs when they were not kneeling down, yielded just two first downs and held Hanover Area to negative yardage in total offense.
It all added up to a 55-7 romp by the Warriors in a game played at Nanticoke’s Frank Chicknosky Stadium.
Anthony DeLucca went 7-for-7 for 128 yards and three touchdown passes, including two to Luke Kopetchny.
The Warriors improved to 3-0 in the division to continue to share the lead with Lake-Lehman. They are 6-1 overall this season and 9-0 in the division the last two years combined.
An explosive ground game also contributed to a 49-point first half.
Lidge Kellum needed just five carries to produce 111 yards and two touchdowns. He went 62 yards off the left side on the third play of the game to open the scoring.
Michael Crane, Trustin Johnson and Oliver Bolin also ran for touchdowns, combining their six carries into 135 yards as part of a 325-yard ground game.
“I thought that early we just did what we needed to do,” Warriors coach Randy Spencer said of a 14-0 lead in the first 3:26 and 21-0 lead with 1:46 left in the first quarter. “We got some big plays from some of our outstanding skill guys – Lidge Kellum and Kopetchny; I think DeLucca threw the ball exceptionally well; Trustin Johnson and Mike Crane.
“We got big plays across the board.”
And, aside from a 91-yard Jonathan Otway-Kellom kickoff return for a Hanover Area touchdown after Wyoming Area opened a 42-0 lead, the Warriors did not allow big plays.
Hanover Area gained 42 yards in the first quarter, but lost 57 over the last three. The Hawkeyes finished with minus-31 yards rushing and minus-15 total offense.
“The maturity and the experience up front made a difference,” Spencer said, “but also, in the secondary, I thought our guys did a nice job.”
Crane, Josh Mruk and Tyler Reynolds all had multiple tackles for losses.
Wyoming Area raced up and down the field, scoring on the first play of three possessions and the second play of two others. The other scoring “drives” lasted three, four and five plays.
DeLucca went with play-action, then looked deep down the middle to Kopetchny for a 50-yard touchdown on the first play of the second possession. He was 3-for-3 to lead the Warriors to a touchdown on the next drive, their longest of the game, resulting in an 11-yard touchdown reception by Jack Gravine.
Two of the quick strikes came in the second quarter.
Kopetchny got his foot down in the side of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass from DeLucca.
Following Hanover Area’s touchdown return, Gage Speece returned the kickoff 55 yards and Crane scored on a 39-yard run on the next play.
Bolin turned his only carry into a 50-yard touchdown on Wyoming Area’s second play of the second half, which was reduced to eight-minute quarters, along with the other running clock rules resulting from a lead of 35 or more.
Wyoming Area's game plan was to keep things simple Friday night against Hanover Area.
The Warriors were able to execute the plan flawlessly as they amassed 444 yards of total offense on the way to a 55-7 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference football game at Frank Chickonoski Stadium.
Warriors quarterback Anthony Delucca went 7 for 7 for 150 yards passing and three touchdowns, Luke Kopetchney had two touchdown receptions and Lidge Kellum rushed for 117 on five carries and two scores.
The Warriors drove 80 yards in four plays with Kellum taking a handoff and bursting 68 yards off of left tackle for the game's initial score.
On the first play after a Hanover Area punt, Delucca hit a wide-open Kopetchney for a 50-yard touchdown to increase the Warriors' lead to 14-0 with 8:34 left in the first quarter.
Trustin Johnson's 26-yard punt return on Hanover Area's next possession gave the Warriors the ball at their 45. Mixing the run with the pass, Wyoming Area moved to the Hawkeyes 11. Delucca then connected with a diving Jack Gravine for an 11-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead with 1:46 left in the first.
Following another Hawkeyes punt, the Warriors went 41 yards in three plays -- all runs by Kellum — including a 5-yard touchdown with 9:00 left in the second quarter and a 28-0 lead.
Again, Hanover Area was forced to punt and Wyoming Area scored on the first play following the change of possession when Delucca hit Kopetchny in the left flat for a 25-yard score and a 35-0 lead with 7:39 left in the first half.
A bad snap on Hanover Area's next punt attempt gave the Warriors possession deep in Hawkeyes territory. Truston Johnson rumbled 13 yards up the middle for the touchdown as the lead grew to 42-0 with 4:43 left in the first half.
Hanover Area got on the scoreboard when Jonathon Otway-Kellom returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown to make it 42-7.
After Wyoming Area's Gage Speece returned Hanover Area's kickoff 58 yards to the Hawkeyes 39, Michael Crane took a handoff and rolled 39 yards to the end zone for a 49-7 lead.
Oliver Bolin capped the scoring with a 50-yard touchdown run for the Warriors in the third quarter.
Wyoming Area 55, Hanover Area 7
Wyoming Area`21`28`6`0 — 55
Hanover Area`0`7`0`0 — 7
First quarter
WA – Lidge Kellum 62 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 10:23
WA – Luke Kopetchny 50 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 8:34
WA – Jack Gravine 11 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 1:46
Second quarter
WA – Kellum 5 run (Ciampi kick), 9:00
WA – Kopetchny 25 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 7:39
WA – Trustin Johnson 13 run (Gavin Feeney kick), 4:43
HA – Jonathan Otway-Kellom 91 kickoff return (Conor Engleman kick), 4:29
WA – Michael Crane 39 run (Feeney kick), 4:11
Third quarter
WA – Oliver Bolin 50 run (kick failed), 3:00
Team Statistics`WA`HAN
Team Statistics`WA`HAN
First downs`17`2
Rushes-yards`22-325`17-(-31)
Passing yards`128`16
Total yards`453`(-15)
Passing`7-7-0`3-10-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-31
Punts-avg.`0-0.0`7-28.7
Fumbles-lost`0-0`4-0
Penalties-yards`4-29`1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WA, Kellum 5-111, Bolin 1-50, Crane 2-49, Johnson 3-36, Brady Jones 3-24, Ciampi 1-17, Jamari Yates 1-17, Bill Mecca 1-9, Rocco Siani 2-8, Nicholas Kondrasky 1-7, Team 2-minus 3. HAN, Malique Champbell 8-26, Camden Kratz 2-minus 3, Otway-Kellom 1-minus 3, Team 2-minus 20, Logan Richardson 4-minus 31.
