PLAINS — The football floated into the hands of Scranton’s Elijah Ortiz as if he were a center fielder hauling in a can-of-corn fly ball. He was the only one who could catch the pass from Wilkes-Barre Area quarterback Jake Howe, and he made the most of his opportunity.
Ortiz, who already had one long touchdown earlier in Friday night’s football opener, took off from the left hashmark toward the right sideline. One block gave Ortiz all the room he needed to run. And from there, Ortiz glided into the end zone.
The senior defensive back put an exclamation point on Scranton’s 35-27 win over the Wolfpack on Friday with the scintillating interception return for a touchdown. It was the second of the half for the Knights who overcame a 27-point second quarter by Wilkes-Barre to pick up its second consecutive win over the Wolfpack.
“Two pick-sixes in a game like that is crucial,” Scranton coach Steve Shumbres said. “Those pick-sixes by (Chris) Chandler and Ortiz were huge for our team.”
Somehow, just calling them huge still seemed like a massive understatement. This was a Scranton team that looked as if it was dead in the water as it walked to the locker room at halftime. The 14-0 lead the Knights had built with explosive football in the first quarter was erased by an equally explosive Wilkes-Barre offense in the second quarter.
Howe threw a trio of touchdown passes in the second stanza, all to different receivers, and Davon Underwood ignited the home crowd with a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown. And when Howe’s final touchdown pass with 13 seconds left in the first half gave Wilkes-Barre a 27-14 lead at halftime, there didn’t seem to be much life to Scranton.
The offensive and defensive lines which dominated the first quarter, failed to make an impact in the second quarter. An offense that was fueled by a 67-yard scoring pass to Ortiz and a brilliant catch after adjusting to an underthrown ball by Adrien Johns, had no zip in the second quarter. And it didn’t appear as if any were about to return.
“We played as bad as we could have played in the second quarter, and I think everyone who was here knows that,” Shumbres said. “We know that. And I think Wilkes-Barre knows that.”
“I thought our young kids played well at times and played like freshmen and sophomores at times,” Wilkes-Barre coach Ciro Cinti said. “We have some good, young kids. Davon is only a sophomore. (Treyvon) Gembitski is a sophomore. (Howe) is a sophomore. But they have to mature and cut down on the mistakes because that’s what killed us.”
Scranton put some life back in its sideline with a physical 10-play drive to open the second half. It covered all 60 yards on the ground capped with a Memphis Shotto 9-yard touchdown run. And just 80 seconds later, Chandler made the first of four huge defensive plays in the second half when he jumped a seam route for an interception and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.
Chandler, who isn’t a starter, recorded the interception, three sacks, and a forced fumble all in the second half for the Knights.
“He was just supposed to be a guy who was going to come in and give us reps, but he got better as the game went on,” Shumbres said. “Chris is just an all-around great athlete and the plays he made were even better as the game went on.”
Chandler’s interception return for a touchdown gave Scranton the lead back, 28-27. And the Knights’ physical defense earned four second-half sacks. And it was that pressure that forced Howe off his spot and scrambling to his right with only 4 minutes left in the game and the Wolfpack still trailing by a point.
Howe threw one up for grabs on second-and-15 as he scrambled, and only Ortiz was there to catch. Seventy-six yards later he stood in the end zone with Scranton’s win all but iced.
“Both those interceptions are disappointing only because we had opportunities to make tackles and we didn’t,” Cinti said. “(Howe) was trying to make a play and I’m not blaming anyone for anything. But on the other end of that, we have to make a tackle. We did a horrendous job of tackling.”
Scranton 35, Wilkes-Barre 27
Scranton 14 0 14 7 – 35
Wilkes-Barre 0 27 0 0 – 27
First quarter
S—Elijah Ortiz 67 pass from Billy Maloney (run failed), 9:05
S—Adrien Johns 24 pass from Maloney (Chris Chandler pass from Maloney), 2:27
Second quarter
WB—Treyvon Gembitski 11 pass from Jake Howe (Jaedyn Sanchez kick), 10:30
WB—Davon Underwood 16 pass from Howe (Sanchez kick), 9:05
WB—Underwood 66 punt return (Sanchez kick), 6:35
WB—Gabe Saracino 2 pass from Howe (pass failed), :13
Third quarter
S—Memphis Shotto 9 run (Emran Ahmetbag kick), 6:11
S—Chris Chandler 41 interception return (Emran Ahmetbag kick), 4:56
Fourth quarter
S—Ortiz 76 interception return (Emran Ahmetbag kick), 3:47
Scr WB
First downs 13 14
Rushes-yds 36-135 35-149
Com-att-int 4-10-1 8-20-2
Pass yards 121 87
Total yards 256 236
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 5-30 3-20
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Scranton, Memphis Shotto, 10-60, TD; Elijah Ortiz, 5-46; Billy Maloney, 18-31; Declan Gregor, 1-0; Team, 2-(-2). Wilkes-Barre, Davon Underwood, 13-61; Howie Shiner, 10-50; Jake Howe, 7-26; Jordan Kieselowsky, 5-12.
Passing—Scranton, Billy Maloney, 4-10-1, 121 yds., 2 TDs. Wilkes-Barre, Jake Howe, 8-20-2, 87 yds., 3 TDs.
Receiving—Scranton, Memphis Shotto, 2-30; Elijah Ortiz, 1-67, TD; Adrien Johns, 1-24, TD. Wilkes-Barre, Gabe Saracino, 3-35, TD; Jovan Goodwin, 2-20; Davon Underwood, 1-16, TD; Treyvon Gembitski, 1-11, TD; Nick Saracino, 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS—Scranton, Chris Chandler, Elijah Ortiz; Wilkes-Barre, Howie Shiner.
RECORDS: Wilkes-Barre (0-1); Scranton (1-0).
