THROOP — Defense kept Pittston Area in Friday night’s high school football season opener.
The play of Mid Valley’s defense, however, was too much for the Patriots to overcome in Joe DeLucca’s debut as head coach.
Jakob Lesher scored two of his five touchdowns on interception returns to lead host Mid Valley to a 32-0 shutout of Pittston Area.
Lesher carried nine times for 87 yards as Mid Valley pushed Pittston Area off the ball on its first drive for a 7-0 lead.
From there, the Patriots held the Spartans without a first down on their four remaining first-half possessions.
The Spartans were only able to extend their lead 3:06 before halftime because Lesher picked off a pass on the sideline and went 56 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 at the break.
“I thought we settled down a little bit defensively,” DeLucca said. “Week One, you’ve got to eliminate big plays and big mistakes. We had too many to recover from.
“First half, we’re at 7-0 and they had that Pick Six there that kind of turned the momentum around.”
Pittston Area again held defensively while opening the second half trailing 14-0.
After managing just two passing yards to that point against the Patriots secondary, the Spartans got moving to break the game open.
Brett Yanoski, son of coach Stan Yanoski, went 5-for-5 for 121 yards over the next two possessions.
Lesher added a 6-yard, third-quarter touchdown run to his 8-yarder in the first quarter. He then took a short sideline pass and went 70 yards for the score on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The scoring concluded with Lesher taking his second interception in for the score from 16 yards out.
Pittston Area had responded to Mid Valley’s opening drive by moving into the Red Zone with the help of a slant pass from Matt Walter that Stephen Barnic took 36 yards. Walter’s 35-yard field goal attempt from the right hash caromed off the left upright.
Mid Valley concentrated on double-teaming Lucas Lopresto, Pittston Area’s top receiver last season as a freshman, and limited him to one catch for five yards.
“We have to put this one in the rear-view mirror and get ready now next week for another very good challenge and test with North Pocono,” DeLucca said.
BY THE NUMBERS
Mid Valley held Pittston Area without a first down for a stretch of eight possessions and more than 35 minutes. For the game, the Spartans allowed just three first downs, 26 rushing yards and 75 yards total offense. … Lesher carried 20 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns while adding two catches for 77 yards and another score. … Stephen Barnic caught three passes for 46 yards to lead the Pittston Area offense. … Pittston Area was held to one rushing yard in the first half and no Patriot managed more than eight yards rushing for the game. … Brody Spindler, Gerry Groom and Collin Smith were Pittston Area’s defensive leaders. Spindler, who made a tackle for a loss and three assists, and Groom, who broke up a pass and had two assists, shared the team lead with five tackles. Smith had four tackles and three assists. … Mid Valley gained 319 yards and had a 28:00-20:00 advantage in time of possession.
UP NEXT
Pittston Area travels to North Pocono Friday night. The Trojans, coached by Wyoming Area graduate Greg Dolhon, opened with a 46-7 romp at Nanticoke. North Pocono returns the bulk of its linemen on both sides of the ball and also has leading receiver Cole West back from a year ago.
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