PASSING — WA, DeLucca 7-7-0-128. HAN, Richardson 3-10-16.
RECEIVING – WA, Kopetchny 3-75, Damian Lefkoski 1-22, Gravine 1-11, Jacob Morgan 1-11, Kevin Wiedl 1-9. HAN, Otway-Kellom 2-minus 3, Deacon Eisenbach 1-19.
INTERCEPTIONS — None.
MISSED FIELD GOAL – None.
WEST PITTSTON — Lidge Kellum ran for 219 yards and four touchdowns, and the Wyoming Area Warriors grinded out a 42-20 win over a physical Berwick team on Friday night.
Just look at the box score — this was a tighter game than the score might show.
“Berwick came in, they played very aggressively up front, and they’ve got some strong senior players in that mix,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer of the Bulldogs. “I just think the energy and the effort that (Berwick) is playing with is increasing and improving every week.”
Wyoming Area got the scoring started, with Kellum outracing the Bulldog defense down the left side of the field for a 35-yard scamper nine minutes into the contest. In the second quarter, Berwick answered back with a long rushing score of their own, when Ty’Meere Wilkerson took a carry 53 yards to the house.
A failed extra point following Wilkerson’s touchdown kept Wyoming Area in the lead, and they expanded upon their advantage when Kellum plunged into the end zone from 1 yard out in the closing seconds of the first half. On that scoring drive, Kellum carried the ball on all 10 of the Warriors’ offensive plays.
He finished the contest with 25 carries in total, tagging Berwick’s defense for about nine yards per tote.
“He’s a special talent, as you can see up to this point in the year,” Spencer said of Kellum, the team’s standout tailback. “He’s a back that, the more carries he gets, the stronger he runs.”
Wyoming Area blew the game open in the third quarter, scoring on a trio of drives. Kellum scored his third and fourth touchdowns of the evening, and Anthony Delucca hit Luke Kopetchny in the corner of the end zone for an additional score to extend Wyoming Area’s lead to 35-6.
The Delucca-Kopetchny connection was rare but efficient on Friday night, with the duo combining for all 79 of the Warriors’ air yards.
“We’re fortunate to have a balanced attack and some outstanding weapons,” Spencer said of Wyoming Area’s efficiency through the air. “We’ve got all those complementary players, so you kind of have to see how they’re defending you and the opportunities that they’re giving you.”
To Berwick’s credit, the Bulldogs showed some fight in the fourth quarter after Wyoming Area running back Trustin Johnson capped off his team’s scoring to make the game 42-6.
On consecutive drives, the Berwick offense tore through the Warriors’ fourth quarter defense, with Alex Estrella’s 59-yard rushing score on an end-around serving as Berwick’s longest play from scrimmage.
Following Estrella’s score, Berwick tacked on a final touchdown with Ashton Smith scoring on a quarterback sneak from 3 yards out.
Despite Berwick’s impressive day on the ground, finishing with 220 yards in total, a pair of drive-killing interceptions and a fumble recovered by Wyoming Area kept the Bulldogs defense on the field for far too long. By the time Berwick was able to avoid turnovers consistently, the game was out of hand.
Berwick linebacker Rocco Romeo ran into the Wyoming Area backfield untouched on the second snap of the second half Friday night.
He had running back Lidge Kellum dead to rights.
Kellum cut and ran through Romeo's tackle on the toss sweep, then met a pack of Bulldogs at the line of scrimmage and ran through them, too. Kellum was finally brought down after a 5-yard gain, which had no business being a positive-yardage play.
You can point to Kellum's 42-yard touchdown run Friday as a sign of his explosiveness, but it was that innocuous 5-yarder at the start of the third quarter that set a tone for the Warriors, who led by just eight points at the time.
Kellum ran for 225 yards, eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark for the season, and scored four touchdowns as Wyoming Area posted a 42-20 win over Berwick at Jake Sobeski Stadium.
“He's an explosive runner,” Wyoming Area head coach Randy Spencer said. “He's a glider in terms of having legitimate breakaway speed. But he's also turned into a strong runner.”
A year ago, Kellum was an as-needed option in the Warriors' backfield as 1,800-yard rusher Aaron Crossley took on the bulk of the carries before heading off to Lehigh University. Kellum shined in some blowout wins, eclipsing 100 yards against both Holy Redeemer and Lake-Lehman. But he also showed there was some big-play potential as he averaged more than 12 yards per carry on his 47 totes.
As a senior, he is the featured back in one of the Wyoming Valley Conference's best offenses. And Kellum is a big part of why the Warriors have had so much success. He ran for more than 300 yards in a win over returning state finalist Dallas. He had more than 150 yards even in a loss to undefeated Western Wayne.
When the game got hairy Friday, Spencer and the offense turned to the 170-pounder and asked him to run around and through a Berwick defense that was spending ample time in the Wyoming Area backfield. Kellum carried on all 10 plays of 63-yard drive that allowed Wyoming Area to take a 14-6 lead into halftime.
Kellum carried on all six plays of a 55-yard touchdown drive to start the second half. His 42-yard scoring run 4 1/2 minutes later showcased how quickly he can gash a defense.
And with a comfortable lead, Kellum's night was done.
At the point of his 42-yard scoring run, Kellum was averaging 9 yards per carry. The rest of the Warriors offense was average 1.57 yards per play.
“As he's played this season he's built a lot of competitive confidence, not just in his ability, but in his running physicality,” Spencer said. “And because of that he's perceived as getting stronger and stronger.”
Wyoming Area (5-1) scored 21 points to break open a one-score halftime game against Berwick (1-5). It's a problem the Bulldogs have had for much of this difficult season.
“It seems like the tale of the tape for us has been the third quarter,” Berwick first year head coach CJ Curry said. “There's just something about the third quarter that we can't keep the momentum going. But at 14-6 at halftime I thought we were right in the mix and we were playing well.”
And they were.
Berwick recovered a Wyoming Area fumble in the first half and forced a midfield punt. Running back Ty Wilkerson put the Dawgs on the board when he scampered 53 yards on a sweep to the left to cut the initial Warriors lead to 7-6.
“They've got the fastest runner in the conference in Wilkerson and he got one on us,” Spencer said. “That was a matter of them shifting from one formation to another and us needing to adjust, and a couple guys just didn't get there in time. And someone with that athletic ability and speed is going to make you pay.”
