Flash and steadiness dotted both halves of Friday’s PIAA Class 3A first round game between Scranton Prep and Mifflinburg. For the Wildcats, which entered the game 10-2 after winning its first-ever outright district championship last week, their passing game has been responsible for a lot of that success and it has done so with a lot of flash all year.

But for Scranton Prep, its running game has been responsible for its success this year against a very tough schedule, but it has hit a new level in the playoffs.

After a first half filled with Mifflinburg’s offensive flashiness that Scranton Prep managed to escape down by just a touchdown, the Cavaliers’ steady and consistent running game proved to the difference in the game as the Cavaliers scored a pair of second half touchdowns and held Mifflinburg to just 33 yards in the second half after a 278-yard first half, as the Cavaliers ended Mifflinburg’s historic season with a 28-21 victory.

“I feel like this was the best season in our program’s history and it’s because of the work that they put in, the senior class especially,” said Mifflinburg coach Cody Botts. “It’s a special class with a lot of talent and they put this program back on the map and they’re going to leave a trail for the underclassmen and it’s cliche, but it’s back to work and the success is there for the next class to take and continue to build.”

“It was ugly at times, the kids rallied around each other and I thought we controlled the second half up front, physically,” said Scranton Prep coach Terry Gallagher. “We made a couple small adjustments, and I’m obviously happy with the win but we’ll need to fix a lot of stuff if we want to keep playing.”

It was the Chad Martin-Landen Murray show for most of the first half as Martin threw for 266 of his 298 yards on the night while Murray hauled in six passes for 233 yards and three touchdowns. For the game, Murray finished with seven catches for 245 yards.

Mifflinburg forced and recovered a Scranton Prep fumble on the Cavaliers’ first drive of the game, and then on the first play of the ensuing possession – the Wildcats’ first of the game, Martin hit Murray for an 88-yard pass and perfectly thrown ball that just eluded the Scranton Prep defensive back.

Scranton Prep then turned the ball over on downs on its next drive, giving the ball to the Wildcats at their own 24. Mifflinburg lined up with four receivers in a diamond formation to the right, with Murray isolated to the left against two defenders. Murray split them and ran past both before hauling in another precise delivery from Martin, which he turned into a 76-yard touchdown reception.

“They are like a lot of high school teams, just like us, in that they want to rely on being in their base defense and they have really good athletes just like us, so they were trusting in their athletes and in their scheme to work, but I haven’t seen a better athlete in the state of Pennsylvania than Landen Murray,” said Botts. “Obviously, any time we can get him a deep shot in a one-on-one, we’re going to do it.”

Despite having the ball for a grand total of just :24, and running just two plays to 23 for the Cavaliers, Mifflinburg led 14-0 after the first quarter.

“We came out flat, they caught us on it and did a good job,” said Gallagher. “Murray is a really good player and their quarterback made some great throws.”

Scranton Prep was finally able to finish a drive on its next possession as quarterback Will McPartland capped a 10-play, 65-yard drive that took 5:31 with a five-yard touchdown run at the 9:15 mark of the second quarter.

Mifflinburg then picked up a couple of first downs and drove the ball down to the Scranton Prep 33 before Martin dropped back to pass and was stripe-sacked as he was flushed out of the pocket. Ricky Dewey scooped up the fumble and returned it 49 yards to tie the game 14-14 with 4:52 remaining in the first half.

The Wildcats would answer back immediately as they put together a seven-play, 69-yard drive capped by Martin hitting Murray in the corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown. Murray also hauled in a 43-yard pass on a third down play earlier in the drive.

Mifflinburg then picked off McPartland on the first play of Scranton Prep’s next drive, giving the Wildcats the ball near midfield with 1:30 left in the half.

But the Cavaliers were able to keep the Wildcats from any further scoring. A false start penalty, one of just two assessed to the Wildcats all night, pushed them from a fourth-and-2 to a fourth-and-7 that they failed to convert, and Scranton Prep escaped into the locker room down by just a single score.

“They had us on our heels but we battled back and made some plays and in the second half, I thought we imposed our will physically with the run game and stopped them and did a much better job containing them in the passing game,” said Scranton Prep coach Terry Gallagher. “We threw a couple of different coverages at them in the second half and did a much better job adjusting in the second half.”

The Cavaliers made Mifflinburg go three-and-out on the Wildcats’ first second half drive, and then proceeded to go 86 yards in 11 plays in just under five minutes to tie the game on a McPartland one-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter.

Another three-and-out by the Wildcats gave Scranton Prep the ball at its own 41 with 4:21 left in the third quarter. The Cavaliers then strung together 14 consecutive running plays over the 59 yards in a drive the took 8:20 and was again capped by a one-yard touchdown run by McPartland to give them their first lead of the game, 28-21, with 8:01 remaining. That drive put McPartland over the 100-yard mark, as he finished with 125 yards on 22 carries.

Scranton Prep ran 34 plays in the second half – all runs – compared to just 16 for Mifflinburg. The Cavaliers were also 4-of-5 on fourth down conversions in the second half.

“We were in position as a defense to make stops, we had them stopped in the backfield but just didn’t tackle well, and then the way we closed out the first half – the offense should have scored, we wasted one, and then went three-and-out to start the second half ,” said Botts. “You can’t expect to win big games if you don’t produce on two straight drives and when you’re not tackling and doing the little things right on defense, it’s tough.”

