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).