It’s hard to recall a game in recent Warrior history that was as exciting as this one.   The Warriors withstood a last second comeback by Valley View to prevail over the Cougars 21-20. 

Wyoming Area started off this game like they had something to prove.  (Maybe they read the Times Leader sport writers’ predictions that picked Valley View to win).  The Warriors jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.  Chris Murphy engineered an efficient drive and ran it in on a keeper to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead.    A minute later, after a Valley View fumble, Murphy hit Aidan Marich with a 47 yard TD pass.    By the end of the first quarter, the Warrior offense was clicking on all cylinders with great balance between running and passing.  

But just as quickly as the Warriors jumped out to a seemingly commanding lead, the wheels came off the wagon—in a big way.  The second quarter was a quagmire of penalties for the Warriors.  On one drive, they faced a 1st and 34.  Valley View finally got their offense moving, capitalizing on a number of big plays.   Some of those big plays were assisted by poor tackling by the Warriors.    By halftime, Wyoming Area was down 20-14—as Valley View missed the extra point on their third touchdown.   Chris Murphy, Aidan Marich, and Leo Malsky had led the Warrior offense in the first quarter, but both Malsky and Marich went down with injuries in the second quarter.

After the second quarter meltdown, and the mounting injuries, it was hard to be optimistic about the Warriors chances to win this game.    However, the Warriors came out in the second half and played tough defense.   On offense, freshman Nick O’Brien looked like the fastest man on the field, running for big chunks of yards.  Murphy was on target for several key passes over the middle to Sam Eramo.  Murphy also ran the option and gobbled up yardage with quarterback keepers.  The Warriors scored on a Murphy keeper midway through the third quarter.  Katie Scalzo’s third extra point of the night gave the Warriors a 21-20 lead. 

With about 9 minutes left in the game, the Warriors started a drive pinned back at their own six yard line.  Murphy and O’Brien shared the load as the running game kicked in.   The linemen up front-–many who play both ways--deserve a lot of credit for this drive:  Campenni, Timinski, Perugini, Davis, and Stemba, Somers.  Although the entire team looked fatigued at this point in the game, they managed to muster up a 17 play, 66 yard drive that ate up the clock in the fourth quarter.  The drive stalled at the Valley View 20 yard line with 35 seconds left to play. 

The Warriors went into a prevent defense, which allowed Valley View to throw underneath the coverage picking up 15 and 20 yards at a time.  With 1 second left, and Valley View on the Warriors 25 yard line, the Cougars quarterback, threw a pass over the middle for the end zone.    Stan Timinski hurried the Valley View quarterback with a blitz and linebacker Nick Perugini picked the pass off ending the game.  Final score:  Warriors 21 – Valley View 20. Whew!