Another three-and-out by Mifflinburg gave Scranton Prep the chance to close it out, but they missed a 45-yard field goal attempt with 1:23 remaining, giving the Wildcats one last chance. They managed to pick up their lone first down of the second half but came up empty on a fourth-and-11 play, sealing the outcome.

“We weren’t consistent offensively in the second half. We couldn’t get in second-and-manageable and then third-and-manageable,” said Botts. “We had some opportunities with some deep shots still on first down but they adjusted their defense on Landen Murray and took some of that deep stuff away. There were still plays there, but we just didn’t take advantage of the plays that were on the table when they were.”

Scranton Prep advances to the state quarterfinals, where it will take on defending state champion Northwestern Lehigh next week in a rematch of the teams’ playoff meeting from last year.

“They’re a good team, they have some really good kids, so we’ll have our hands full,” said Gallagher. “In the state playoffs, you’re not going to play any bad teams. They’re the reigning state champs, so if you want to do something special, you have to come out there and execute and hopefully we’ll play well.”

Scranton Prep 28, Mifflinburg 21
Scranton Prep (8-5) 0 14 7 7 – 28
Mifflinburg (10-3) 14 7 0 0 – 21

First quarter
8:39 – (M) Landen Murray 88-yard pass from Chad Martin (Boyer kick), 1-88, :13
2:46 – (M) Landen Murray 76-yard pass from Chad Martin (Boyer kick), 1-76, :11

Second quarter
9:15 – (SP) Will McPartland 5-yard run (Bianchi kick), 10-65, 5:31
4:52 – (SP) Ricky Dewey 49-yard fumble return (Bianchi kick)
1:43 – (M) Landen Murray 18-yard pass from Chad Martin (Boyer kick), 7-69, 3:09

Third quarter
5:59 – (SP) Will McPartland 1-yard run (Bianchi kick), 11-86, 4:58

Fourth quarter
8:01 – (SP) Will McPartland 1-yard run (Bianchi kick), 14-59, 8:20

Statistics
SP M
First downs 23 9
Rushes-net yards 56-297 16-20
Passing yardage 53 291
Passing 4-8-0-1 13-25-3-0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 3-20 2-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Scranton Prep: Will McPartland (22-125-3), Braedon McPartland (12-96), Noah Krzywiec (11-67), Anthony Prince (9-11), Team (2-(-2)); Mifflinburg: Chad Martin (9-(-1)), Landon Moser (4-8), Seth Hartman (2-10), Landen Murray (1-3)

PASSING: Scranton Prep: Will McPartland (4-8-53-0-1); Mifflinburg: Chad Martin (12-23-298-3-0), Landon Moser (1-1-(-7)-0-0), Team (0-1-0-0-0)

RECEIVING: Scranton Prep: A.J. Croom (1-23), Sean McCormack (1-15), Noah Krzywiec (1-10), Braedon McPartland (1-5); Mifflinburg: Landen Murray (7-245-3), Landon Moser (2-14), Jackson Griffith (2-5), Brady Threet (1-16), Cole Reibsome (1-11)

BERWICK – For eleven consecutive weeks, Berwick was able to play stress-free football with very little difficulty encountered along the way. That came to a screeching halt on Friday night against a Scranton Prep team that looks to be peaking at just the right time. The Cavaliers came to Crispin Field on a mission, and it was all systems go right from the outset. Led by quarterback Will McPartland, Scranton Prep scored on its first four possessions and captured its fifth consecutive District 2 championship thanks to an impressive 42-7 win.

“I think the kids executed,” Scranton Prep coach Terry Gallagher said. “Obviously, we have a pretty dynamic group of guys that all do their little part. It starts with No. 12 (McPartland), I think he sets the tone. He comes out, plays the best in the biggest games, and the kids followed him along the way. That’s what good seniors do. We have a good group of seniors that kind of led us through the whole process, through the tough adversity that we went through. They didn’t pack it in, they didn’t point fingers. They just got back to work, got better, kept working at it, and that’s what you have to do if you want to continue to improve and be a good football team.”

Scranton Prep (7-5) will face District 4 champion Mifflinburg in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs next week. After losing their first three games of the year against a challenging schedule and without McPartland, who was recovering from a torn ACL last season, the Cavaliers have hit their stride. McPartland scored the first of his four rushing touchdowns on a 7-yard run that capped off a 70-yard drive to start the game. The senior was also a handful for the Berwick defense through the air. He connected with Noah Krzywiec on a well-executed screen pass off a reverse flea-flicker that went for a 67-yard gain. McPartland scored on the very next play from three yards out, extending the lead to 14-0 at the 4:19 mark of the opening quarter.

“A huge credit to the guys upfront,” McPartland said. “Our line blocked tremendously tonight, and then when you get running backs going downhill, with those guys pulling and whatnot, they’re a special group and it’s hard to stop.”

Berwick (11-1) had a special teams miscue when a bad snap resulted in a punt that went minus-12 yards, and set up Scranton Prep with outstanding field position. McPartland connected with younger brother Braedon McPartland on an 18-yard screen pass that went for a touchdown. Following an Anthony Croom interception that set up yet another short field, McPartland dropped a perfectly thrown ball into the hands of Braedon McPartland for a 32-yard gain. Once McPartland scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak, the Cavaliers enjoyed a 28-0 lead with 10:43 left in the second quarter.

