Groom, Wiedl fill versatile roles on defense

The first step in even thinking about neutralizing defensive leaders Gerry Groom and Kevin Wiedl may just be in locating them.

Pittston Area’s Groom and Wyoming Area’s Wiedl are versatile athletes who have shown the ability to impact opposing offenses from multiple positions and angles.

Groom, a 6-foot, 175-pound senior, plays strong safety, middle linebacker, outside linebacker and free safety depending upon an opponent’s offensive strengths and the style of defense the Patriots use to combat it. As the season moved into the second half, he even lined up for a few snaps as a nose guard.

“He’s a guy who is tough enough and smart enough to play anywhere,” Pittston Area coach Joe DeLucca said.

Wiedl, a 5-10, 185-pounder, made starts at safety prior to his senior season and is listed on the roster as a defensive back. This year, he has spent increasing time as a linebacker, both inside and outside, and can also play defensive end, depending on the situation. He still steps back into the secondary at times when Wyoming Area uses an extra defensive back in passing situations where Spencer trusts him to cover receivers on the outside.

“Kevin probably has been our most versatile defender,” Wyoming Area coach Randy Spencer said. “He has done a lot of great things for us at multiple positions.

“He’s been a wild card for us that really creates some match-up issues for offenses. It allows us to be very versatile defensively.”

From those positions, Wiedl has emerged as Wyoming Area’s leading tackler.

Pittston Area has not compiled defensive statistics during the season. Sunday Dispatch coverage, however, has indicated Groom leading the team in tackles in some games and quite possibly for the season as a whole.

“He’s probably one of the smartest, toughest football players I’ve coached in my career,” said DeLucca, a long-time assistant who is in his first season as a head coach. “He’s a student of the game. He watches hours of film each week.

“He has and can play in several different spots.”

Wiedl helped Wyoming Area, a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 team, beat the top two teams in Division 1 to begin the season. He was in on 10 tackles against Crestwood, then 11, along with intercepting a pass, against Dallas.