Dallas City News

WEST PITTSTON — Wyoming Area ran just 13 plays in the first half Friday night compared to 35 by Lake-Lehman.

The situation was quality over quantity.

The Warriors scored on three of those 13 plays to build a two-touchdown lead on the way to a 35-14 victory in a game to decide first place in Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference.

“We started fast and the possessions we did have we did execute and make big plays and got off to that kind of start,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “But again, (Lehman) did a good job staying in the game, managing the clock. We just need to do a better job getting off the field in those situations.”

Wyoming Area (4-0 Div. 2, 7-1 overall) used the running of WVC rushing leader Lidge Kellum and a blocked punt to take a 21-7 halftime lead.

“Two drives there we lost 14 points,” Lehman coach Jerry Gilsky said, “but we had no answer defensively stopping them. The kid runs like crazy. They did a good job up front offensively. Our guys were catching blocks instead of getting by blocks.”

The Warriors’ first two plays from scrimmage were a 23-yard run and a 56-yard TD run by Kellum. They came after Lehman (3-1 Div. 2, 5-3) ate up nearly six minutes of the first quarter, but came up empty.

Wyoming Area needed just one play to score after Ryan Jones scooped up a blocked punt and returned it 30 yards to the Lehman 24-yard line. Quarterback Anthony DeLucca found Luke Kopetchny down the left sideline for the score.

Lehman then went on another time-consuming drive to start the second quarter, using 17 plays to cover 83 yards. Running back Jaydon Skipalis finished it off by spinning off a couple tackle attempts for a 17-yard score with 2:41 left until halftime.

The Black Knights used up over nine minutes on the scoring drive. Wyoming Area responded much quicker.

Kellum who finished with 208 yards on 17 carries, rushed for 25 and 5 yards, suffering an injury on the second carry. Running back Trustin Johnson entered and had carries of 19 and 13 yards before scoring from 5 yards out with 34 seconds left until intermission.

Wyoming Area then went on a sustained drive — by the Warriors’ standards Friday night — to open the third quarter. Kellum and fullback Michael Crane did the bulk of the running before DeLucca plowed in from a yard out.

An 18-yard pass from Hayden Evans to Skipalis moved Lehman within 28-14 midway through the fourth, but after a failed onside kick Wyoming Area struck again quickly as Kevin Wiedl caught a 14-yard TD pass with 5:07 remaining.

Evans was 17-of-32 for 237 yards — all career highs — for the Black Knights, who finished with more first downs and yardage than Wyoming Area. Lehman’s three losses have come against opponents who are a combined 23-1.

“We have two weeks of the regular season and playoffs,” Gilsky said. “We have to figure this out really quick.”

Lehman and Wyoming Area clinched District 2 Class 3A playoff spots entering the game.

“There are things we have to look at and work on going forward,” Spencer said. “But it was also good to play a four-quarter game.”

Wyoming Area 35, Lake-Lehman 14

Lake-Lehman`0`7`0`7 — 14

Wyoming Area`14`7`7`7 — 35

First Quarter

WA — Lidge Kellum 56 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 5:44

WA — Luke Kopetchny 24 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 2:23

Second quarter

LL — Jaydon Skipalis 17 run (Reilley Kirkutis kick), 2:41

WA — Trustin Johnson 5 run (Ciampi kick), 0:34

Third quarter

WA — DeLucca 1 run (Ciampi kick), 7:27

Fourth quarter

LL — Skipalis 18 pass from Hayden Evans (Kirkutis kick), 6:32

WA — Kevin Wiedl 14 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 5:07

Team statistics`LL`WA

First downs`23`15

Rushes-yards`32-102`26-268

Passing yards`237`45

Total yards`338`313

Passing`17-32-1`3-7-0

Sacked-yards lost`3-11`0-0

Punts-avg.`1-21`1-50

Fumbles-lost`2-1`0-0

Penalties-yards`7-40`7-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Lehman, Jim Mitkowski 8-14, H.Evans 11-28, Skipalis 13-60. Wyoming Area, Kellum 17-208, Johnson 3-37, Michael Crane 4-23, DeLucca 1-1, team 1-(minus-1).

PASSING — Lehman, H.Evans 17-32-1-237. Wyoming Area, DeLucca 3-7-0-45.

RECEIVING — Lehman, Chris Sholtis 5-89, Mitkowski 1-16, Ben Dowling 7-91, Jake Evans 2-16, Skipalis 2-25. Wyoming Area, Kopetchny 1-24, Kellum 1 -7, Wiedl 1-14.

INTERCEPTIONS — Wyoming Area, Kopetchny 1-0.

MISSED FGs — none.