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SCRANTON – The Pat Keating era didn’t begin as well as the new Wyoming Valley West coach would have liked.
After taking over for Pennsylvania coaching legend George Curry, the new head man walking the sideline for the Spartans saw his team run into problem after problem.
The Spartans turned the ball over three times, committed 11 penalties for 80 yards and saw their top two running backs leave the season opener early with injuries as they dropped an 18-15 decision to Scranton on Friday night at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
“We faced so much adversity in this game,” Keating said. “It seemed like the ball even bounced Scranton’s way on fumbles.”
The Spartans (0-1) led the game 13-0 in the second quarter before running back George Simms left with an ankle injury and Rasheed Williams saw his night end early with a knee injury, according to Keating.
Simms rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries, while Williams racked up 45 yards and a score on just five carries.
“We lost our two running backs in a five-minute span,” Keating said. “You can’t make excuses, but so much depends on those two.”
Valley West had 246 total yards in the first half and only 30 in the final 24 minutes.
The scoring started in the early seconds of the second quarter when Williams capped off an eight-play, 95-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run to put the Spartans up 7-0 with 11:57 remaining in the period.
The Spartans upped their lead to 13-0 on their next drive as Simms ended a 10-play, 76-yard drive with a 6-yard TD.
Valley West had an opportunity to get on the scoreboard earlier in the game, but a fumble and costly penalties ended those threats.
“There’s a chance we could have had four scores in the first half,” Keating said. “We just didn’t capitalize.”
Meanwhile, Scranton minimized its errors while keeping Valley West off the scoreboard.
The Knights (1-0) cut the lead to 13-6 with 1:47 left in the second quarter when Joe McCarthy hooked up with Aashon Blackwell for a 5-yard score. That was McCarthy’s first of three touchdown passes in the game.
The Spartans turned the ball over on downs on their next drive and Scranton scored again before halftime. This time a 30-yard pass from McCarthy to running back Brett Sweeting to cut the lead to 13-12 with just five seconds left in the half.
McCarthy’s third TD pass came as time expired in the third quarter. That one was an 8-yard hookup with Dezmond Keiser to give the Knights an 18-13 advantage.
With the Spartans having blocked a punt earlier in the game, the Knights opted to run out of their end zone to take a safety with 3:52 remaining in the fourth quarter; Scranton was facing a fourth-and-19 on its own 10.
That helped the Spartans cut the lead to 18-15, but their next drive after getting the free kick stalled after four plays. The Knights got the ball back with 2:07 remaining and ran out the clock.
McCarthy threw for 202 yards and was intercepted twice. His favorite target was Sweeting, who caught 10 balls for 113 yards.
Valley West quarterback Connor Haggerty completed four passes for 81 yards, all to Eugene Lewis.