“They are a good football team,” Berwick coach C.J. Curry said. “They’re more physical than us. They were prepared, and we just didn’t have it. The better football team won tonight, unfortunately, but credit to them and their coaching staff. Like I said before, I think they were the best 6-5 team in the state, and it showed tonight. I’m super proud of our guys for what they’ve done to turn this thing around in two years. It’s going to inspire us to keep working and just get back here.”

McPartland put an exclamation point on his outstanding first half as time expired. With the ball at the Berwick 48, McPartland made a defender miss, escaped trouble, and launched a Hail Mary towards the end zone. His prayer was answered when Mackey Lynett got behind the defense, and made the most of his only reception of the night. McPartland finished the game 9-of-9 passing for 202 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 50 yards on 11 carries.

“I saw my guy Mackey Lynett, and you know, I bought a lot of time, and I knew I was going to throw it up to him,” McPartland said. “He was one-on-one, so I just put all the trust in him, and he made a hell of a play.”

Trailing 42-0, Berwick did finally reach the end zone late in the third quarter. Ty’Meere Wilkerson scored on a 10-yard run for his 40th touchdown of the season. In the final game of his outstanding career, Wilkerson rushed for 145 yards on 25 carries. He will finish the season with over 2,800 yards, and should be a lock for an All-State selection, before taking his talents to New Hampshire next year.

“The best is yet to come for him, for sure,” Curry said of Wilkerson. “For a program that’s been playing since 1888, for him to have those records and do what he did this year, I think he was 70 percent of our offense. Obviously, I’m so proud of him and so blessed to be able to have coached him and get to know him as a young man. The University of New Hampshire has got a great one coming. The best is yet to come for him, and a lot of these guys.”

Following the 0-3 start, Scranton Prep has won seven of its last nine games. The Cavaliers lost two games to schools from New York and Maryland before McPartland got healthy. Since his return, Scranton Prep has knocked off the likes of Jersey Shore, Delaware Valley, and Wyoming Area. North Pocono and Abington Heights are the only teams to beat the Cavaliers, both in very close games. That tough schedule Scranton Prep faced is certainly paying dividends in the postseason.

“The schedule helps you, it’s early in the season,” Gallagher said. “Obviously, what helps is getting your best player back. Our younger guys during those three weeks learned a ton of football, and they’re going to be really good football players, I firmly believe that and I think our staff does as well. But when you really get a special kid like that back, then you’re able to put all the pieces where we anticipated them being. We’re going to try to prepare the kids to go play football games and win, I don’t care who we’re playing. Luckily, the kids stuck with it, fought, and we were able to continue to win and get another district championship.”

Scranton Prep 21 14 7 0-42
Berwick 0 0 7 0-7

Individual Scoring
First Quarter
SP-Will McPartland 7 run (Tyler Bianchi kick) 9:26
SP- W. McPartland 3 run (Bianchi kick) 4:19
SP-Braedon McPartland 18 pass from W. McPartland (Bianchi kick) 1:01

Second Quarter
SP-W. McPartland 1 run (Bianchi kick) 10:43
SP-Mackey Lynett 48 pass from W. McPartland (Bianchi kick) :00

Third Quarter
SP-W. McPartland 1 run (Bianchi kick) 5:50
B-Ty’Meere Wilkerson 10 run (Caleb Yost kick) 3:11

Team Statistics
……………………………SP…………………B
1st downs……………13…………………11
rush-yds……………24-140……….35-173
comp-att-int…..10-13-0………….2-7-2
pass yds…………..226……………….(-3)
total yds……………366………………170
fumb-lost………….0-0……………….2-0
pen-yds……………..4-44…………….4-45

Individual Statistics
Rushing:
Scranton Prep: Braedon McPartland 4-56; Will McPartland 11-50, 4 TDs; Anthony Prince 4-16; Noah Krzywiec 2-13; Caleb Rutkoski 2-5; Salvatore Talarico 1-0.
Berwick: Ty’Meere Wilkerson 25-145, TD; Caleb May 4-25; Conner Roberts 2-10; Ashton Smith 1-4; Brady Cleaver 3-(-9).

Passing:
Scranton Prep: W. McPartland 9-9, 225 yds., 2 TDs; Oliver Swingle 1-2-0, 1 yd.; Owen Jeffers 0-1-0; Team 0-1-0.
Berwick: Cleaver 2-7-2, (-3) yds.

Receiving:
Scranton Prep: B. McPartland 5-98, TD; Krzywiec 3-81; Mackey Lynett 1-48, TD; Jaxsen Silfee 1-1.
Berwick: Alex Estrella 1-4; Everett Snyder 1-(-7).

PLAINS — Two buckets of water in hand, Ciro Cinti’s Wilkes-Barre Area football players sneakily got in position behind their head coach. And in one swift motion, those two buckets of water were dumped over the veteran coach’s head.

On a night where everything was already wet and cold because of a steady rain shower which moved through the area, those two buckets of water still caught Cinti off guard. But it was a bath well worth it.

Wilkes-Barre won its first subregional championship Friday night defeating Williamsport, 41-14, in the District 2/4 Class 6A championship game. Jake Howe threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more as he passed Berwick’s Ron Powlus for the most career passing yards in Wyoming Valley Conference history. And the Wolfpack were a picture of efficiency as they avenged a loss to the Millionaires from two weeks ago, and a loss in this same subregional final a year ago.

“If we didn’t win this game, it would have been a black mark on our season,” Cinti said. “We’re going to be playing a special team next week, but it doesn’t matter because we got this far and we got further than any team in Wilkes-Barre Area history has gone.”