Wilkerson had 80 rushing yards at halftime, but finished with just 88 after the Warriors made second-half adjustments.
“He's unbelievable,” Curry said. “Get the ball in his hands and let him get to work. He was a broken tackle away a couple of times. Ty's awesome and we've been finding ways to get him the ball.”
Wyoming Area 42, Berwick 20
Berwick`0`6`0`14 — 20
Wyoming Area`7`7`21`7 — 42
First Quarter
WA — Lidge Kellum 35 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 3:02
Second quarter
BER — Ty’Meere Wilkerson 53 run (kick failed), 6:37
WA — Kellum 1 run (Ciampi kick), :46
Third quarter
WA — Kellum 1 run (Ciampi kick), 8:57
WA — Kellum 42 run (Ciampi kick), 4:27
WA — Luke Kopetchny 16 pass from Anthony Delucca (Ciampi kick), 2:43
Fourth quarter
WA — Trustin Johnson 2 run (Ciampi kick), 9:36
BER — Alex Estrella 59 run (run failed), 7:38
BER — Ashton Smith 3 run (Smith run), 1:00
Team statistics`BER`WA
First downs`8`11
Rushes-yards`29-220`37-254
Passing yards`49`79
Total yards`269`333
Passing`6-11-0`3-4-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-5`0-0
Punts-avg.`5-27.8`3-37
Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-1
Penalties-yards`5-41`3-40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — BER, Wilkerson 14-85-1, Hanson 5-23, Snyder 3-6, Simms 2-33, Roberts 2-8, Smith 2-6-1, Estrella 1-59-1; WA. Kellum 25-219-4, Johnson 6-25-1, Crane 3-9, Delucca 2-2, Jones 1-(-1).
PASSING — BER, Hanson 5-10-2-24, Smith 1-1-0-25; WA, Delucca 3-4-0-79.
RECEIVING — BER, Wilkerson, 3-7, Eisenhauer 1-25, Howie 1-11, Escobar 1-6; WA, Kopetchny 3-79-1.
INTERCEPTIONS — WA, Lefkoski 1-12, Mruk 1-4
On Friday night under the lights, the visiting Wyoming Area Warriors dominated from start to finish with their commanding 54-13 road victory over the Tunkhannock Tigers in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 game.
Wyoming Area (1-0 Div. 2, 4-1 overall) kicked off it scoring barrage less than three minutes into the contest when quarterback Anthony DeLucca connected with fellow senior Kevin Wiedl for a 65-yard scoring strike for a 7-0 advantage with 9:32 left in the first quarter.
For the Warriors next points, senior tailback Lidge Kellum sprinted down the left sideline for a lightning quick 40-yard rushing touchdown with 4:57 remaining in the first period to extend his team’s lead to 14-0.
For Wyoming Area’s third score of the night, sophomore wideout Luke Kopetchny made a terrific 26-yard touchdown catch from DeLucca for a 21-0 advantage with 2:58 left in the opening quarter.
Kellum scored his second rushing touchdown of the ball game, this one from 50-yards out, to give Wyoming Area a 28-0 lead with just 56 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Wyoming Area would continue its scoring prowess, outscoring the Tigers 20-0 in the 12 minute period.
Running back Trustin Johnson sprinted into the end zone from 51 yards out to stretch his team’s advantage to 35-0 with 10:40 left in the first half. Johnson would score just a few minutes later when he returned Tunkhannock’s punt for a 48-yard touchdown to up the Warriors’ lead to 42-0 with 7:52 remaining in the second period.
For the Warriors final points of the first half, senior tailback Michael Crane found paydirt from just 8-yards.
“Lidge Kellum got off to a fast start, outstanding running game for him and to see his potential and he really ran hard tonight with his opportunities he had,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “Amazing catch by Luke Kopetchny for that passing touchdown. Anthony DeLucca putting the ball in a nice spot.
“Again our other running backs ran hard behind an outstanding effort by our offensive line tonight. I think we were physical and really throughout that first half did what we needed to do and played very well.”
Tunkhannock freshman tailback Lucas Ciprich got the Tigers on the board by plunging into the end zone from 2 yards out to cut the deficit to 48-7 with 3:18 remaining in the third period.
The Warriors scored to close out the third quarter when senior running back Oliver Bolin barreled in from 4 yards out with just eight seconds left in the period.
Ciprich picked up his own team’s fumble and scampered into the end zone for the 12-yard score with 1:16 left in the game.
Wyoming Area will host Berwick next Friday night. Tunkhannock (0-2 Div. 2, 1-4) will play Hanover Area in a game that will be played at Wilkes-Barre Area due to an ongoing issue with lead paint at Hanover Area’s stadium.
It didn’t take long for Wyoming Area’s high-powered offense to get going, and once it got going it didn’t stop.
The Warriors scored touchdowns on five of their first seven plays, using their plethora of playmakers to lead the way in a 54-13 win over Tunkhannock in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 game at Tunkhannock Memorial Field.
The Wyoming Area starters weren’t on the field for many plays, but when they were, they made sure to make the most of it. After forcing a Tunkhannock punt, Anthony DeLucca found Kevin Wiedl on the Warriors first play from scrimmage on a short post route. One broken tackle and it was off to the end zone for a 65-yard touchdown.
“We had it all going, everything we were running was clicking,” said DeLucca, whose only two passes went for touchdowns. “Having all of these playmakers makes my job as easy as can be and our offensive line is incredible as well, we really have all of the pieces that we need.”
While it was the passing game on the first drive, it was the running game on the next drive.
Lidge Kellum added to his stellar season, running up the gut untouched for a 40-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
“We came out and delivered. My line blocked amazingly for me and created massive holes,” said Kellum, who finished with 103 yards rushing on three carries. “All I had to do was hit that hole and run toward the end zone.
"My job was easy tonight.”
After recovering a fumble inside Tigers territory, Wyoming Area wasted no time on its next drive .
DeLucca connected with his favorite target Luke Kopetchny, who came down with a highlight-reel, one-handed catch for a 21-0 lead.
“Our receivers are unreal,” DeLucca said. “Luke is an absolute freak. He’s out here making one-handed catches and Mossing guys. He could really do it all. We have a bunch of athletes that we could get the ball to to make plays.”
