H.S. Football: Bibla’s late touchdown lifts Crestwood over Pittston Area

YATESVILLE — Pittston Area coach Joe DeLucca’s instructions regarding how his offense faced Crestwood’s Lincoln Bibla became clear.

“I was actually yelling, ‘I don’t want to run another play to him,’ ” DeLucca said.

The first-year coach, however, could not dictate how involved Bibla was able to be on the other side of the ball.

Usually a tight end, Bibla spent much of the night in the backfield where he ran for two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 3:15 remaining Friday night as visiting Crestwood opened its Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 football schedule with a 21-14 victory at Charley Trippi Stadium.

Bibla carried 11 times for 68 yards. He scored the only touchdown of the first quarter on a fourth-down plunge from the 1 and broke a tie with a 6-yard touchdown for the game’s final score.

“It was a nice change,” Bibla said. “I get to enforce my will and physicalness on both sides of the ball now. It’s just a good feeling when you can drag the other team multiple yards.

“It was just how it unfolded. You see what works. It kept working and we kept running it.”

The 6-1, 220-pound senior had carried just twice in the first five games of the season combined. But with quarterback and leading rusher Jaden Shedlock believed to be lost for the season, the Comets needed other options on offense.

“We really liked our two-tight end set,” Crestwood coach Ryan Arcangeli said. “At this point, with so many injuries, you just find your best guy.

“You just give it to your best guy and trust it. He’s a bruiser.”

Pittston Area barely touched the ball. Crestwood had a 33:54-14:06 advantage in time of possession.

And, early on, whenever the Patriots had the ball, Bibla seemed to disrupt everything from his strong-side, outside linebacker position.

Bibla had a sack, two other tackles for a loss and an assist on another play that went for negative yardage.

When Pittston Area started running as far away from Bibla as possible, it had less trouble, but Carter Kennedy, Emmett Seyer, Colin Lazo and Jack Rodgers combined to make sure the Patriots could not find consistent success.

“The weak side guys know that is going to happen,” Arcangeli said of Pittston Area’s distinct efforts to avoid Bibla.

The Comets controlled play early and lead 14-0 late in the half because Lucas Lopresto helped the Patriots erase a 14-point deficit for the second straight week, only to fall short each time.

After Colin Lazo’s 7-yard touchdown pass from Rodgers, Shedlock’s replacement at quarterback, Lopresto returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to cut the deficit to 14-7 a minute before halftime.

Pittston Area managed just four first downs, but two came on the same third-quarter drive. Lopresto caught a 41-yard pass from Matt Walter, then a 17-yard touchdown for the tie.

Bibla dragged several tacklers on a 23-yard run on third-and-four in the game-wining drive.

Matt Urban’s rush forced a Rodgers interception to preserve the victory.

Crestwood 21, Pittston Area 14

Crestwood`7`7`0`7 — 21

Pittston Area`0`7`7`0 — 14

First quarter

CRE – Lincoln Bibla 1 run (Ethan Zabroski kick), 7:08

Second quarter

CRE – Colin Lazo 7 pass from Jack Rodgers (Zabroski kick), 1:18

PA – Lucas Lopresto 95 kickoff return (Gavin Wolfe kick), 1:02

Third quarter

PA – Lopresto 17 pass from Matt Walter (Wolfe kick), 4:35

Fourth quarter

CRE – Bibla 6 run (Zabroski kick), 3:15

Team Statistics`CRE`PA

First downs`17`4

Rushes-yards`55-208`16-25

Passing yards`81`71

Total yards`289`96

Passing`5-6-1`6-11-1

Sacked-yards lost`0-0`1-6

Punts-avg.`1-32.0`5-34.0

Fumbles-lost`1-1`1-0

Penalties-yards`7-55`10-95

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — CRE, Jake Jeckell 21-89, Bibla 12-68, Lazo 7-35, Nate Walsh 4-11, Rodgers 5-11, Gio Barna 2-7, Matthew Bealla 1-1, Team 3-minus 14. PA, Lopresto 2-10, Walter 11-10, CJ Petrzak 3-5.

PASSING — CRE, Rodgers 5-6-1-81. PA, Walter 6-11-1-71.

RECEIVING – CRE, Bibla 2-29, Barna 1-29, Eli Meadows 1-16, Lazo 1-7. PA, Lopresto 4-61, Lis 2-10.

INTERCEPTIONS — CRE, Rodgers 1-0. PA, Malkolm Blackshear 1-0.

MISSED FIELD GOAL – None.