WEST PITTSTON — To say Aaron Crossley was bottled up on the sideline would be an understatement. The Pittston defense had the Wyoming Area senior running back in a blender on his first carry of the second half.
He bounced off of defenders like he was the white dot in a game of Pong. But he never lost his footing. And Crossley never lost site of the goal line.
Somehow he found a way to get escape the grasp of the Pittston defenders and covered the remainder of the ground to the end zone to finish off a 76-yard scoring run. It was Crossley’s third scoring run in a four-touchdown night. And it was easily the most impressive.
In his final game between the two rivals, Crossley carried 28 times for 344 yards as the Warriors defeated Pittston at Jake Sobeski Field, 35-14.
“That’s why he’s a Division I football player,” Pittston coach Nick Barbieri said as he shrugged his shoulders.
Wyoming Area bounced back from its only loss of the season to Southern Columbia to finish the year 9-1. It will host a District 2 Class AAAA quarterfinal next week. Pittston finished the regular season 5-5 after having its three-game winning streak snapped. Despite the loss, the Patriots should still earn the final spot in the District 2 AAAAA semifinals next week.
Wyoming Area rode its Lehigh-bound running back to a punishing ground game which racked up more than 400 yards. The Warriors did not complete a pass last night, and it attempted only two. But it didn’t particularly matter. They had the best player on the field and he just happened to play like the best player on the field.
Crossley punished defenders on short runs, initiating contact and making defenders pay the price for bringing him down. He also hit a pair of home runs, one from 86 yards and one from 76 yards. And just for good measure, he covered all 53 yards on six carried on a game-icing touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.
“We had nine guys in the box,” Barbieri said with a what-are-you-gonna-do shrug of his shoulders. “He’s a man.”
“There’s speed and there’s power. But the depth of his willfulness that he runs with is what makes him special,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “When Aaron is playing at his highest level, he’s one of the best players in Pennsylvania.”
It’s not hyperbole in which both coaches talked about Crossley’s performance Friday night. It was honesty and adulation at its finest.
The 344 yards for Crossley were the second most of his career, behind only the 352 yards he gained in the 2022 season-opener against Tunkhannock. It was his sixth career 300-yard game.
He opened the scoring with an 6-yard run in the first quarter after a Kyle Barhight strip sack gave the Wyoming Area offense a short field to work with. Crossley burst through the line on the second play of the second quarter and outran everyone on the way to an 86-yard scoring run — the second longest run of his career.
His 76-yard scoring run in the third quarter in which he played pinball off the Pittston defenders gave the Warriors a 21-0 lead.
“You’re always trying to show out against Pittston,” said Crossley, who was presented the Carmelo Falcone Award as the game’s MVP. “Their student section talks a lot of crap, their school talks a lot of crap. So you always want to show out against them. It’s exciting to do that.
Pittston finally got back into the game in the third quarter when it finally connected on a pair of deep passes for touchdowns. The Patriots used a reverse flea flicker to allow Drew DeLucca to hit Matt Walter on a 44-yard scoring strike late in the third quarter. And 2 minutes later following a Wyoming Area fumble, DeLucca found Lucas Lopresto for a 38-yard scoring strike in tight coverage to make it 21-14.
“They were playing pass all first half,” Barbieri said of Wyoming Area’s defense which sacked DeLucca four times in the first 24 minutes. “So we started to run a little in the second half and make them change. We were able to get back into it with the passing game.”
But the Patriots just didn’t have an answer for the Warriors’ run game. A Michael Crane 37-yard run set up Anthony DeLucca’s 1-yard scoring sneak in the fourth quarter. And Crossley iced the game with his final scoring run, an 8-yarder with under two minutes to play.
It was a fitting end on a night where Crossley made his mark on this historic rivalry.
“You can’t put that kind of play on display without the other people around you, and they all did an outstanding job,” Spencer said. “I think (Crossley) is one of the best players in Pennsylvania and he put that on display tonight.”
“It’s the O-line that makes that happen,” Crossley said. “It’s the O-line and nothing else. They opened up the holes tremendously. They’re my favorite players on the field.”
Wyoming Area 35, Pittston 14
Pittston 0 0 14 0 – 14
Wyoming Area 7 7 7 14 – 35
First quarter
WA—Aaron Crossley 6 run (Liam Burke kick), 5:12
Second quarter
WA—Crossley 86 run (Burke kick), 11:11
Third quarter
WA—Crossley 76 run (Burke kick), 11:05
PA—Matt Walter 44 pass from Drew DeLucca (kick blocked), 2:38
PA—Lucas Lopresto 38 pass from DeLucca (Chris Pietrzak pass from DeLucca), :19
Fourth quarter
WA—Anthony DeLucca 1 run (Burke kick), 8:19
WA—Crossley 8 run (Burke kick), 1:40
PA WA
First downs 13 13
Rushes-yds 32-85 38-403
Com-att-int 12-27-0 0-2-1
Pass yards 167 0
Total yards 252 403
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 4-30 8-68
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Pittston, Brody Spindler, 9-33; Xzavyier Blackshear, 6-30; Chris Pietrzak, 4-22; Lucas Lopresto, 2-2; Drew DeLucca, 11-(-2). Wyoming Area, Aaron Crossley, 28-344, 4 TDs; Michael Crane, 6-55; Lidge Kellum, 1-3; Anthony DeLucca, 3-1, TD.
Passing—Pittston, Drew DeLucca, 12-26-0, 167 yds., 2 TDs; Lucas Lopresto, 0-1-0. Wyoming Area, Anthony DeLucca, 0-1-1; Aaron Crossley, 0-1-0.
Receiving—Pittston, Lucas Lopresto, 4-77, TD; Matt Walter, 4-62, TD; Ciran Bibow, 1-9; Steven Barnic, 1-7; Colten Lis, 1-7; Chris Pietrzak, 1-5. Wyoming Area, None.
INTERCEPTIONS—Pittston, Drew DeLucca.
RECORDS: Wyoming Area (9-1); Pittston (5-5).