The Warriors ended the first quarter with a second-consecutive, one-play drive with Kellum going 50 yards again untouched for 28-0 lead.
The second quarter was more of the same, only this time it was Trustin Johnson’s turn to make an impact. The junior speedster made several defenders miss to take his only carry of the game 45 yards to the house.
He followed that up three minutes later with a 50-yard punt return for a touchdown, giving Wyoming Area a 35-0 lead by the middle of the second quarter.
The Warriors added two more scores — a 7-yard run from Michael Crane in the second quarter and a 4-yard from Oliver Bolin in the fourth quarter — to put up their second consecutive 50-point game.
“We just have to continue to stay focused,” Kellum said. “If everyone sticks to their assignments and does what they’re supposed to do, this team could go far.”
Tunkhannock’s offense found its footing in the second half.
Freshman Lucas Ciprich was the game’s leading rusher with 104 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns in the second half for the Tigers.
Wyoming Area 54, Tunkhannock 13
Wyoming Area`28`20`6`0 — 54
Tunkhannock`0`0`7`6 — 13
First Quarter
WA — Kevin Wiedl 65 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Nick Ciampi kick), 9:32
WA — Lidge Kellum 40 run (Ciampi kick), 4:57
WA — Luke Kopetchny 26 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 2:58
WA — Lidge Kellum 50 run (Ciampi kick), 0:56
Second Quarter
WA — Trustin Johnson 51 run (Ciampi kick), 10:40
WA — Trustin Johnson 48 punt return (Ciampi kick), 7:52
WA — Michael Crane 8 run (kick failed), 2:43
Third Quarter
TUN — Lucas Ciprich 2 run (Jerome Callum kick), 3:18
WA — Oliver Bolin 4 run (kick failed), 0:08
Fourth Quarter
TUN — Ciprich 12 run (kick failed), 1:16
Team statistics`Wyo. Area`Tunkhannock
First downs`14`13
Rushes-yards`13-256`39-158
Passing yards`91`30
Total yards`347`188
Passing`2-2-2-0`4-6-0-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-30
Punts-avg.`0-0`5-32
Fumbles-lost`0-0`4-1
Penalties-yards`3-15`1-15
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WA, Lidge Kellum 3-103, Michael Crane 4-23, Trustin Johnson 1-51, Anthony DeLucca 1-25, Oliver Bolin 4-54. TUN, Karver Lewis 9-25, Zach Latwinski 1-0, Lucas Ciprich 17-108, Ethan Dominick 4-4, Randall Paxton 4-10, Mahkil Mickels 1-neg.1, Josiah Parr 1-0, Landon Bolcavage 2-12.
PASSING — WA, Anthony DeLucca 2-2-91-2-0. TUN, Zach Latwinski 4-6-30-0-0.
RECEIVING — WA, Kevin Wiedl 1-65, Luke Kopetchny 1-26. TUN, Mahkil Mickels 4-30.
INTERCEPTIONS — None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — None.
WEST PITTSTON — Wyoming Area got key players back and the Warriors bounced back.
Coming off its first loss of the season, Wyoming Area scored on all eight possessions in which it attempted to do so, running over visiting Lakeland 56-6 in a non-league matchup of teams that entered the night with winning records.
Wyoming Area (3-1) opened a 42-0 lead at halftime and was threatening again when it went into victory formation with two minutes remaining.
“I was just happy with the energy that the kids brought back into this football game after a hard-fought game last week,” Warriors coach Randy Spencer said of the 34-23 loss to unbeaten Western Wayne. “Not playing as clean as we would have liked to and coming up on the short end of that one, just really happy with the way the team bounced back.
“Effort and energy from everybody from the beginning to the end and in all aspects.”
The Warriors defense carried a shutout into the final six minutes.
The special teams contributed by recovering two fumbles on kickoffs in the first 12:20, helping to send the team to a quick, 28-0 lead.
Lidge Kellum carried 13 times for 208 yards and two touchdowns while quarterback Anthony DeLucca accounted for three touchdowns. DeLucca was finished before halftime and Kellum was done at the break.
All-state end Josh Mruk played for the first time this season and had two of the team’s five sacks in the first half. Fullback/linebacker Michael Crane played for the first time since the opener and was a key blocker in the 459-yard ground game, along with carrying three times for 35 yards and making four tackles.
“Last week really gave me the extra push I needed to get back,” Mruk said. “It was a tough one to watch, but I’m back.”
Mruk was also one of the key blockers for a ground game that produced 290 yards on 25 first-half carries.
The Warriors not only did not punt or turn the ball over — they never even got to fourth down. They picked up 155 of their yards while going 8-for-8 in third-down situations.
“From an execution standpoint, we were keeping the chains moving with some big conversions and contributions from everybody,” Spencer said. “That’s really what we were looking for and we’re really excited to see that.”
Kellum ran 40 yards for the first score, then added a 68-yard touchdown on the first play of the 28-point second quarter.
DeLucca passed 5 yards to Luke Kopetchny for a first-quarter touchdown, then scored on a 1-yard sneak in the second quarter. Jack Gravine made a great catch for a 19-yard touchdown from DeLucca for a 35-0 lead with 4:50 left in the half.
Nick Ciampi took over as the second of four Wyoming Area quarterbacks and ran five times for 38 yards on the next drive, which he capped with a 4-yard touchdown for a 42-0 halftime lead.
Oliver Bolin ran 6 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter and quarterback Brady Jones ran 16 yards for the last score on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Sometimes in sports, it's helpful to have a short memory after a loss.
Other times though, a tough loss can serve as virulent motivation.
Harnessing the energy from last week's setback, Wyoming Area recovered with a 56-6 win over Lakeland in a nonconference high school football game Friday night.
"We were very motivated after last week's tough loss (34-23, against Western Wayne)," Wyoming Area quarterback Anthony Delucca said. "We knew we had to come out here and make a statement."
It was another big night for running back Lidge Kellum, who got the scoring started with a 40-yard touchdown run to give the Warriors (3-1) a 7-0 lead with 6:39 remaining in the first quarter.
Wyoming Area forced a fumble on the subsequent kickoff, earning a possession in opposing territory. Five plays later, Delucca hit Luke Kopetchny for a 5-yard touchdown pass, putting the Spartans up two scores with 4:03 left in the quarter.
Kellum opened the second quarter with a 69-yard touchdown run, extending Wyoming Area's lead to 20-0 after a missed extra point.