Wilkes-Barre’s reward for last night’s win is a date next week at District 6 champion State College. The Little Lions won their own subregional last night, defeating McDowell (Erie), 41-7.

“This meant everything to us,” Wilkes-Barre’s Treyvon Gembitski said. “Two weeks ago when we played them, things just didn’t go as planned, and sometimes it goes like that. But we came out tonight and we knew what the mission was. We knew what we wanted and we were all on the same page. And when we’re all on the same page, the Wolfpack is scary.”

Wilkes-Barre’s efficient offense which averaged more than 6 yards per play may get the headlines, especially as Howe checked off another accomplishment in his career by passing Powlus. But it was what the Wolfpack did defensively which stood out.

Two weeks ago the Millionaires scored 28 points and threw for more than 200 yards. Quarterback Tevin Williams extended plays and completed 65% of his attempts to keep Wilkes-Barre on its heels. Friday night, while Williams was on the run again thanks to a relentless Wolfpack pass rush, he had nowhere to go with the football.

Wilkes-Barre contained the lanky sophomore with a howitzer on his right shoulder, not allowing him to run around to gain yards and move the sticks. And in the secondary, Wilkes-Barre locked down receivers at all levels of the defense. Williams completed just 8 of 29 passes for 71 yards Friday night. He ran for just 25 more yards. And the Millionaires’ lone touchdown with both first teams on the field was a masterclass of making something out of nothing by Williams. But it wasn’t sustainable over 48 minutes.

“We know (Williams) is a good player and a good athlete, but we wanted to contain him and we did,” said Gembitski, who forced a fumble and intercepted a pass. “Our defensive line played outstanding. I can’t be any more proud of them.”

“We put in a couple different schemes to keep him in the box because he killed us last time getting outside with his legs,” Cinti said. “We limited those big plays and that was the key.”

With the Williamsport offense stalling more than a car that ran out of gas, the Wilkes-Barre offense did what it does best and got the football in its playmakers’ hands. Howe and Davon Underwood beat a blitz in the first quarter with a swing pass which the running back took 32 yards untouched for a touchdown. Howe found Kevon Creech on a deep ball for a 37-yard gain to the Williamsport 1 which Howe punched in on the next play. And the Wolfpack took advantage of a fourth-down offsides penalty on the Millionaires to extend a drive in the red zone and add an Underwood touchdown run to go up 21-0 less than 14 minutes into the game.

Howe distributed the football to his legions of playmakers like a basketball point guard. He got the ball in their hands with room to operate, and his teammates took over from there. Howe completed his 17 passes to five receivers, all of which caught multiple balls. Underwood, Creech and Gembitski each scored touchdowns, and each in a different manner.

Underwood utilized the open space of the swing pass. Creech caught a dime of a fade pass from Howe for a 20-yard score. And Gembitski danced through the Williamsport secondary on a bubble screen to score from 9 yards out.

Howe finished 17 of 30 for 243 yards, giving him 7,370 career passing yards. His mark surpassed the 7,339 throw for by Powlus, the 1992 Gatorade National Player of the Year for Berwick. Howe now has that record to go with the WVC career touchdown passes record which he broke earlier this season.

“I’m just distributing to the guys,” Howe said. “I’m having a blast. It’s like I’m a basketball player and I have 20 assists a game. We have five, six, seven, eight guys that could play and can all start, and they’re all big playmakers in the open field.”

“He’s the best quarterback I’ve ever played with,” Gembitski said. “He can make any throw on the field, short, medium, or deep. Everybody here knows they can trust Jake because he’s been doing it since he was 14 on this field.”

Williamsport never really did find an answer for the Wolfpack’s offense. Wilkes-Barre scored a pair of touchdowns in each of the first three quarters before taking its foot off the gas when it invoked the mercy rule in the third quarter. And from there, the celebration was on, including the drenching of Cinti.

“When we lost this game last year we said we were going to come back and win it this time,” Cinti said. “We have all these different things on a board that we want to accomplish, and this is another check mark for us.”

Wilkes-Barre 42, Williamsport 14
Williamsport 0 7 0 7 – 14
Wilkes-Barre 14 14 14 0 – 42

First quarter
WBA—Davon Underwood 32 pass from Jake Howe (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 8:53
WBA—Howe 1 run (Sanchez kick), 2:27

Second quarter
WBA—Underwood 5 run (Sanchez kick), 10:52
Will—Tevin Williams 2 run (Brayden Ungard kick), 5:25
WBA—Kevon Creech 20 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 1:46

Third quarter
WBA—Howe 15 run (Sanchez kick), 9:21
WBA—Treyvon Gembitski 9 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 5:23

Fourth quarter
Will—Giovanni White 1 run (Ungard kick), 3:38

Wil WBA
First downs 11 16
Rushes-yds 26-96 25-93
Com-att-int 8-29-1 17-30-1
Pass yards 71 243
Total yards 167 336
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-65 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Williamsport, Giovanni White, 15-68, TD; Tevin Williams, 10-25, TD; Trey Damschroder, 1-3. Wilkes-Barre, Jake Howe, 11-79, 2 TDs; Davon Underwood, 3-12, TD; Gene Ardo, 3-2; Kelan Slivinski, 1-2; Dominic Mercadante, 1-2; Josiah Cannon, 1-2; Quadri Hubbard Jones, 1-(-2); Team, 1-(-4).

Passing—Williamsport, Williams, 8-29-1, 71 yds. Wilkes-Barre, Howe, 17-30-1, 243 yds., 3 TDs.

