NANTICOKE — Wyoming Area turned in a near spotless performance Friday night to remain perfect in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 football games over the past two seasons.
The Warriors completed every pass, averaged more than 16 yards on runs when they were not kneeling down, yielded just two first downs and held Hanover Area to negative yardage in total offense.
It all added up to a 55-7 romp by the Warriors in a game played at Nanticoke’s Frank Chicknosky Stadium.
Anthony DeLucca went 7-for-7 for 128 yards and three touchdown passes, including two to Luke Kopetchny.
The Warriors improved to 3-0 in the division to continue to share the lead with Lake-Lehman. They are 6-1 overall this season and 9-0 in the division the last two years combined.
An explosive ground game also contributed to a 49-point first half.
Lidge Kellum needed just five carries to produce 111 yards and two touchdowns. He went 62 yards off the left side on the third play of the game to open the scoring.
Michael Crane, Trustin Johnson and Oliver Bolin also ran for touchdowns, combining their six carries into 135 yards as part of a 325-yard ground game.
“I thought that early we just did what we needed to do,” Warriors coach Randy Spencer said of a 14-0 lead in the first 3:26 and 21-0 lead with 1:46 left in the first quarter. “We got some big plays from some of our outstanding skill guys – Lidge Kellum and Kopetchny; I think DeLucca threw the ball exceptionally well; Trustin Johnson and Mike Crane.
“We got big plays across the board.”
And, aside from a 91-yard Jonathan Otway-Kellom kickoff return for a Hanover Area touchdown after Wyoming Area opened a 42-0 lead, the Warriors did not allow big plays.
Hanover Area gained 42 yards in the first quarter, but lost 57 over the last three. The Hawkeyes finished with minus-31 yards rushing and minus-15 total offense.
“The maturity and the experience up front made a difference,” Spencer said, “but also, in the secondary, I thought our guys did a nice job.”
Crane, Josh Mruk and Tyler Reynolds all had multiple tackles for losses.
Wyoming Area raced up and down the field, scoring on the first play of three possessions and the second play of two others. The other scoring “drives” lasted three, four and five plays.
DeLucca went with play-action, then looked deep down the middle to Kopetchny for a 50-yard touchdown on the first play of the second possession. He was 3-for-3 to lead the Warriors to a touchdown on the next drive, their longest of the game, resulting in an 11-yard touchdown reception by Jack Gravine.
Two of the quick strikes came in the second quarter.
Kopetchny got his foot down in the side of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass from DeLucca.
Following Hanover Area’s touchdown return, Gage Speece returned the kickoff 55 yards and Crane scored on a 39-yard run on the next play.
Bolin turned his only carry into a 50-yard touchdown on Wyoming Area’s second play of the second half, which was reduced to eight-minute quarters, along with the other running clock rules resulting from a lead of 35 or more.
Wyoming Area 55, Hanover Area 7
Wyoming Area`21`28`6`0 — 55
Hanover Area`0`7`0`0 — 7
First quarter
WA – Lidge Kellum 62 run (Nick Ciampi kick), 10:23
WA – Luke Kopetchny 50 pass from Anthony DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 8:34
WA – Jack Gravine 11 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 1:46
Second quarter
WA – Kellum 5 run (Ciampi kick), 9:00
WA – Kopetchny 25 pass from DeLucca (Ciampi kick), 7:39
WA – Trustin Johnson 13 run (Gavin Feeney kick), 4:43
HA – Jonathan Otway-Kellom 91 kickoff return (Conor Engleman kick), 4:29
WA – Michael Crane 39 run (Feeney kick), 4:11
Third quarter
WA – Oliver Bolin 50 run (kick failed), 3:00
Team Statistics`WA`HAN
First downs`17`2
Rushes-yards`22-325`17-(-31)
Passing yards`128`16
Total yards`453`(-15)
Passing`7-7-0`3-10-0
Sacked-yards lost`0-0`3-31
Punts-avg.`0-0.0`7-28.7
Fumbles-lost`0-0`4-0
Penalties-yards`4-29`1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — WA, Kellum 5-111, Bolin 1-50, Crane 2-49, Johnson 3-36, Brady Jones 3-24, Ciampi 1-17, Jamari Yates 1-17, Bill Mecca 1-9, Rocco Siani 2-8, Nicholas Kondrasky 1-7, Team 2-minus 3. HAN, Malique Champbell 8-26, Camden Kratz 2-minus 3, Otway-Kellom 1-minus 3, Team 2-minus 20, Logan Richardson 4-minus 31.
PASSING — WA, DeLucca 7-7-0-128. HAN, Richardson 3-10-16.
RECEIVING – WA, Kopetchny 3-75, Damian Lefkoski 1-22, Gravine 1-11, Jacob Morgan 1-11, Kevin Wiedl 1-9. HAN, Otway-Kellom 2-minus 3, Deacon Eisenbach 1-19.
INTERCEPTIONS — None.
MISSED FIELD GOAL – None.
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