Another forced fumble on the ensuing kickoff allowed the Spartans to quickly capitalize, this time on a 1-yard quarterback keeper from Delucca. Kellum punched in a two-point conversion and Wyoming Area led, 28-0, two minutes and 16 seconds into the second quarter.
Despite not playing an offensive snap in the second half, Kellum finished with 206 yards rushing on 12 carries.
Through the four games, Kellum has 740 yards and seven touchdowns on 94 rushing attempts.
"My goal, individually, is probably to become one of the best running backs in District 2," Kellum said.
Wyoming Area rounded out the second quarter with two more touchdowns — a 19-yard pass from Delucca to Jack Gravine and a 4-yard run by Nick Ciampi — for a 42-0 lead at halftime.
Oliver Bolin logged a 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, while Brady Jones tacked on a 16-yard rushing score on the first play of the fourth quarter to put the Warriors up, 56-0.
"The preparation we had and welcoming a few players back this week that weren't available for the last several weeks, I think, was a big lift for our team," Wyoming Area head coach Randy Spencer said. "As talented as we are, we're an experienced team this year. You got to have that competitive confidence, but you obviously can't be comfortable."
Lakeland (2-2) scored its lone touchdown on a 43-yard run by Jackson Pochas, with 5:05 to play in the contest.
The touchdown came after a nearly seven-minute, 11-play drive that Pochas led with five rushes and 62 yards.
"That's what we talk about: having that resilience and striving when things are down," Lakeland head coach David Piwowarczyk said. "The kids do that. We ran into a buzzsaw tonight, so we're not going to make any excuses.
"We, as coaches, didn't do a good job tonight. That's on us and we got to fix it."
A comparatively young team, Lakeland saw roughly 16 players miss practice during the week with a stomach bug.
With an away matchup against Susquehanna looming next week, Lakeland is already focused on putting the loss behind it and bouncing back as the season progresses.
"You're not always as bad as what you think you are," Piwowarczyk said. "Our expectations next week are to come out and be much more competitive than what we did tonight."
Wyoming Area 56, Lakeland 6
Lakeland`0`0`0`6 — 6
Wyoming Area`14`28`7`7 — 56
First quarter
WA – Lidge Kellum 40 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 6:35
WA – Luke Kopetchny 5 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 4:03
Second quarter
WA – Kellum 68 run (kick failed), 11:46
WA – DeLucca 1 run (Kellum run), 9:44
WA – Jack Gravine 19 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 4:50
WA – Ciampi 4 run (Ciampi kick), 0:45.8
Third quarter
WA – Oliver Bolin 6 run (Ciampi kick), 8:26
Fourth quarter
WA – Brady Jones 16 run (Ciampi kick), 11:54
L – Jackson Pochas 43 run (kick failed), 5:05
Team Statistics`L`WA
First downs`10`23
Rushes-yards`29-132`44-459
Passing yards`2`44
Total yards`134`503
Passing`1-5-1`5-9-0
Sacked-yards lost`5-29`1-5
Punts-avg.`4-41.5`0-0.0
Fumbles-lost`2-2`2-0
Penalties-yards`3-25`5-55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — L, Pochas 5-60, Caden Cuozzo 9-52, Calvin Gumbs-Jacobs 4-10, David Naniewicz 9-10, Skylar Widzon 2-0. WA, Kellum 13-208, Trustin Johnson 3-55, Jamari Yates 5-41, Jones 5-38, Michael Crane 3-35, Ciampi 4-33, Bolin 4-28, Rocco Siani 2-18, Nicholas Kondroski 1-9, DeLucca 2-minus 4, Team 2-minus 2.
PASSING — L, Naniewicz 1-5-1-2. WA, DeLucca 5-8-0-44; Ciampi 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING – L, Chris Chmiola 1-2. WA, Gravine 2-24, Kevin Wiedl 1-10, Kopetchny 1-5, Kellum 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS — L, None. WA, Kopetchny 1-minus 1.
MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.
Week 3: September 6, 2024: Warriors Fall to Western Wayne 34-23
Wyoming Area and Western Wayne spent much of Friday night’s non-league meeting of highly regarded District 2 Class 3A football teams pounding on each other.
The Wildcats changed things up when it mattered most.
Deception produced touchdowns on consecutive offensive plays 46 seconds apart late in the first half to send the Wildcats on their way to a 34-23 victory.
Both teams came into the game with 2-0 records, coming off impressive wins over 2023 state playoff teams. They frequently slammed the ball into the line with interior runs featuring durable tailbacks, resulting in collisions with physical defensive fronts.
Wyoming Area was ahead for the second time when Western Wayne used six straight Josh Vinton runs, five of them between the tackles, to move 39 yards.
On second-and-7, the Wildcats faked one more handoff to Vinton and quarterback John Pyatt’s play-action helped spring Sean Owens into the clear to pull in a 10-yard touchdown pass. Owens was alone in the left side of the end zone with no defender within 20 yards of him.
The touchdown put the Wildcats ahead 13-10 with 1:42 left in the half.
Freshman Archer Long intercepted a pass two plays later.
The Wildcats then started a reverse with Owens going right to left from his wide receiver position. When Owens then got the ball to Vincent Silon going the other way, the double reverse sprung Silon down the sideline for a 48-yard touchdown and 20-10 lead 56.4 seconds before halftime.
Western Wayne led the rest of the way.
Josh Vinton carried 29 times for 184 yards and two touchdowns and also returned an interception 13 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
“Owens is definitely athletic, but I think Vinton was the difference tonight in all phases of the game,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “His physicality, his athleticism, his willful running of the football was the difference.”
Owens was on the receiving end of all three Western Wayne completions, got off a 70-yard punt, returned a kickoff 40 yards and made back-to-back, touchdown-saving carries.
Wyoming Area had two players who did their best to match that production.
Lidge Kellum carried 29 times for 164 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion.
Sophomore Luke Kopetchny continued his outstanding start at receiver with 10 catches or 140 yards and a touchdown.
Defenses made a bigger impact early and the first quarter ended with Wyoming Area ahead 2-0 on a safety from a punt snap that went through the end zone.
At one point in the second quarter, the Warriors had an 8-2 lead in first downs and a 10-7 advantage on the scoreboard on Kellum’s 21-yard touchdown.