Receiving—Williamsport, Damschroder, 4-46; Lucas Naughton, 1-10; Brayden Ungard, 1-10; White, 1-7; Delante Haberstroh-Stotts, 1-(-2). Wilkes-Barre, Kevon Creech, 4-70, TD; Underwood, 4-48, TD; Jordan Kieselowsky, 4-41; Jonathan Otway-Kellom, 3-27; Treyvon Gembitski, 2-57, TD.

INTERCEPTIONS—Williamsport, Naughton; Wilkes-Barre, Gembitski.

RECORDS: Williamsport (6-6); Wilkes-Barre (8-4).

WEST PITTSTON — The football laid on the ground all by its lonesome on the Wyoming Area 25-yard line early in the second quarter. The product of a wind gust which knocked the ball down before it ever got to a Warriors return man, the loose football was free for anyone to recover.

For Scranton Prep, it was an opportunity. And when the Cavaliers’ Brandon Farmer jumped on the ball without obstruction, it was disaster for Wyoming Area. Prep had just taken a two-score lead and was starting to find its offensive rhythm. Now it was knocking on the door of the red zone with a chance to make the Warriors’ 14-point deficit even bigger.

Prep needed just two plays to cash in the opportunity, and the writing was on the wall for the way Friday night’s District 2 Class 3A semifinal was going to play out. The Cavaliers dominated every facet of the game and posted a 42-0 win at Jake Sobeski Field. The 6-5 Cavaliers now get a shot at their fifth consecutive District 2 championship next week in a season where it started 0-3. Prep travels to unbeaten Berwick next week for the district title game. The Bulldogs won the other 3A semifinal, 49-9, over Hanover Area.

“I’m proud of our kids. But, you know, enjoy it until (Saturday) and then you have to get back to work,” Prep coach Terry Gallagher said. “We’re going to face another really good football team next week. My hope is we got better this week, and we still have to get better next week because we want to continue to play.”

Coincidentally, it was an unintentional onsides kick a week ago which ended up spring-boarding Wyoming Area to a win in its season finale against rival Pittston. But Tyler Bianchi’s second-quarter kickoff Friday following the second Will McPartland touchdown run looked nothing like an onsides kick. The football hovered into a gust of wind which stole every ounce of momentum, and it fell between the upbacks and the Warriors’ three dangerous kick returners.

For a second or two, the ball sat on the grass along just begging for anyone to pick it up. Enter Farmer, a sophomore who has been special teams ace for the Cavaliers all season. Even once he jumped on the ball, nobody really jumped on him as he had the ball all for himself.

Two plays later, McPartland handed the ball to Noah Krzywiec on a jet sweep to the left. Krzywiec initially bobbled the handoff before corralling it with his left hand behind his back. He then outran the Wyoming Area defense to the corner and tightroped the sideline like a member of the Wallenda family to get inside the pylon for a 25-yard scoring run.

All of a sudden, Prep’s lead was 21-0. Wyoming Area hadn’t sniffed the end zone to that point, and it just allowed two scores in a matter of 17 seconds of game time. All of a sudden, the district semifinal had quite the dour feel for the Warriors.

“Brandon is a maniac on special teams for us. He’s gonna be a really good football player, and I thought he made a huge play for us right there,” Gallagher said. “He probably had five tackles on special teams today and he’s done it the last couple of weeks for us.”

“Yeah, that was a big play at the time, but we still had some opportunities,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “We had a couple forced turnovers and chances to create some plays, and we just didn’t capitalize on some of our opportunities.”
Three times in the first half Wyoming Area penetrated Prep’s side of the field, but its only real scoring opportunity ended 27 yards from the goal line when the first half clock ran out. The Warriors averaged less than 3 yards per play in the first half while Scranton Prep was churning out more than 10 yards a play and more than 18 yards per completion.

The 147 yards rushing by Wyoming Area was its third-lowest total of the season, and its 4.2 yards per carry was its fewest since a loss to Berwick in Week 6. Every time it felt like the Warriors had a crease for running back Nick Ciampi or quarterback Jack Gravine, the whole was quickly closed by a Prep defense which not only hit like a runaway Mack truck, but also flew to the football with the quickness and shiftiness of a gnat.

Wyoming Area was shut out at home for the first time since suffering a 21-0 defeat to Honesdale on Sept. 2, 2022.

“I thought our front seven played really well,” Gallagher said. “There were a couple times I thought we overpursued a little bit and Wyoming Area was able to cut it back. So that’s something we still have to work on. But again, they played really well.”

“When you’re playing against that level of players, yeah you have some things initially, but they run to the ball and they close things,” Spencer said. “Those plays that are big gainers against other team, they minimize against a team like that. It’s the physicality, the hustle of running to the ball play in and play out. They certainly did a good job of executing that.”

The three-score lead in the second quarter was more than enough, but the Prep offense operated at peak efficiency all night. McPartland completed 11 of 13 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half.

The Cavaliers picked apart the Warriors defense with a short passing game and continuous screen passes which left Prep receivers in one-on-one situations with defenders. And quite often, they won that matchup to gain extra yards.

“They put a bunch of guys in the box to try and slow the run game down,” Gallagher said of Wyoming Area’s defense. “So we thought we had opportunities in our one-on-one matchups, including some of the things we do in terms of crossing routes, and we executed it. The kids made plays and then it opened up some stuff in terms of the run game in the second half.”

