YATESVILLE — Randy Spencer challenge the members of his Wyoming Area secondary to plan man-to-man coverage Friday night against Pittston. By doing that, Spencer could ensure some help on Patriots leading receiver Lucas Lopresto.
The Warriors’ secondary lived up to the challenge. They not only picked off three Pittston passes Friday night, they challenged nearly every ball put in the air by three Patriots quarterbacks.
Wyoming Area pitched its second consecutive shutout Friday night, winning convincingly despite a less-than-clean night from its offense. The 28-0 victory over Pittston means the Warriors solidified its spot in the District 2 Class AAA standings and will host a first-round playoff game next week.
The back-to-back shutouts are a first for Wyoming Area since it shut out Hanover Area and Pittston in Weeks 9 and 10 in 2019. The Warriors went on to win the state championship that year.
“Our secondary just handled our assignments,” said Wyoming Area senior Damian Lefkoski, who had a tide-turning interception in the end zone near the end of the first half. “And then in the second half the coaches adjusted everything so out linebackers and line were able to get in the backfield.”
Wyoming Area defenders nearly caught more passes from Pittston quarterbacks last night than Pittston receivers did. Lopresto, who came in averaging nearly 15 yards per reception this season, was held without a catch.
Kevin Wiedl’s third-quarter interception set up the second of three Lidge Kellum touchdown runs. But it was Lefkoski’s pick near the end of the first half which changed Friday night’s game.
The Warriors struggled to get anything going offensively in the first half thanks to a pair of lost fumbles. Only Kellum’s 71-yard touchdown run — which was sprung by a brilliant seal block from Trustin Johnson — kept Wyoming Area from being shut out in the first half. And when Pittston capitalized on one of the fumbles to put together a nearly 8-minute drive in the second quarter, Lefkoski shut the drive down when he jumped a route in the end zone for his fourth interception of the season, which leads the Warriors.
The pick allowed Wyoming Area to carry a 7-0 lead into the half and reset a little bit.
“It was a big momentum change,” Lefkoski said. “All our heads were down. I think that just opened things up for us and got us hyped again.”
“That’s such a big stop at that point in the game,” Spencer said. “We were fortunate to stem the tide there, get into the half, gain possession in the second half, and extend the lead.”
Wiedl continued Wyoming Area’s momentous ways when he intercepted a second pass with less than 2 minutes gone in the third quarter. That’s when Kellum seemed to get his confidence back after the two first-half fumbles.
He went 22 yards on the first play of the ensuing drive and, three plays later, ran through two defenders trying to strip the football from him for a 20-yard touchdown run which extended the Warriors’ lead to 14-0. Kellum added a 24-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter which iced the game.
The junior finished with 264 yards on 22 carries despite getting just one tote in the second quarter after the two fumbles. Kellum went over 1,700 rushing yards for the season last night.
“As outstanding as he is, a lot of outstanding players have adversity during games,” Spencer said. “But you saw his response to it. That’s part of growing up. He responded exceptionally well in the second half.”
“In the first half I kept telling him to have a short memory,” Lefkoski said. “And in the second half he came out and did what he does. If he just gets a little crack, he’s going to take it and go.”
Kellum provided a little breathing room for a Wyoming Area defense which gave absolutely none to Pittston’s offense. The Patriots gained just 112 total yards of offense, averaged just 2.5 yards per carry, and completed just 4 of 21 passes.
Pittston (2-8) lost for the sixth consecutive week, but its the first loss in that stretch by more than 12 points. Wyoming
Area (9-1) will carry a seven-game winning streak into next week’s district playoffs.
“Adversity is part of football and it’s aprt of life,” Spencer said. “The kids were able to work through it and come out with a victory. So that is a positive. We have a lot of things to clean up going forward, but the result tonight is positive.”
Wyoming Area 28, Pittston 0
Wyoming Area 7 0 13 8 – 28
Pittston 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
WA—Lidge Kellum 71 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 5:29
Third quarter
WA—Kellum 20 run (Ciampi kick), 8:50
WA—Michael Crane 8 pass from Anthony DeLucca (kick failed), 1:57
Fourth quarter
WA—Kellum 24 run (Kevin Wiedl pass from DeLucca), 2:17
WA PA
First downs 16 7
Rushes-yds 33-320 30-76
Com-att-int 7-11-1 4-21-3
Pass yards 78 36
Total yards 398 112
Fumbles-lost 4-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-87 7-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Wyoming Area, Lidge Kellum, 22-264, 3 TDs; Trustin Johnson, 6-54; Michael Crane, 4-10; Anthony DeLucca, 1-(-8). Pittston, CJ Pietrzak, 15-71; Matt Walter, 11-12; Lucas Lopresto, 2-0; Santino Capitano, 2-(-7).
Passing—Wyoming Area, DeLucca, 7-10-0, 78 yds., TD; Kellum, 0-1-0. Pittston, Walter, 3-11-2, 26 yds; Capitano, 1-9-1, 10 yds.; Paulie Ferentio, 0-1-0.
Receiving—Wyoming Area, Luke Kopetchny, 4-36; Kevin Wiedl, 2-34; Crane, 1-8, TD. Pittston, Colten Lis, 2-17; Walter, 1-10; Jakob Bolchune, 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS—Wayoming Area (3), Damian Lefkoski, Kevin Wiedl, Gage Speece.
RECORDS: Wyoming Area (9-1); Pittston (2-8).