Wyoming Area opened the second half with an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive to Kellum’s 10-yard run.
That brought the Warriors within 20-17, but the Wildcats held on with the help of the long Owens punt and Vinton’s interception.
“I just read it and I jumped it,” Owens said.
Trailing by 10 points, Wyoming Area forced Western Wayne to punt midway through the fourth quarter.
A long scoring drive would put the Warriors in position for a comeback Friday night.
Josh Vinton made sure they got nowhere.
Two plays after a 69-yard Sean Owens punt put the ball on the Wyoming Area 4, Vinton picked off Anthony Delucca's pass and sprinted to the end zone to secure Western Wayne's 34-23 victory in a nonleague football game at Sharkey Rosetti Stadium.
It proved a fitting end to the Western Wayne senior's spectacular night, as Vinton compiled 179 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries to give the Wildcats the edge in a battle of unbeatens.
"I thought we played pretty well, especially from our offensive and defensive line," Vinton said. "They were making big plays for us."
After a punt snap went through the back of the end zone gave Wyoming Area a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, Vinton and the Wildcats broke through in the second.
After gaining just 21 yards on his first seven carries, Vinton busted through the line, shed a tackler and sprinted 55 yards to the end zone to give Western Wayne a 7-2 lead with 9:22 in the half.
"I feel like that really set the momentum that we could compete with those guys, and that our line is as tough as their line is," Vinton said.
Wyoming Area answered behind its star running back Lidge Kellum. The senior went off tackle and sprinted to the corner of the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown and added a 2-point conversion run to give the Warriors a 10-7 advantage with 5:06 in the half.
After Owens' 41-yard kickoff return, Western Wayne went right back to Vinton, who carried six straight times for 39 yards. That set up a play-action pass to a wide-open Owens in the corner of the end zone for a 13-10 Wildcats lead.
With less than two minutes left in the half, Wyoming Area looked to add points. Instead, Archer Long gave Western Wayne a chance to extend its lead when he stepped in front of a pass and secured an interception to give the Wildcats the ball at the Warriors 41.
"That’s been our strongpoint this year, our defense," Long said. "Multiple stops helped us in the game."
One play later, the Wildcats (3-0) capitalized, as Vincent Silon took an end around 37 yards to the end zone to give Western Wayne a 20-10 lead before the end of the half.
Wyoming Area battled back in the third, going back to Kellum. He capped an 11-play drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 20-17.
That's when Vinton and the Western Wayne offensive line went back to work. After Wildcats quarterback John Pyatt hit Owens for 23 yards on third-and-8, Vinton had five straight carries, capping the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run for a 27-17 Western Wayne lead with 2:27 in the third.
"We knew they had big guys," Vinton said. "Their guys were physical, and we knew we just had to be more physical up front."
Midway through the fourth, he sealed the game with a pick-6.
"Hats off first of all to Western Wayne," Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. "Their physicality that their whole team played with in every aspect of the game was really the difference tonight. I thought Vinton just gave an outstanding effort tonight, both sides of the ball. One of the most willful runs I think that we’ll face, so outstanding in that respect, and Owens is an outstanding athlete. But I think the story of this game was their physicality from start to finish."
Delucca hit Luke Kopetchny for a 5-yard score with 3:58 in the fourth, but the Warriors (2-1) couldn't get the onside kick.
Compared to last week, Western Wayne held Kellum in check. After rushing for 340 yards and three touchdowns on 39 carries last week in a 49-41 win over Dallas, the Wyoming Area running back had 152 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 29 carries.
"Our idea coming into this game was when they try to run on early downs was to get them off schedule," Western Wayne coach Shane Grodack said. "Try to get the second and longs, the third and longs. And to their credit, they were able to throw the ball."
Kopetchny had 10 catches for 135 yards and one touchdown, and Delucca went 14 of 25 passing for 169 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.
"I just think we’ve got some outstanding athletes, obviously led right now by Luke Kopetchny and Lidge Kellum. Anthony Delucca getting the ball there," Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. "But again, turnovers were a factor tonight. We had a pick-6 and an interception, the only two turnovers of the game. So, between mistakes and (Western Wayne's) physicality, even with outstanding performances by players of that caliber, that’s going to be the difference in the ballgame. Positives from those guys in those respects, but at the end of the day it’s 48 minutes of physicality that was the difference tonight."
Western Wayne 34, Wyoming Area 23
Wyoming Area`2`8`7`6 — 23
Western Wayne`0`20`7`7 — 34
First quarter
WA – Safety (punt snap went through end zone), 3:21
Second quarter
WW – Josh Vinton 55 run (Jacob Wells kick), 9:22
WA – Lidge Kellum 21 run (Kellum run), 5:06
WW – Sean Owens 10 pass from John Pyatt (bad snap), 1:42
WW – Vincent Silon 48 run (Wells kick), 0:56.4
Third quarter
WA – Kellum 10 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 7:26
WW – Vinton 8 run (Wells kick)
Fourth quarter
W – Vinton13 interception return (Wells kick), 5:14
WA – Luke Kopetchny 5 pass from Anthony DeLucca, 3:58
Team Statistics`WA`WW
First downs`19`12
Rushes-yards`37-178`35-207
Passing yards`174`37
Total yards`352`244
Passing`14-25-2`3-7-0
Sacked-yards lost`1-4`0-0
Punts-avg.`1-46.0`2-52.5
Fumbles-lost`1-0`1-0
Penalties-yards`4-27`3-25
WEST PITTSTON — The big question coming into Wyoming Area’s season was who would fill the void left by the graduation of all-state running back Aaron Crossley.
Lidge Kellum answered that Friday night.
Kellum ran for a career-high 337 yards and three touchdowns plus returned a kickoff for another score as Wyoming Area outlasted Dallas 49-41 in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivisional game.
“With Aaron gone, somebody has to step up,” said Kellum, who rushed for 369 yards during the 2023 regular season. “I had to be the one who stepped up and I did just that.”
Kellum carried 39 times, with his running to start the third quarter allowing Wyoming Area to take its first lead of the game. He carried the load on two scoring drives that were capped by touchdown runs of 3 and 9 yards by Trustin Johnson.
“They told me I was going to be running a lot,” Kellum said. “I didn’t expect to have the game I did, I’ll tell you that.”