Now, a Cavaliers team which had to battle just to finish the regular season at .500 thanks to a brutal early-season schedule and waiting for McPartland to return from a torn ACL, seems to be clicking on all cylinders. They took out a nine-win Wyoming Area team by rolling up nearly 400 yards of offense and keeping one of the best running games in District 2 from hitting the home runs it has hit so often in recent weeks.

“I don’t think our record is indicative of who we are as a team, but you can cry and whine about how we should have done this or that,” Gallagher said. “You have two choices. You can sit here crying and point fingers at people, or you can toughen up, suck it up, get off the ground, and start working. And if you do that, you get better. And my hope is that we’ve done that and we’ll continue to do that.”

Scranton Prep 42, Wyoming Area 0
Scranton Prep 7 21 14 0 – 42
Wyoming Area 0 0 0 0 – 0

First quarter
SP—Will McPartland 4 run (Tyler Bianchi kick), 7:23

Second quarter
SP—McPartland 16 run (Bianchi kick), 8:53
SP—Noah Krzywiec 25 run (Bianchi kick), 8:36
SP—AJ Croom 22 pass from McPartland (Bianchi kick), 1:09

Third quarter
SP—Anthony Prince 5 run (Bianchi kick), 9:35
SP—Prince 40 run (Zach Scoblick kick), 1:07

SP WA
First downs 13 10
Rushes-yds 28-184 35-147
Com-att-int 11-13-1 3-11-2
Pass yards 204 26
Total yards 388 173
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-20 2-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Scranton Prep, Anthony Prince, 5-68, 2 TDs; Noah Krzywiec, 3-30, TD; Owen McPartland, 4-27; Brandon Farmer, 3-21; Will McPartland, 6-20, 2 TDs; Owen Jeffers, 3-9; Braedon McPartland, 3-6; Ethan Barrett, 1-3. Wyoming Area, Jack Gravine, 14-57; Nick Ciampi, 13-47; Nicholas Kondrosky, 4-26; Dominic Bartell, 1-9; Jamari Yates, 1-6; Trustin Johnson, 2-2.

Passing—Scranton Prep, W. McPartland, 11-13-1, 204 yds., TD. Wyoming Area, Gravine, 3-10-2, 26 yds.; Team, 0-1-0.

Receiving—Scranton Prep, B. McPartland, 4-97; Krzywiec, 3-26; AJ Croom, 2-43, TD; Sean McCormack, 1-34; Mackey Lynett, 1-4. Wyoming Area, Ciampi, 2-22; Luke Kopetchny, 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS—Scranton Prep (2), Croom, Charlie Speicher. Wyoming Area (1), Kopetchny.

RECORDS: Scranton Prep (6-5); Wyoming Area (9-2).

WEST PITTSTON — Hudson Sharpe laid the football sideways on the kicking tee. He had no intention of kicking the football deep to a trio of dangerous Pittston returners.

Was the Wyoming Area freshman’s intention to make an onside kick attempt? Maybe not. But it worked out that way.

Sharpe recovered the loose football at midfield late in the first quarter with Wyoming Area trailing by nine points. From that moment forward, the Warriors outscored the rival Patriots by 28 points on its way to a 41-22 win at Jake Sobeski Stadium on Friday night.

Wyoming Area closes the season 9-1 and will host Scranton Prep next week in the PIAA District 2 3A semifinals. Pittston closes its regular season with an 8-2 mark, its most wins since 2022. But the loss Friday night cost the Patriots the top seed in the District 2 5A playoffs, and Pittston will host Delaware Valley in a semifinal next week.

“That onside kick was a game-changer,” Pittston coach Paul Russick said. “You know, it’s a momentum-based game, and we lost our steam a little bit there. Credit to Wyoming Area.”

Pittston pulled ahead quickly thanks to a Brody Spindler 37-yard run that set up the first of his two touchdown runs, and a Lucas LoPresto 75-yard scoring run. The Patriots were ahead 15-0 in the game’s first 7 minutes while Wyoming Area was spinning its wheels.

But the Warriors settled in after LoPresto’s touchdown run. Quarterback Jack Gravine converted a third-and-10 with a 26-yard screen pass to Josh Mruk, and Nick Ciampi (25 carries, 227 yards) scored on the next play to get the Warriors on the board.

That’s when Spencer sent Sharpe out to kick. The freshman laid the football sideways on the tee rather than propping it upright and he nudged it down the field for a squib kick. But none of the Patriots front line were able to jump on the ball. And after a brief scramble, Sharpe himself came out of the pile with a football and thrust all the momentum back in Wyoming Area’s favor.

And when Gravine scored on a 15-yard run four plays later, even though the Warriors still trailed, the football game felt different.

“So (the onside kick), wasn’t necessarily called, but it worked out,” Spencer said. “It’s a great hustle play by Hudson.”

And even though Pittston extended its lead on its next possession thanks in part to Spindler’s 82-yard run to set up his second touchdown, Wyoming Area was in control of the game because of the consistency with which its running game was gashing the Pittston defense. Ciampi, who had his third 100-yard rushing game in his last four games last night, posted a career high with 227 yards. He averaged better than 9 yards a carry, he had eight totes go for more than 10 yards, four of which went for more than 20 yards.

His 22-yard run help set the table for Gravine to find Luke Kopetchny on a pretty back-shoulder fade for a 15-yard touchdown pass just before the half to get the Warriors within 22-19. Ciampi had runs of 7, 42 and 8 yards before he got into the end zone from 2 yards out on the Warriors’ first drive of the second half for a 26-22 lead.

