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YATESVILLE — Down by a point and with six minutes left, Pittston Area had already clinched a playoff spot thanks to Honesdale losing.
The Patriots, though, didn’t go into Friday night’s game with Coughlin wanting someone else doing their work. They wanted to earn a postseason berth on their own merit, and thanks to senior quarterback Walter Coles they did.
Coles scored on a 1-yard run with 4:06 remaining and then threw a two-point conversion pass to Mike Coe as Pittston Area rallied for a 21-14 victory in a Wyoming Valley Conference Division 4A game.
The victory had a twofold effect for Pittston Area (5-4). First, the Patriots will head to the District 2 Class 4A playoffs, making their first district appearance since 2008. Secondly, the program won’t finish the regular season with a losing record for the first time in nine years.
Coughlin fell to 4-5, but had locked up a D2-4A playoff berth heading into the game.
Coles, a 1,500-yard passer, was only 6 of 15 for 121 yards but made plays on the final scoring drive. On a second-and-24, he dropped a pass over two defenders to receiver Rich Wallace for a 42-yard gain to the Coughlin 22-yard line. Then, when the drive looked like it would fizzle out, Coles raced around left end for a 15-yard gain on fourth-and-7. The run placed the ball at the Coughlin 4.
“That was a pass,” Coles said, “but I just saw grass and knew I wasn’t going to let anyone catch up to me, especially on our last game here — our last home game — so I had to make a play.”
Three plays later, Coles completed the 10-play, 90-yard drive with his 1-yard TD run.
“I thought our kids responded great,” Pittston Area coach Nick Barbieri said. “That long drive, that 90-some yard drive to take the lead and the two-point conversion. And then that stop on fourth down to seal the game on fourth down. That (Jake) Cole is outstanding and (Vincent) Todd is a phenomenal athlete.”
Coughlin’s last drive ended a yard short of a first down as a screen pass from Todd to Cole gained nine yards on fourth-and-10.
The Pittston Area defense made another big stop prior to the go-ahead touchdown.
Coughlin used a heavy dose of Cole’s running to move to the Pittston Area 8-yard line. A couple runs moved the ball to the 1, where Cole was knocked back for a yard loss. On fourth down, Todd couldn’t escape Pittston Area linebacker Kevin Krawczyk, who sacked him for an 8-yard loss.
Krawczyk came into the game as the leading receiver in Division 4A but didn’t have a catch. He made his presence felt elsewhere, including a 34-yard kickoff return to put the ball near midfield which eventually led to a 1-yard scoring run by Keemar Woodruff to cut the deficit to 14-13.
The extra-point kick was blocked by Coughlin’s Matt Zalaffi, keeping the Crusaders ahead at 5:01 of the third quarter.
Coughlin didn’t help itself with momentum-changing penalties throughout. Todd had touchdown runs of 81 and 38 yards negated by penalties in the first half. And on Pittston Area’s game-winning drive, a defensive holding penalty nullified a Coughlin fumble recovery.
The Crusaders were flagged 14 times for 135 yards. Pittston Area was just as bad, with 13 penalties for 146 yards.
“Just snake-bitten,” Coughlin coach Ciro Cinti said. “Two touchdowns called back and then we get a turnover and there’s a penalty on us. That was the turning point right there. We get the ball back and there’s six minutes left.”
Pittston Area 21, Coughlin 14
Coughlin`0`7`7`0`—`14
Pittston Area`0`7`6`8`—`21
Second quarter
PA — Keemar Woodruff 1 run (Shane Syms kick), 6:08
COU — Salem Diop 25 pass from Vincent Todd (Jeff Mondulick), 1:28
Third quarter
COU — Rafael Brown 65 from Todd (Mondulick kick), 8:03
PA — Woodruff 1 run (kick blocked), 5:01
Fourth quarter
PA — Walter Coles 1 run (Mike Coe from Coles), 4:06
Team statistics`COU`PA
First downs`16`15
Rushes-yards`46-207`35-147
Passing yards`99`165
Total yards`306`312
Passing`3-5-0`7-16-0
Sacked-yards lost`2-9`0-0
Punts-avg.`1-31`1-30
Fumbles-lost`3-1`1-0
Penalties-yards`14-135`13-146
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Coughlin, Jake Cole 28-147, Todd 14-70, McCoy 3-2, team 1-(minus-12). PA, Woodruff 21-96, Tyler Ferlick 1-5, Dorian Ryans 4-20, Dylan Luchanko 2-10, Coles 5-18, team 2-(minus-2).
PASSING — Coughlin, Todd 3-5-0-99. PA, Coles 6-15-0-121, Woodruff 1-1-0-44.
RECEIVING — Coughlin, Diop 1-25, McCoy 1-65, Cole 1-9. PA, Andrew Krawczyk 3-104, Ferlick, Matt Starinsky 107, Ryans 1-7, Rich Wallace 1-42.
INTERCEPTIONS — none.
MISSED FGs — none.