Wyoming Area extended its lead to 42-28 at 8:47 of the fourth quarter on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Anthony DeLucca to Luke Kopetchny.
Dallas came right back 39 seconds later to cut it to a one-possession game. Quarterback Brady Zapoticky, who finished with 396 passing yards, threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cole Rigol to move the Mountaineers within 42-35.
Kellum then struck for the final time, running for a 61-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 49-35. Kellum also answered Dallas’ first touchdown by returning the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a score. He had touchdown runs of 5 and 63 yards in the second quarter as the teams combined to scored 35 points in those 12 minutes.
“I’ve talked about it all preseason,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “(Kellum) has been evaluated very highly at the camps he’s gone to as far as going to that next level. He has the potential to be the most dynamic player in District 2 and if not on a state level.
“When he plays with confidence, when he plays like he’s the best player on the field he is the best player on the field. We’re thrilled to see him have that kind of night tonight with his teammates.”
As like in last Friday’s loss to Jersey Shore, Dallas once again had trouble generating a running game. The Mountaineers managed just 53 yards on 26 carries.
Dallas relied heavily on the pass as Zapoticky threw four touchdowns among his 46 attempts. Logan Geskey finished with eight receptions for 177 yards and Sam Kelley caught five passes for 128 yards.
EXETER — After scoring his third touchdown of the night, Lidge Kellum was understandably confident.
The Wyoming Area senior ran off the field, took off his helmet and shouted "I'm not done yet" to anyone within earshot.
Considering Kellum tacked on 207 more rushing yards and another touchdown after that, it's safe to say he was right.
Powered by Kellum's 437 all-purpose yards — including 340 yards on the ground on 39 attempts — and four touchdowns, Wyoming Area outlasted Dallas, 49-41, in a high-scoring thriller Friday night at Sobeski Stadium.
"I think I just had God on my side," Kellum said. "I prayed before the game, prayed during the game, prayed after the game.
"I had a job to do and I got it done."
Seconds after Dallas scored the first touchdown of the game — on an 82-yard touchdown pass from Brady Zapoticky to Logan Geskey — Kellum responded with his first score of the night, taking a kickoff return 88 yards to the house.
When Zapoticky found Nate Malarkey for a 19-yard touchdown pass to retake a Mountaineers lead, Wyoming Area turned to Kellum once again. The running back punched in a 5-yard touchdown to tie the game.
Dylan Geskey scores, for another second-quarter Dallas lead?
Kellum takes the first play of the following drive for a 63-yard touchdown run.
That touchdown was the one to prompt his defiant sideline prediction.
"Everybody was hyped," Kellum said. "The student section was hyped. The crowd was hyped. So, I couldn't finish my job without them. I had to do it."
Although Dallas remained a threat throughout the entire game, Kellum's first-play, 61-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was a watershed moment. It established a two-score Wyoming Area lead with barely five minutes remaining in the contest, forcing the Mountaineers to run a tempo offense.
Kellum wasn't the only Wyoming Area back to enter a consequential showing.
Trustin Johnson overcame an early fumble to offer his team two critical touchdown runs in the third quarter.
His 3-yard scamper six minutes into the third quarter knotted the score, and his 9-yard avalanche four minutes later gave the Warriors their first lead of the game.
"When you have players like (Kellum) and Trustin Johnson, they're a threat to go on any play," Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. "It was great to see 'em realize that ability tonight throughout the game."
Dallas' offense flexed its muscle early and often. After taking the lead in the first quarter, the Mountaineers played with the momentum.
Zapoticky, who finished with 387 yards and four touchdowns on 25-of-48 passing, extended plays and hit receivers in stride. Dylan Geskey took punishing handoffs, flipped field positioning on returns and made an impact on defense. Logan Geskey carved out a role as Zapoticky's security blanket, catching eight passes for 187 yards and a touchdown.
Even after a scoreless third quarter, Dallas could not be counted out.
With eight minutes remaining in the game, Zapoticky threw a 28-yard bomb to Cole Rigol, who dove into the end zone, cutting their team's deficit to seven points. One play later and they had possession again, following a gritty onside kick recovery.
Though Wyoming Area's defense forced four consecutive incompletions to quash the drive, Dallas appeared to be on the verge of an improbable comeback.
"The effort was incredible all the way across the board. I don't know if I've ever been prouder of a group," Dallas head coach Rich Mannello said. "Hats off to (Wyoming Area).
"That's one heck of a football team... They're going to have a great year."
A year after winning the district title and finishing as the state runner-up, Dallas finds itself winless through its first two games. But just like their performance on Friday night, the Mountaineers are refusing to surrender.
"We moved the football (tonight). We didn't move the football a week ago," Mannello said. "We got to clean it up and that's my responsibility. We'll get that fixed."
Wyoming Area 49, Dallas 41
Dallas`7`21`0`13 — 41
Wyoming Area`7`14`21`7 — 49
First quarter
DAL — Logan Geskey 82 pass from Brady Zapoticky (Rowan Laubach kick), 4:17
WA — Lidge Kellum 85 kick return (Nick Ciampi kick), 4:08
Second quarter
DAL — Nate Malarkey 19 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 11:46
WA — Kellum 5 run (Ciampi kick), 7:20
DAL — Dylan Geskey 2 run (Laubach kick), 2:09
WA — Kellum 63 run (Ciampi kick), 1:53
DAL — Sam Kelley 27 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 1:04
Third quarter
WA — Trustin Johnson 3 run (Ciampi kick), 6:15
WA — Trustin Johnson 9 run (Ciampi kick), 2:16
Fourth quarter
WA — Luke Kopetchny 15 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 8:47
DAL — Cole Rigol 28 pass from Zapoticky (Laubach kick), 8:08
WA — Kellum 61 run (Ciampi kick), 5:19
DAL — Zapoticky 2 run (kick failed), 3:58
Team statistics`DAL`WA
First downs`15`21
Rushes-yards`26-53`50-366
Passing yards`396`75
Total yards`449`441
Passing`22-46-1`7-17-1
Sacked-yards lost`3-14`0-0
Punts-avg.`5-38`4-28.3
Fumbles-lost`0-0`2-1
Penalties-yards`5-46`4-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Dallas, D.Geskey 14-36, Zapoticky 10-7, Malarkey 2-10. Wyoming Area, Kellum 39-337, Johnson 7-23, DeLucca 3-7, team 1-(minus-1).
