MOUNTAIN TOP — Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli emerged from a postgame conversation with Wyoming Valley West coach Bob Stelma and shook his head and let out a sigh.
“It’s been a long time since we had one of these,” the fifth-year Comets coach said of his team’s 17-7 win over the Spartans. “We haven’t had a win since November. So this feels good.”
It was a little easier to be light-hearted after his defending District 2 champions finally broke into the win column in the fourth week of the season. Arcangeli wasn’t wrong. Before Friday night, Crestwood hadn’t won a game since it defeated Bonner-Prendergast in the state tournament last November.
Its first three games of this season ended in seven-point losses to Valley View, Dallas and Wyoming Area. But the Comets overcame a first half Friday in which it ran just 12 offensive snaps by getting a pair of Jaden Shedlock touchdown runs in the second half. And their defense limited Wyoming Valley West to just 57 yards in the second half.
“Players win games. Our kids made plays,” Arcangeli said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our players and happy for them because last November is a long time ago, and I’m really glad we’re able to celebrate tonight.”
The first three weeks have been challenging for the Comets. They lost by seven points each to three teams who are a combined 11-0. But Arcangeli and his team were tired of hearing about tough losses.
So they made some adjustments to their defense after giving up 42 points to Dallas two weeks ago and 266 rushing yards to Wyoming Area a week ago. Those adjustments led to holding an explosive Wyoming Valley West offense to just seven points.
Even in a first half where the Spartans outgained the Comets, 195-76, Crestwood still allowed only seven points because the Spartans missed one field goal attempt and had a high snap on another. It didn’t matter that the Comets allowed 124 rushing yards to Isaiah Cobb, or that it was outgained in yardage for the game. Because when the night was done, only Lucas Zdancewicz’s 1-yard touchdown run was on the scoreboard for Valley West.
“Our defensive change this week was kind of bend but don’t break because we’ve been a little renegade the first few weeks,” Arcangeli said. “We have to make plays, and we have to make splash plays. We have to dial up some things and take chances when we can, and when we did, we got home.”
“We’re going to look at the film, but there’s some blown assignments there, and some reads that were not read,” Valley West coach Bob Stelma said. “We just had some mental errors. I was proud of the way the guys played, it’s just the little things that cost us.”
Valley West’s best defensive effort in the first half was just to keep the ball out of the Comets’ hands. The Spartans had a 35-12 advantage in plays run in the first half. Of Crestwood’s 75 first-half yards, 61 of them came on one completion to Matt Sklarosky, but that drive ended in just a James Barret 21-yard field goal.
When Crestwood was finally able to get its hands consistently on the football in the second half, Shedlock took over. The starting quarterback was held to just 18 yards on three carries in the first half. But he ran four times for 48 yards on the second half’s opening drive, including a 32-yard touchdown catch.
Later in the third quarter, Shedlock carried six more times for 42 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown run to give Crestwood a 17-7 lead which it never relinquished.
“Credit them. That’s a good football team. It wasn’t anything we were doing wrong (in the first half), they were just stopping us,” Arcangeli said. “Our offensive line has to want to go do it. So we challenged them and they rose up to the challenge.”
Crestwood 17, Valley West 7
Valley West 7 0 0 0 – 7
Crestwood 3 0 14 0 – 17
First quarter
WVW—Lucas Zdancewicz 1 run (Roger Staron kick), 3:33
C—James Barret 21 field goal, :40
Third quarter
C—Jaden Shedlock 32 run (Barret kick), 8:19
C—Shedlock 13 run (Barret kick), 2:00
Fourth quarter
WVW Cre
First downs 13 10
Rushes-yds 38-105 33-157
Com-att-int 11-20-1 1-6-0
Pass yards 147 61
Total yards 252 218
Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-30 5-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Valley West, Isaiah Cobb, 16-124; Lucas Zdancewicz, 5-14, TD; Tyler Mattis, 1-2; Paul Riggs, 2-0; Jake Dubaskas, 2-(-2); Ty Makarewicz, 2-(-15); Carson Brown, 10-(-18). Crestwood, Jaden Shedlock, 16-114, 2 TDs; Colin Lazo, 6-28; Allen Angon, 3-14; James Barret, 5-7; Osten Grigas, 1-2; Team, 2-(-8).
Passing—Valley West, Carson Brown, 9-16-1, 82 yds; Lucas Zdancewicz, 2-4-0, 65 yds. Crestwood, Jaden Shedlock, 1-6-0, 61 yds.
Receiving—Valley West, Ty Makarewicz, 3-15; Maki Wells, 2-53; Tyler Mattis, 2-40; Isaiah Cobb, 2-13; Paul Riggs, 1-16; Jonathan Otway, 1-6. Crestwood, Matt Sklarosky, 1-61.
INTERCEPTIONS—Crestwood, Colin Lazo.
RECORDS: Crestwood (1-3); Valley West (1-3).