After a short punt and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Ciampi needed just one play to get into the end zone from 17 yards out to extend the Wyoming Area lead to 34-22. The Warriors’ offensive line continually gave Ciampi truck-sized holes off tackle, and the senior who is listed as a receiver on the roster, shot through the gap like a canon.

After never having run for 100 yards in his career prior to Week 7, Ciampi has gained 552 yards on 49 carries over the last four weeks. Not coincidentally, the Warriors are 4-0 in those games.

“Our offensive line is very physical, and not just on the interior,” Spencer said. “(Tight end) Josh Mruk is one of the best players in the state, and if you really focus on what he does on the edge as a tight end blocking, he was able to consistently open up space throughout the game.”

“It was just a numbers game, you know?” Russick said. “Luke Kopetchny commands a lot of attention and we didn’t want him to beat us. But credit to Nick Ciampi. He ran really hard. They wore us down in the second half.”

But Wyoming Area didn’t just pull away on offense it shut down a Pittston offense which had gained 201 yards on its first 12 snaps (16.75 yards per play) thanks in part to a trio of long runs. But over its final 39 plays, the Patriots gained just 132 yards (3.38 yards per play).

“You know, to be down by 15 early and then outscore them 41-7 the rest of the way, I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Spencer said. “This is a huge stage against an outstanding football team in Pittston Area, but the mental toughness we showed, and the grit and fight, I couldn’t be more proud.”

Wyoming Area 41, Pittston 22
Pittston 15 7 0 0 – 22
Wyoming Area 6 13 15 7 – 41

First quarter
PA—Brody Spindler 1 run (Spindler run), 8:52
PA—Lucas LoPresto 75 run (Cole Baldwin kick), 4:58
WA—Nick Ciampi 10 run (pass failed), 1:50

Second quarter
WA—Jack Gravine 15 run (Ava Musinski kick), 11:52
PA—Spindler 1 run (Baldwin kick), 9:52
WA—Luke Kopetchny 15 pass from Gravine (kick blocked), :42

Third quarter
WA—Ciampi 2 run (Musinski kick), 8:45
WA—Ciampi 17 run (Donovan Miller pass from Kopetchny), 4:13

Fourth quarter
WA—Gravine 1 run (Musinski kick), 4:02

PA WA
First downs 12 17
Rushes-yds 41-236 48-346
Com-att-int 3-10-1 3-9-0
Pass yards 97 54
Total yards 333 400
Fumbles-lost 3-1 1-0
Penalties-yards 5-20 9-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Pittston, Brody Spindler, 20-154, 2 TDs; Lucas LoPresto, 7-76, TD; Santino Capitano, 8-18; Jude Ferentino, 2-3; Deondre Miller, 1-2; Kayden Bailey, 1-0; Paulie Ferentino, 2-(-17). Wyoming Area, Nick Ciampi, 25-227, 3 TDs; Trustin Johnson, 6-60; Jack Gravine, 14-52, 2 TDs; Donovan Miller, 2-8; Team, 1-(-1).

Passing—Pittston, Capitano, 2-8-1, 88 yds.; LoPresto, 1-2-0, 9 yds. Wyoming Area, Gravine, 3-9-0, 54 yds., TD.

Receiving—Pittston, Billy Dessoye, 1-45; LoPresto, 1-43; Malkolm Blackshear, 1-9. Wyoming Area, Josh Mruk, 1-26; Luke Kopetchny, 1-15, TD; Johnson, 1-13.

INTERCEPTIONS—Wyoming Area, Hudson Sharpe.

RECORDS: Pittston (8-2, 5-0 WVC-I); Wyoming Area (9-1, 4-1 WVC-II).

ALMEDIA – Earlier this year, Holy Redeemer broke a 24-game losing streak and posted its first win since late in the 2022 season. Since that win over Susquehanna back in Week 4, the Royals have come close to picking up their second win, including dropping back-to-back games by just one possession.

On Saturday afternoon, against a Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech team that is down several players due to injury and attrition and had been shutout in each of its last two games, the Royals were able to finally notch that elusive second win, as they battled back from a slow start to score three touchdowns in the third quarter, and combined with its defense that created three turnovers, was more than enough to propel them to a 38-12 win over the Rams.

“Those two losses, we had the ball with under a minute to play and lost but when you’re turning a program around after a long losing streak, it’s hard, you need to learn how to win and play four quarters, get some breaks, things like that,” said Holy Redeemer coach Vito Quaglia. “We came into this game a little banged up. Brady McDermott at quarterback was a little dinged up, so we had to use Lucas Shrader a little bit, and he did a great job for us. Kids are stepping up and slowly but surely, we’re making steps in the right direction and it was a good team win today.”

McDermott played most of the game but rotated some plays and series with Shrader, who ran for 47 yards on six carries and had a touchdown. McDermott completed just 6-of-15 passes but those six completions went for 160 yards and some big plays and key spots flipped the field, particularly in the second half.

Varner installed a new defense last week, both to try something new after being shutout the last two weeks, and also to counter the Royals’ passing game. And for the first half, it worked pretty well.

CMVT stopped Holy Redeemer on its first four possessions of the game, including on a 13-play, 50-yard drive that was stalled on downs at the CMVT 5-yard line at the 4:28 mark of the second quarter. But from that point, the Royals then scored on five of their next six possessions to completely flip the scoreboard.