PASSING — Dallas, Zapoticky 22-46-1-396. DeLucca 7-17-1-75.
RECEIVING — Dallas, L.Geskey 8-177, Malarkey 1-19, Rigol 2-31, Kelley 5-128, D.Geskey 3-29, Ben Wickenheiser3-12. Wyoming Area, Kopetchny 2-31, John Turner 1-3, Kellum 1-9, Johnson 2-18, Kevin Wiedl 1-14.
INTERCEPTIONS — Dallas, Wickenheiser 1-0. Wyoming Area, Wiedl 1-0.
MISSED FGs — none.
Wyoming Area scores in final minutes to defeat Crestwood. There were some first-game mistakes made by Wyoming Area on Friday.
Two trips to the red zone on its first two drives and no points. A pick-6 that changed the momentum.
But in the end, the Warriors held on for a 28-21 victory over Crestwood in a Wyoming Valley Conference interdivisional game.
Running back Trustin Johnson scored on a 1-yard run with 1:05 to play for the go-ahead score. The Warriors then broke up a pass near the end zone on the final play of the game. “Week 1 game we talk about it all the time,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “It’s not the plays you make, it’s the mistakes you make. We certainly made our share of mistakes tonight, whether it was in protection, errant throws or missed assignments. Whatever it might have been.”
Wyoming Area sophomore Luke Kopetchny had a huge game, grabbing nine passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns. Senior defensive back Damian Lefkoski helped out on the other side of the ball with a pair of interceptions.
Kopetchny made his final reception — a 36-yarder — on Wyoming Area’s eight-play, 63-yard game-winning scoring drive. The catch moved the ball to the Crestwood 15-yard line. Four rushes by Johnson covered the rest of the distance.
Crestwood’s final possession was aided by a 15-yard late hit penalty by Wyoming Area that moved the ball to the Warriors’ 42 with 50 seconds left. A 14-yard pass to tight end Lincoln Bibla eventually placed the ball at the 22.
The Comets killed the clock with a spike and three passes were incomplete to end the game.
After a scoreless opening quarter, Crestwood struck first as quarterback Jaden Shedlock scored on a 3-yard run two plays after Bibla picked off a pass.
Wyoming Area tied the score four plays later when Kopetchny speared a 47-yard TD pass.
Johnson’s 9-yard run at 3:09 of the third quarter gave Wyoming Area a 14-7 lead going into the fourth where Crestwood struck with big plays.
Crestwood’ Giovanni Barna returned an interception 47 yards as Crestwood tied the score 14-14. Wyoming Area answered with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Anthony DeLucca to Kopetchny for a 21-14 lead.
Four plays later the score way tied again as Shedlock ran down the right sideline for a 69-yard touchdown.
Shedlock finished with 163 yards on 22 carries. Aside from his long run, Wyoming Area bottled up the Comets’ running game.
Johnson's late touchdown run lifts Wyoming Area over Crestwood
With Lidge Kellum and Trustin Johnson in the backfield as well as an experienced offensive line in front of them, the Wyoming Area running game is one that needs to be respected.
What that does is open things up just enough for the passing game, whether that means throwing the ball down the field, or just short passes and let the receivers do the rest of the job.
Sophomore wideout Luke Kopetchny was able to take advantage of that an more on Friday night in Wyoming Area's season-opening 28-21 win at Crestwood.
Kopetchny caught nine passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns, and Johnson's second rushing touchdown of the night with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference.
"Again, Week 1 it's not about the plays you make but the mistakes you make," said Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer. "We certainly made our share whether it was in protection, errant throws or missed assignments."
Quarterback Anthony DeLucca, beginning his second season as the starter completed one of his first six passes and saw his seventh land in the arms of Crestwood linebacker Lincoln Bibla. From there, DeLucca completed nine of his final 16 attempts with two of them going to Kopetchny for touchdowns.
"I thought our receivers did a great job," Spencer said. "Luke Kopetchny is a great talent. We had opportunities down the field in the passing game, but for various reasons we weren't able to connect. Once we did it allowed us to be successful."
Crestwood scored in the second quarter on a 3-yard run by quarterback Jaden Shedlock. Shedlock added a 69-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that tied the game, 21-21, with 5:54 left. Gio Barna returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
"Our first three games are against teams with high expectations," Spencer said. "This is a big win here against a talented Crestwood team. We fought hard for four quarters and I'm proud of that."
Wyoming Area 28, Crestwood 21
Wyoming Area`0`7`7`14 — 28
Crestwood`0`7`0`14 — 21
Second quarter
CRE — Jaden Shedlock 3 run (Ethan Zabroski kick), 11:02
WA — Luke Kopetchny 47 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Nick Ciampi kick), 9:08
Third quarter
WA — Trustin Johnson 9 run (Ciampi kick), 3:09
Fourth quarter
CRE — Giovanni Barna 47 interception return (Zabroski kick), 11:02
WA — Kopetchny 18 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 7:29
CRE — Shedlock 69 run (Zabroski kick), 5:54
WA — Johnson 1 run (Ciampi kick), 1:05
Team statistics`WA`CRE
First downs`16`10
Rushes-yards`31-73`35-188
Passing yards`277`33
Total yards`350`221
Passing`10-23-2`4-12-2
Sacked-yards lost`2-23`1-6
Punts-avg.`3-23.3`5-35.4
Fumbles-lost`1-0`3-0
Penalties-yards`11-80`11-90
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Wyoming Area, Lidge Kellum 14-44, Johnson 14-52, DeLucca 3-(minus-23). Crestwood, Shedlock 22-163, Matthew Bealla 2-2, Colin Lazo 4-11, Eli Meadows 3-11, Jacob Jeckell 3-5, team 1-(minus-4).
PASSING — Wyoming Area, DeLucca 10-27-2-277. Shedlock 4-12-2-33.
RECEIVING — Wyoming Area, Kopetchny 9-248, Kellum 1-29. Crestwood, Emmitt Seyer 1-11, Carter Kennedy 1-5, Jack Rodgers 1-3, Lincoln Bibla 1-14.
INTERCEPTIONS — Wyoming Area, Damian Lefkoski 2-23. Crestwood, Bibla 1-9, Barna 1-47.
MISSED FGs — none.