“We put in a new defense this week and everyone responded and played really well. I think the second half, we got worn down a little and they found a couple of our more inexperienced guys and made a couple of big plays,” said Varner. “But, I’m proud of what we did in this game, especially compared to the last four games, we played well for four quarters. We have some holes with all the guys we’re missing and if a team finds those holes, or we make a mistake with a fumble or interception, bad things happen.”

The Rams committed three turnovers, and although just one of them directly led to points for the Royals, one was in Holy Redeemer territory on CMVT’s first drive of the game, and the other was directly before the third turnover, which did lead to a Royal touchdown that largely put the game away late.

Despite the early giveaway, the Rams managed to hold onto a lead for most of the first half, as a late first quarter five-yard touchdown run by Myles Koser gave the Rams a 6-0 – the result of Holy Redeemer’s lone turnover of the contest.

After the Rams stopped the Royals at their 5-yard line, CMVT punted on its subsequent possession, and the Royals took over at their own 35. On the first play, Brady McDermott hit Kevin Arroyo for a 52-yard reception to flip the field, and three plays later, Wildy Rodriguez punched it in for the score from three yards out, and with a successful two-point conversion, the Royals took an 8-6 lead into halftime.

Another big play through the air on the Royals’ second play from scrimmage of the second half after receiving the second half kickoff made it a 10-point game, as McDermott hit Kaden Sepkoski for a 47-yard touchdown pass and then ran it in himself for the two-point conversion.

“Early on, the field position hurt us, we were a little buried down there, but once we got the field position in our favor, we were able to do a little bit more,” said Quaglia. “Today, we were very proud of the fact that we ran the ball. We haven’t been able to run the ball all year, our running backs have been banged up. Today, we had all of our running backs healthy at the beginning of the game. Wildy ran well for us and did some good stuff and when you can run the ball, that opens up a little more passing.”

Following another Ram punt, Holy Redeemer took over at the CMVT 35 and in six plays, scored another touchdown on a one-yard run by Shrader to make it 24-6 at the 7:44 mark of the third quarter.

CMVT answered that score with a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive to cut the lead to 24-12 on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Koser to Blake Sponenberg. But the Royals answered right back with a 62-yard scoring drive in six plays, capped by a 16-yard touchdown run by David Jackiel with :32 left in the third quarter. Another big passing play flipped the field on that drive, this one a 33-yard reception by Mike Zbierski that advanced the Royals from their own 42 to the CMVT 25.

The Royals then forced back-to-back turnovers by the Rams. First, Josh Grochowski made an interception at the Royal 37-yard line. After Holy Redeemer’s ensuing drive went backwards, the Rams muffed a punt at midfield to give it right back to the Royals. They were able to take advantage this time around, as they went the rest of the way down the field in six plays, with Jackiel recording his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon from 11 yards.

A big reason for Holy Redeemer’s dominance in the second half was its running game. After managing just 34 yards on the ground in the first half, the Royals posted 102 rushing yards in the second half.

“We installed this defense for their passing game that we saw on film but the plays we were making in the first half, we just weren’t making in the second half,” said Varner. “They just pounded out the first downs and we just couldn’t get that play for a loss to get them behind the chains. With what we had out there, though, I’m happy with it and the work that they put in. It was a competitive game and our guys played hard and sometimes the scoreboard is disappointing but if you can be competitive and work hard, that’s all I can ask for.”

Holy Redeemer 38, Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech 12
Holy Redeemer (2-7) 0 8 23 7 – 38
CMVT (3-6) 6 0 6 0 – 12

First quarter
1:12 – (VT) Myles Koser 5-yard run (pass failed), 3-18, :48

Second quarter
:40 – (HR) Wildy Rodriguez 3-yard run (McDermott run), 4-65, :47

Third quarter
11:06 – (HR) Kaden Sepkoski 47-yard pass from Brady McDermott (McDermott run), 2-48, :54
7:44 – (HR) Lucas Shrader 1-yard run (Grochowski pass from McDermott), 6-35, 1:47
3:39 – (VT) Blake Sponenberg 15-yard pass from Myles Koser (pass failed), 9-75, 4:05
:32 – (HR) David Jackiel 16-yard run (Mohutsky kick), 6-62, 3:07

Fourth quarter
5:56 – (HR) David Jackiel 11-yard run (Mohutski kick), 6-55, 4:20

Statistics
HR VT
First downs 19 14
Rushes-net yards 40-136 30-75
Passing yardage 158 127
Passing 7-16-1-0 7-21-1-1
Fumbles-lost 2-1 6-2
Penalties-yards 8-60 5-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Holy Redeemer: Wildy Rodriguez (14-78-1), David Jackiel (8-32-2), Lucas Shrader (6-47-1), Nathan Orlando (5-12), Team (3-(-32)), Brady McDermott (2-(-1)), Ryan Zelinka (1-7), Nathan Long (1-(-7)); CMVT: Matthew Allen (19-69), Myles Koser (8-5-1), Charlie Sego (2-2), Team (1-(-1))

PASSING: Holy Redeemer: Brady McDermott (6-15-160-1-0), Lucas Shrader (1-1-(-2)-0-0); CMVT: Myles Koser (7-21-127-1-1)

RECEIVING: Holy Redeemer: Kaden Sepkoski (3-66-1), Kevin Arroyo (2-50), Mike Zbierski (2-42); CMVT: Blake Sponenberg (4-65-1), Axton Koser (2-51), Charlie Sego (1-11)